Hey!
We are in the throes of a very busy season (feels good to be able to be in one of those after a year+ of pandemic life)! So today, I’m hitting you with quick updates and a bevy of links to check out. I hope this finds you well.
Hit reply and let me know what’s new for you, what you’re thinking about these days, and anything you think I should check out.
The big news in our neck of the woods
We’re moving!
More updates to come on this, I’m sure. We needed some more space for growing boys to be growing boys. We aren’t heading far, just a mile or two north. This will be the sixth house Stacey and I live in during our 16 years of marriage. Our current home, going on the market very soon, is the longest we’ve stayed in one place—six years.
The company I started working for nine months ago, Emplify, was acquired!
At the beginning of April (the day after we bought our new house, actually), it was announced that we were merging with 15Five, a San Fran-based HR tech company. I’ve actually known about 15Five since 2013, where we used it at YouVersion. Great company, amazing culture. My job, in essence, hasn't changed. I’ll keep coaching managers and leaders, helping them thrive personally and grow healthy teams. Still remote, still love it. So grateful.
Tiny Tree!
In prep for moving, we made the obligatory trip to Ikea to get some things for the new house. Among them, my very first house plant/small tree! It’s a ficus microcarpa ginseng, sometimes considered a type of bonsai. Excited to see if I can keep this thing alive!
Links to check out
Favorable conditions never come. A great reminder for us all. Just get started.
The surprise proposal from Joe Manchin to fix some serious voter rights issues that are compounding in our country right now. (Great primer on what’s been going on since the last election, too).
You’ve likely heard the term “Critical Race Theory” in recent months. A pastor from my community outlines what it is, why it isn’t the bogeyman some make it out to be, and the sneaky way “white citizens councils” have been remade for the 21st century.
America executed an innocent man. New evidence proves it. And it’s not the first time (or likely the last). The death penalty in America is alive and well. South Carolina, in fact, just updated their laws to allow the firing squad if the chemicals needed for lethal injection aren’t available. What?!
If you’re a fan of Dax’s podcast, Armchair Expert, it’s moving exclusively to Spotify. Not a fan of Spotify buying up premiere shows and entire podcast networks. Gated communities for podcasts and exclusive deals, while perhaps inevitable, hurts the listener experience and creates the same problems we see in the streaming wars of TV and movies.
“How political should I let my team be?” Good insight as many reflect on workplace culture in light of the meltdown at Basecamp.
Sometimes we need visuals to help us understand a story more clearly, especially when the stakes are high and it’s hard to grasp the scale of something really big. This is one of those visuals and this is the article to help you understand more.
Podcast: Radiolab recently rebroadcast this episode about the human experience of all the online shopping and instant shipping that’s become so expected in our part of the world. It’s part of why we don’t have an Amazon Prime membership anymore.
Podcast: Dax Shepherd Doesn’t Believe in Regret, from WorkLife with Adam Grant.
Podcast: Is Your Carbon Footprint BS?, from How to Save a Planet
Podcast: The One with Brené Brown, from A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek
Podcast: The Test Kitchen Revisited, from Reply All
Podcast: Latif, from Tell Them I Am
Podcast: Compassion, Empathy, & Resilience, from HR Superstars