Stock Watch: 7-Eleven

To celebrate 7/11, today’s Stock Watch features everyone’s favorite 4am taquito purveyor. 

Icebreakers With...Malcolm Gladwell

Panoply

Malcolm Gladwell is a journalist, author, and podcast host with something super brilliant to say on just about everything. So we peppered him with wide-ranging questions, focusing on topics from the newest season of his podcast, Revisionist History.

10 years down the line, which activity will passengers in driverless cars do most frequently: work, sleep, chat, or something else? 

All of the above! The biggest worry, of course, is that we’ll be able to use our time so productively while being driven around that we’ll drive everywhere, at the drop of the hat, and the world’s already terrible traffic will only get worse. I mean, right now you might take the train to work instead of braving rush-hour traffic. But if you can watch Netflix the whole time, why would you care about being stuck in traffic?

Should we trust the US News & World Report college rankings? 

Of course not! OMG. Is that not obvious? Think back on your time in college and what you liked most about that experience. And then ask yourself: Is that thing you remember so well measurable and quantifiable? Or ask yourself: Is it possible (if we’re being honest about it) to compare, say, the Air Force Academy with Yeshiva University, using the same metrics and the same scale? I mean, come on.

When did you realize The Little Mermaid was not like other Disney movies?

I read a brilliant law review essay about The Little Mermaid by a law professor in Chicago named Laura Beth Nielsen. And what I learned was so disturbing that I decided that I had to (very belatedly) watch the movie. Let me just say this: It was much worse than I had anticipated. That’s why we ended up doing three episodes on the movie in the new season of Revisionist History.

Do you still believe in the 10,000-hour rule? 

I believe what I have always believed, that true expertise in any cognitively complex field requires a lot of preparation. Far more than we imagine. Does that preparation always take 10,000 hours? Of course not. That number is more metaphor than prescription.

If you did not have to sleep, how would you spend the extra hours?

Sleep is literally my favorite thing to do. If I did not have to sleep, I would sleep anyway. I would fake it! I would lie in bed and pretend to be one of those lucky humans who needs to sleep.

What do you most often think about when you’re long-distance running?

When I finish a run I usually think only about food. I always run before dinner. It’s my version of an aperitif.

What would you write on a gigantic billboard?

“I went on Morning Brew and all I got was this gigantic empty billboard :).” Seriously? I would repeat the greatest of all journalism dictums: “Afflict the comfortable! And comfort the afflicted!”

If you had to make your own zombie movie, what would your zombies be like? How would they be different from stereotypical zombies?

My zombies would be Canadian, like me. They would be unfailingly polite. They would run a clean and functional zombie-universe. They would look upon their southern zombie neighbors with a certain degree of alarm. 

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Am I Ready to Become a Manager?

Each week, Morning Brew's Head of People Ops Kate Noel answers reader-submitted questions about work in 2021. 

I have been at my first job for two years and just received a promotion. Now, my boss wants to put me into a manager role. I don’t think I’m ready or qualified for the role. How do I deal with that?—Emily from Texas

Congrats on your recent promotion! It’s totally normal for you to feel nervous about becoming a manager. It’s not like anyone says, “I want to be a manager when I grow up!”

The good news is, managing can be learned with enough work and patience. If you feel underqualified to become a manager, share your reservations with your supervisor. They might have felt the same way when stepping into their position. Together you can create a plan that will set you up for success in the role, with the understanding that no one is going to be perfect from Day 1.

Also, make sure that what you’re feeling isn't imposter syndrome. For your manager to see potential in your growth at the company means that they believe you are capable of doing the work. But only you can want it. 

Of course, while managing can be extremely rewarding, it certainly isn’t for everyone. If you’ve reflected and decided that you have no desire to transition into a management position, then you should be transparent with your boss.

But...I think you should give it a shot! Schedule a three-month trial run (at the manager's rate of pay, of course) so there’s no pressure on you to continue if you absolutely hate it. Let us know what happens!

Something bothering you at work? Ask Kate here.

The Daredevil Executive

Virgin Galactic

When Richard Branson blasts off to space today, he’ll be putting himself in more danger than if he had walked to the local brunch spot for a Bloody Mary and an eggs benny. 

The space plane he’s traveling in will reach 2,400 miles per hour before it becomes suspended in microgravity more than 50 miles above Earth, after which it’ll do a somersault and trek back to solid ground. Virgin Galactic has completed more than 20 test flights, but the mission has been delayed by technical issues and a pilot died in a test flight in 2014.

All of this to say, Branson is engaging in abnormally risky behavior. Should the company care? 

History as a guide

Branson isn’t the first executive with a daredevil mentality. In 2012, the chief executive of memory chip maker Micron Technology, Steve Appleton, died when the experimental, self-assembled plane he was piloting crashed.

Appleton’s death raised questions about whether the company’s board had any responsibility to be the uncool dad and say, “You know, Steve, you are running an $8 billion company with more than 26,000 employees...for our shareholders’ sake we can’t let you fly stunt planes anymore.” Or, at the very least publish disclosures around Appleton’s dangerous hobbies. 

• Micron shares fell more than 6% following the news of Appleton’s death. At the time, it was also rumored to be in active talks to acquire a Japanese rival. 

Some public companies have “key person” insurance policies to mitigate the financial fallout from the unexpected death of an executive, but most firms just assume it will never happen, even if their leader races yachts like Oracle’s Larry Ellison or runs with the bulls like American Airlines CEO Doug Parker. 

In fact, some experts think being a daredevil outside of work means you’re more likely to take risks during work, increasing your company’s odds of beating out competitors. A 2011 study found that CEOs with licenses to pilot small aircraft (an activity 30x more dangerous than driving a car) are 40% more likely to make a corporate acquisition and 15% more likely to take on greater leverage.

Bottom line: When Richard Branson decided to create a space company, it’s probably because he wanted to go to space. His personal ambitions are intertwined with the company’s—today's flight was inevitable. 

Open House

Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that doesn’t pretend a cheap rug and a lime green Target chair make a home a mid-century modern showpiece. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.

Zillow

This carpet haven in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is going to be divisive. It was built in 1950, so you can only imagine the types of parties that were thrown behind its floor-to-ceiling windows. 

Amenities include:

• 3,020 square feet, 4 beds, 3 baths
• Wallpaper that makes the room seem dirtier than it is
• Extremely charming light fixtures
• A 20-minute walk to the golf course

How much to live your postwar dream? Scroll to the bottom of the newsletter to find out.

Just Click It

1. The elite master’s degrees that don’t pay off. (WSJ)
2. Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg’s partnership did not survive Trump. (New York Times)
3. Photos of fans cheering on their teams at the Euros. (The Atlantic)
4. What makes a cult a cult? (The New Yorker)
5. The life and suspicious death of Cachou the Bear. (Bloomberg)
6. From K-pop stan to keyboard warrior: Meet the activists battling Myanmar’s military junta. (Rest of World)
7. Euro 2020: The politics of the game. (The Take)
8. The subversive joy of Lil Nas X’s gay pop stardom. (NYT Magazine)
9. The perfect video doesn’t exis—. (Twitter)
10. Blockchain chicken farms and other surreal stories of tech in China’s countryside. (Asian Review of Books)

*Making big decisions is no small task. Whether it’s choosing what to invest in or figuring out a career move, The Wall Street Journal’s accurate reporting and insights can help you make decisions with confidence. Join for just $4 a month.*

Meme Battle

Welcome back to Morning Brew's Meme Battle, where we crown a single memelord every Sunday.

Today's winner: Bryant in Columbia, SC, with some extremely relatable content. 

This week's challenge: You can find the new meme template here for next Sunday. Once you're done making your meme, submit it at this link. We'll pick a new memelord for next week's Sunday Edition and provide you with another meme template to meme-ify. 

$750,000