Work In Progress Newsletter
Edition Seven | July 4, 2022

WRITE THIS WAY…
Hello and welcome to the altogether new seventh edition of my Work in Progress newsletter. Today we celebrate the Fourth of July holiday or as our British cousins still refer to it, “Happy Treason Day” for those “Ungrateful Colonials…” After another unsettling week I found myself watching the movie Independence Day which is streaming now on Amazon Prime. President Whitmore (played by Bill Pullman) gives one of the more inspired speeches ever delivered by a fictional movie president. The interesting thing about the speech is it was directly “liberated” from Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry VIII. Ungrateful Colonials, indeed…  

THREE DOTS… GOOD NEWS ONLY
These Boy Scouts demonstrated heroism during the aftermath of a horrific train crash… Eli Skrypczak and and Appleton (Wisconsin) Troop 73 were prepared and ready to respond to the emergency… Meet your sensei, Jeff Wall… a teenager, who was inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame at 10 years old, founded Golden Age Karate during the early days of the pandemic to share the martial arts discipline with senior citizens in his community…  More goosebump-inducing stories from the world of sports… Former No. 1 overall draft pick Mark Appel made his Major League debut at age 30 and pitched a scoreless ninth for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Stanford All-American dealt with a variety of injuries and mental health issues, wrote on Twitter in 2021 when he returned to Spring Training: “In 2013, I was the #1 overall pick in the MLB Draft. Five years later, I was called ‘the biggest bust in MLB history.’ Today, I’m working my way back, and I’m here to share both the hard-earned lessons I’ve learned along the way.” … Carson Pickett became the first player with a limb difference to debut for the US Women’s National Team when she started on defense in a 2-0 friendly triumph over Colombia. 


SNIPPETS AND IDEA WISPS
And now a collection of elegant phrases, snippets and quotes consumed last week.

New phrase: Spiky Points of View (SPOV) – Views which are important, but not without pain points… as mentioned by Wes Kao, founder of Maven

Important Reminder: Attack ideas with gusto. Never attack each other… 

Other wisps… “Emerging from the COVID cocoon”… “Striving for progress, not perfection”

Bonus “The Office” quote: “I just want to lie on the beach and eat hot dogs. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” — Kevin Malone

OTD – JULY 4, 2022
Notable Historical Moments… England and King George III were big mad about a document circulating for signatures throughout the renegade colonies in 1776…  In one of the finest examples of “act now and ask for forgiveness later,” President Thomas Jefferson announces he has completed a shopping spree aka the Louisiana Purchase in 1803…  Lou Gehrig became the first Yankee to have his number (4) retired in 1939… Gehrig makes a memorable speech to commemorate the occasion.

Famous Deaths… Three former US Presidents passed: John Adams and rival Thomas Jefferson within hours of each other in 1826 and another Declaration signer, James Monroe (1836)… legendary crooner Barry White in 2003.

Famous Birthdays… Relentlessly boring US President Calvin Coolidge (1872)… Noted Seinfeld actor and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (1930)… Singer-songwriter Bill Withers (1938)… One of the iconic hits from Withers HERE. Have a lovely day, y’all.

WHAT I LINKEDIN LEARNED
Watched a fascinating weekly LinkedIn Live event – Monday Mentor with Jenn Whitmer featuring Lesley Woods Head of Campaigns for the RAF Reserve. Last week’s topic: Vital Communication as a Leader. Definitely a fascinating conversation, including a spectacular story where Woods climbed a tree and earned a hug from Tom Cruise on a Mission Impossible set. 

WHAT I’M READING NOW
For Improvement: The Peter Principle by Laurence J. Peter

**One sentence review: From 1969, one of the more remarkable, accurate assessments of what life in a traditional corporate culture resembled… makes ‘Mad Men” even more relatable. 

For an Escape: Three Wishes: A Novel by Liane Moriarty

**One sentence review: There’s nothing quite like family drama and this one is in triplicate as three sisters -triplets – navigate intertwining lives, loves and loss in Sydney. 

Embracing my inner history nerd: Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose

**One sentence review: Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark did not own a single piece of North Face, Patagonia or REI gear and yet still managed to be better outdoorsmen (and much, much tougher) than you.

WHAT I WATCHED
I will not bore you with my fifth viewing of Top Gun Maverick. Instead I have watched two of the three seasons of Barry, starring Bill Hader. It chronicles a hitman who finds a new passion and purpose in life when he stumbles into an acting class (taught by Henry Winkler). It has some shades of one of my favorite movies: Grosse Pointe Blank. All three seasons are available on HBO Max.  

ESCAPE POD
The Rewatchables podcast on The Ringer Podcast Network continues to be one of my favorite weekly listens. One of the latest episodes featured a breakdown of one of my favorite movies: The Untouchables starring Kevin Costner and Sean Connery, who won an Oscar for the role despite inexplicably using a Scottish accent while playing an Irish cop.

All episodes of The Rewatchables are available HERE on Spotify.

CLIP OF THE WEEK
A look back at one of the best sports commercials ever captured on film. “Hey!! We’ve got Cy Young-winners over here!!”

MY GIF TO YOU
Thanks for reading this newsletter and this from Sir Connery sums up my current mood…

QUOTABLE
“There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into sun”
– Pablo Picasso


THIS WAY OUT
Thanks for reading the latest edition of my Work In Progress newsletter. Look for a new article on my timeline later this week. My goal is to release these newsletters each Monday – because who doesn’t need a shot of good news to start the work week? Special thanks to Kim Kaupe and Terry Rice for encouraging me to launch this into the universe. As always, feedback is welcomed!