How To Hear Color, Geriatric Millennials and Why Parking Destroys Cities | Non-Obvious Insights #270

Dear Newsletterest,

What can Google's latest experiment tell us about a surprising job of the future? What is the potential controversy from Olympic Surfing that you should plan to watch out for? Who is a "Geriatric Millennial" and why might that be a good thing? How are urban planning parking requirements destroying cities? Why did 60 Minutes erase the pioneering work of three Black scientists? Answers to these questions, my latest video interview and an offer for some free books are all in this week's Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter. Enjoy!

You Might Be A "Geriatric Millennial" If You Were Born Between 1980-1985

One Twitter user described it as "the rudest way to tell me I'm the best for something." Yep, my friend and author Erica Dhawan got the Internet all riled up this week with an article aimed at promoting her new book, Digital Body Language. In it, she suggested that people born between 1980 and 1985 (the ones she calls "Geriatric Millennials") were "best positioned to lead teams that will thrive in the hybrid workplace."

That is probably true, but just take a moment to appreciate the subtle brilliance of this post. Erica talks about her topic (digital body language), creates an intentionally provocative term that generates outrage from easily outraged people, and rides the wave of "controversy" to talk about why these older millennials (of which she is one too) are actually awesome. This is what masterful PR looks like.

Watch last week's episode of my show where I interviewed Erica and we talked about why Indian fathers don't share the check, email etiquette and the real reason she has five different headshots.

Why You May See the Hawaiian Flag at Olympic Surfing, Not the U.S. One

Hawaiian surfer Ezekiel Lau calls surfing "Hawaii's gift to the world." This summer, the sport will make its first appearance in the Olympics and in the process it will spotlight a longtime tension between the islands and their one-time occupiers: the United States. Hawaii, of course, is one of the fifty states and part of the US. Yet during surfing competitions in past years, winning Hawaiian surfers have proudly draped themselves in the Hawaiian flag rather than the American one. As one surfer explains, "I'm not anti-anything. I'm pro-Hawaii."

Apparently, most surfers from Hawaii would rather have competed under the state flag - but that was never seriously considered by the sport's governing body. So if you weren't already, get excited to watch surfing in the Olympics. Not only will Japan's waves make the show worth watching ... but now you can join me in wondering what flag the winners will be flying if they happen to be Hawaiian-American too.

The "CMO Most Likely To Change Jobs" Strikes Back On Double Standard

You are probably already familiar with the term "glass ceiling" -- but have you heard of the "glass cliff"? It's a term used to describe a scenario when a woman is put in a position of power to manage a doomed initiative and then blamed for its demise when it inevitably fails. Senior marketing executive Bozoma Saint John, who has recently spearheaded top roles at Apple, Uber, Netflix and Pepsi was described crudely by AdAge magazine as "the CMO most likely to jump jobs in 2021."

Many objected to her portrayal, pointing out that there was no context given for why she might have needed to change jobs more frequently than more privileged peers. Saint John herself pointed out the double standard in an Op-Ed, writing "if you fail, it’s everybody’s failure. The pressure that comes with that can be crushing. You have to be perfect. If you lose this job, then perhaps the next person won’t get the shot to do it.”

She's right. That's a lot of pressure for anyone. Coupled with the phenomenon of the glass cliff, what it means is that leaders like Saint John and many other women or minorities who reach these elevated positions are often never given the right support to succeed. When they fail, it shouldn't reflect badly on the gender or ethnicity they represent. It should reflect badly on the organization that failed to support them in the first place.

The $18 Million Bugatti That Is Now The Most Expensive Car Ever

I am not usually a car guy. After seeing the recently announced "world's most expensive car," this $18 million dollar Bugatti ... I'm still not a car guy. I find it sort of sad that we live in a world where anyone might consider spending this much money on a car, and even sadder that anyone has enough disposable income that they could (probably) easily buy it. Anyone in the market for this car wouldn't need an auto loan. Still, it is undeniably a beautiful car. So if you are a car guy/girl, enjoy the photos and feel free to dream of owning this one. Even though I suspect there are lots of better ways to spend your $18 million.

Google Launches Experiment To Let Anyone Hear a Color

You already know that music can convey an emotion. And you know that paintings can do the same thing. In a new experiment from Google, they have put the pieces together to let anyone listen to a painting by abstract art pioneer Wassily Kandinsky. On the experimental website, you can play around with listening to various colors and different parts of the painting to see the world through the artist's descriptions and commentary about it. This is one potential future for art ... one where you no longer experience something created in one medium in that channel alone. Aside from the implications for allowing people with disabilities to partake in new experiences, if this becomes popular it may inspire an entirely new job of the future for skilled "experience translators" who can manage this process of making the world's creations available in previously unavailable formats.

How Parking Destroys Cities

For many new buildings across the world, there is a requirement that a certain number of parking spaces be included based on the number of potential tenants the building will hold. As urban planning professor Michael Manville argues, this parking requirement means buildings are a lot more costly to build and keep great projects from getting funded and approved. In LA, for example, out of the $274 million budget for building the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the underground parking structure cost nearly $100 million. Here's the problem in a nutshell:

"A commercial requirement of one parking space per 300 square feet means developers will put new retail in a car-friendly, pedestrian-hostile strip mall. And a requirement of one parking space per 100 square feet for restaurants means the typical eating establishment will devote three times as much space to parking as it will to dining."

So how can we solve this? Manville suggests fixing this would be relatively simple: "it shouldn’t be illegal to put up a building without parking and market it to people without cars."

Even More Non-Obvious Stories ...

Every week I always curate more stories than I'm able to explore in detail. In case you're looking for some more reading this week, here are a few other stories that captured my attention ...

Did you request your free books yet?

Earlier this week, I shared an offer for you to request a FREE review copy of either (or both) of the new Second Editions to my Non-Obvious Guide to Working Remotely or to Marketing + Branding. I was originally going to limit this to the first 500 responses but we blew past that goal within the first four hours and I didn't feel it was fair to close it so quickly.

As of this morning, my team told me we are nearing 1000 requests, but I'm going to keep it open until Midnight tonight as I originally promised. All digital and print copies will be sent out on Friday (tomorrow) so if you haven't already, follow this link and request your review copy right now >>

How are these stories curated?

Every week I spend hours going through hundreds of stories in order to curate this email. Want to discuss how I could bring this thinking to your next event as a virtual speaker? Visit my speaking page to watch my new 2021 sizzle reel >>

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How To Hear Color, Geriatric Millennials and Why Parking Destroys Cities | Non-Obvious Insights #270

You Might Be A "Geriatric Millennial" If You Were Born Between 1980-1985

Why You May See the Hawaiian Flag at Olympic Surfing, Not the U.S. One

The "CMO Most Likely To Change Jobs" Strikes Back On Double Standard

The $18 Million Bugatti That Is Now The Most Expensive Car Ever

Google Launches Experiment To Let Anyone Hear a Color

How Parking Destroys Cities

Even More Non-Obvious Stories ...

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FREE Book Offer: Get My New Non-Obvious Guides to Working Remotely and Marketing + Branding [Only available for 48 hours!]

Suing Opioid Marketers, Vaccinating India and Why Everyone Hates "Instagram for Kids" | Non-Obvious Insights #269

Pee Color Charts, Pet-Friendly Offices, and the Age of Instant Recycling | Non-Obvious Insights #268

Skipping Mother's Day, NFT Nightmare Scenario and a World Without Men | Non-Obvious Insights #267

Ramadan Marketing, the YOLO Economy and 9 Interesting Earth Day Stories | Non-Obvious Insights #266

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