Hello my friends,

In game theory, zero-sum is a situation where, if one person wins, another loses.

The net change is zero.

This past week, I listened to a podcast with two company founders who talked about building their Startups. The commonality in their descriptions was that they view their work as non-zero-sum. If they win, it doesn’t mean others lose, rather, everybody wins.

The net change is positive.

Oftentimes in creative industry, there is a misplaced focus on the individual, whether self-manifested or manufactured by your discipline. These short-term status games are always zero-sum.

Perhaps it’s the asymmetry of the upside and downside that encourages non-zero-sum within Startup companies. Nevertheless, the game does not have to be correlated to size or leverage.

Non-zero-sum can be fostered by simple behaviors:

• Give more than you take.

• Use the words “we” and “the team”.

• Celebrate other people’s successes.

Shared adversity will bring a team together. Happiness and health rely on making the work positive-sum.

More on this and other observations from the internet below ↓

Let’s get into it,

— Andy

Last Week's Numbers

• Weekly subscribers: 105 (+2)

• Open rate: 46%

• Twitter followers: 22

I appreciate every second of your time and attention.

If you find these notes useful please share them with your friends & family using this button ↓

Share CMMN WLTH

Product

• Our reliance on video chat, in both life and work, comes at the expense of intimacy and attention. Google’s Project Starline is aiming to change that.

• Figma is a tool that is built on the insight that design doesn’t only involve designers. An explanation of the flywheel that powers it.

• Great innovation often comes from solving your own problem. How Brynn Putnam created (and sold) Mirror for $500m

People

• I’m increasingly bullish on alternative education. Elon Musk’s Synthesis School wants to prepare kids for the real world by focusing on problem-solving over memorizing facts. A thread on how it came to be here.

• Reframing the generalist / specialist debate. Salman Ansari weighs the future of specialization in the Polymath Playbook.

• “The greatest teacher is called ‘doing’” and another 98 bits of unsolicited advice from Kevin Kelly.

Methods

• If you’re looking for emerging trends Exploding Topics is an analytics tool that trawls the web for the latest and greatest.

• Vik Shukla presents a thorough discussion on the causes of bad decision-making and provides a framework on how to get better.

• Happiness is flow. A mental model that you can apply to work and life.

Out of Office

Neal Agarwal has created a corner of the internet open to everyone. His visualizations are beautiful, educational and fun.

This one on 21st-century capitalism is my particular favorite.