Join 📚 Kevin's Highlights
A batch of the best highlights from what Kevin's read, .
Software companies aren't made of code, much like
bakeries aren't made of bread.
Software companies are made of
*processes that produce and maintain code*.
Software is a by-product of these processes.
It's not even the *final* product — it's a means to an end.
The final product is a solution to a business problem.
The Machine That Makes the Thing Is More Valuable Than the Thing
François Chollet
**Get Current**
• **Review “Next Actions” lists** — Take inventory of the tasks and reminders you have coming up.
• **Review previous calendar data** — Flip through the last 2-3 weeks of calendar items to look for any outstanding items of things that may require follow-up.
• **Review upcoming calendar** — Zoom in on the future by looking ahead at your calendar items. Ensure that anything you need to prepare for is captured on your task list.
• **Review “Waiting For” list** — Reflect on outstanding items you need from others and make a note of what requires follow-up or impacts your own work.
• **Review “Projects” (and “Larger Outcome”) Lists** — Look through any and all project lists to assess their progress and make additional action items to drive initiatives forward.
• **Review any relevant checklists** — Assess any other lists that are relevant to work and life that may need your attention.
The Weekly Review
Todoist
There is a second shift that occurs when you begin to use your Second Brain not only for remembering, but for connecting and creating. You will transition from doing things primarily out of obligation or pressure to doing things from a spirit of service.
I believe most people have a natural desire within them to serve others. They want to teach, to mentor, to help, to contribute. The desire to give back is a fundamental part of what makes us human.
I also notice that many people put that desire on hold. They are waiting for a future time when they will have "enough" time, bandwidth, expertise, or resources. That day seems to get continuously postponed as they get new jobs, start new careers, have kids, and simply try to keep up with the demands of life.
You are under no obligation to help others. Sometimes it's all you can do to take care of yourself. Still, I've noticed time and again a phenomenon that happens as people collect more and more knowledge in their Second Brain. That inner desire to serve slowly comes to the surface. Faced with the evidence of everything they already know, suddenly there's no longer any reason to wait.
The purpose of knowledge is to be shared. What's the point of knowing something if it doesn't positively impact anyone, not even yourself? Learning shouldn't be about hoarding stockpiles of knowledge like gold coins. Knowledge is the only resource that gets better and more valuable the more it multiplies. If I share a new way of thinking about your health, or finances, or business, or spirituality, that knowledge isn't less valuable to me. It's more valuable! Now we can speak the same language, coordinate our efforts, and share our progress in applying it. Knowledge becomes more powerful as it spreads.
There are problems in the world that you are uniquely equipped to solve. Problems in society like poverty, injustice, and crime. Problems in the economy like inequality, educational deficits, and workers' rights. Problems in organizations like retention, culture, and growth. Problems in the lives of people around you that your product or service or expertise could solve, helping them communicate, learn, or work more effectively. As Ryder Carroll says in The Bullet Journal Method, "Your singular perspective may patch some small hole in the vast tattered fabric of humanity."
There are people who will be reached only if they are reached by you. People who have no other source for the kind of guidance you can provide. People who don't know where to look for solutions to problems they might not even know they have. You can be that person for them. You can pay forward some of the immense care that has been poured into you by a lifetime of parents, teachers, and mentors. With here words, you can open doors to unimaginable horizons for the people around you.
Your Second Brain starts as a system to support you and your goals, but from there it can just as easily be used to support and their dreams. You have everything you need to give back and be a force for good in the world. It all starts with knowledge, and you have at your disposal an embarrassment of riches.
Building a Second Brain
Tiago Forte
...catch up on these, and many more highlights
Readwise