[From Unsplash]
Good morning,
Towards the end of his book Upstream: How to Solve Problems Before They Happen, Dan Heath shares a fascinating story behind the invention of the tennis ball hopper, which is used to pick up balls scattered around the court during and after practice. It was invented by a tennis coach by name Jake Stap who was frustrated by picking them up.
Heath writes: “Once you’ve bent over a few hundred times to retrieve balls, and suffered from the ensuing back pain, you’re ready for a better solution. So he put a tennis ball on the passenger seat of his car—to serve as a reminder of the problem—and as he drove around, he brainstormed solutions. What if I had an arm extender, he wondered, that would allow me to grab balls without bending over? No, that wasn’t quite right—it would still be laborious, handling one ball at a time. ‘Finally, during one of his meditations,’ wrote Pagan Kennedy in Inventology, ‘Stap reached over and pinched the tennis ball on the seat next to him. When the rubber yielded under his fingertips, he had a new idea: the ball could squeeze through metal bars, taking a one-way trip into a wire bin.’
“And that’s how the familiar tennis ball hopper was dreamed into the world, born of back pain and irritation. Stap solved his own problem—and that of every other tennis player since.”
Behind the story lies an important insight. Heath points out that the macro in fact starts with the micro.
He writes, “When we think about big problems, we’re forced to grapple with big numbers. What would it take to solve problems for 1,000 people? Your first instinct might be to say: We’ll have to think about the big picture, because we can’t very well intervene individually with 1,000 people. But that notion, as it turns out, is exactly wrong… You can’t help a thousand people, or a million, until you understand how to help one. That’s because you don’t understand a problem until you’ve seen it up close.”
The takeaway: Heath writes, “If you want to help solve big problems in the world, seek out groups who have ambitious goals coupled with close-up experience.”
Timeless wisdom
Kevin Kelly is one of the most interesting people to follow online. Many people know of him as part of the founding team that launched the iconic Wired Magazine, of which he was the executive editor. But that is only one of the many hats he wears. He now hosts thoughtful conversations, writes compelling essays and leads some very interesting projects. When he turned 70 last month, he offered 103 pieces of “unsolicited advice” on his personal website. We think of it as timeless wisdom.
“I’ve learned a few things so far that might be helpful to others. For the past few years, I’ve jotted down bits of unsolicited advice each year and much to my surprise I have more to add this year. So here is my birthday gift to you all: 103 bits of wisdom I wish I had known when I was young.”
- About 99% of the time, the right time is right now.
- No one is as impressed with your possessions as you are.
- Don't ever work for someone you don't want to become.
- Cultivate 12 people who love you, because they are worth more than 12 million people who like you.
- Don't keep making the same mistakes; try to make new mistakes.
- When you lead, your real job is to create more leaders, not more followers.
- Ask funders for money, and they’ll give you advice; but ask for advice and they’ll give you money.
- Productivity is often a distraction. Don’t aim for better ways to get through your tasks as quickly as possible, rather aim for better tasks that you never want to stop doing.
- The biggest lie we tell ourselves is “I don't need to write this down because I will remember it.”
- The best way to get a correct answer on the internet is to post an obviously wrong answer and wait for someone to correct you.
Dig Deeper
- 103 pieces of advice I wish I had known (The Technium)
- About Kevin Kelly
Should we take a booster dose?
There is a general feeling everywhere that the worst of Covid is behind us. Yet, there is also lingering fear that another wave might hit us sometime this year. Delhi’s positivity rate (the number of positive cases among those tested) remains above 5%, an indication that the infection is spreading fast. Bill Gates, the man who warned about a pandemic seven years ago, recently said the worst is not over: “We're still at risk of this pandemic generating a variant that would be even more transmissive and even more fatal.” As a result there is also a fear that whether the vaccines we took will be enough to take on another wave.
IndiaSpend spoke to two experts, Anita Mathew, a senior consultant physician and infectious disease specialist at Fortis Hospital in Mumbai, and Rommel Tickoo, director of internal medicine at Max Super Specialty Hospital in Delhi.
This was Dr Tickoo’s answer to a question on vaccines. He said:
“Even if you've taken two shots, it gives you enough protection, and you won't land up in the hospital, you won't have severe disease. But there's enough scientific evidence that says that the effect of the vaccine wanes after five to six months. That's why we need the boosters. You might still end up getting an infection which is mild, but why not boost your immunity, and give another layer of protection to yourself? If you've taken the last dose in May 2021, then after six months, I would say, you should get a booster. That's how I would look at it, instead of nine months. We do have to look at the logistics, at the manufacturing, whether we have enough doses, we also have to give the first dose to a lot of people. But having said that, I would say we can reduce [the booster dose interval] to six months now and whoever is eligible should be taking it. We have enough evidence that vaccines do work, all over the world, so there should be no hesitancy now when it comes to vaccines. More than 80% of people in India have had Covishield, the rest had Covaxin. There's so much data, looking at almost 1.85 billion doses that have been given. I don't think there should be any argument or debate on the efficacy of the vaccines. When it comes to the booster, everyone should take it.”
Dig deeper
Happiness
(A 4-minute-long animated film that sums up most of our lives.)
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Warm regards,
Team Founding Fuel
