Here is a digest of the best links I found each week for anyone who might be interested.

The Pandemic: the reality we live in

All states are reopening, but almost half of them are seeing rising cases. Good news is that US has crossed 500k minimum daily tests. However, not all new cases can be attributed to the increase of test capacity. The South and West states are seeing rising positive rates instead:

It is affecting people of color the most.

Black people are dying at a rate nearly 2 times higher than their population share.

We are not seeing corresponding rise in deaths. Possible reasons according to Bob Wachter can be:

1. might be too early: deaths often lag 2–3 weeks behind cases;

2. w/ more testing, milder cases diagnosed w/ better prognosis than when we only tested pts w/ severe symptoms;

3. In hard-hit regions, some at-risk people already infected/died;

4. early mortality rates came from overwhelmed places (Wuhan, Italy, NYC). Hospitals w/ capacity may do better (good reason to avoid overwhelming the system);

5. We’re getting better at treating Covid.

Among 140+ vaccine in development, 8 are in expanded safety trials and 2 are in large-scale efficacy tests. (Tracker)

Disruptions: how it might be different

NASA releases basic principles for moon exploration: it proposes safe zones around moon bases to prevent harmful interference, and incentivizes private companies by allowing them to own whatever they mine. I can see how this may motivate companies to make more progress in space development. But, it is unclear to me how it can avoid conflicts.

A beautiful graphic history of space exploration is presented by national geographic. Though it was mostly about the past, every piece reminds you what can happen in the future. A lot of time, it just takes a little more imagination.

NASA’s next robotic moon landings in 2021 still on track despite the pandemic. I know people who are taking great risk to go to work on this, because this is the dream for a life time.

Insights: raise the bar for ourselves

The Magic Moment: “Inspiration is perishable, so strike while the flame is hot.” In other words, procrastination is the enemy of creativity.

Measurement and Venture Capital points out the limitation of quantity measurement and the challenges of measuring quality. For big challenges needing long-term solutions, it requires more fundamental thinking. It’s the same way we should approach product design, thoughtful and intentional, not treating customers as lab rats.

I like to work on things that haven’t been tried or proved before. And, every time I work on a new project, it is a hell of nervousness at the beginning. That is the feeling of being a noob. Though unpleasant, the more you feel like a noob, the better.

There is a view of tooling behind solving online events. The practical aspect for networking is the missing of non-urgent meetups, “when we are both in the city”. It makes me nervous to schedule a casual call online nowadays.

Leadership: the ideas for better collaboration

Without seeing the end of this pandemic, companies have to face remote work, or a mix of models, for a long time. I have written about the challenges of running remote teams recently. Those challenges will just grow bigger, as everyone is stretched by all sorts of things happening right now. It’s going to be harder, maybe even harder once part of the office is reopen. Follow some of the discussions on leading virtually started by Fred Wilson.

HBR’s article on organizational intelligence echos one of my biggest learnings when transitioning from managing a mid-sized team to a big organization: “High-OQ leaders send messages that reinforce the strategy — and minimize other messaging.” Information at big organizations is overwhelming. Things are changing constantly. Every member in the org could be overloaded to certain degree. It’s important for the leader to send, and repeatedly revisit, a few simple and clean messages. Outstanding leaders can even strengthen those messages by staging “moments of theater” that can be part of the organization’s history. I am still striving to do the latter.

Economy: the science hidden among fallacies

The former Treasury Secretary speaks on globalization, reforming, post-pandemic fiscal policies. I am reading a lot about globalization recently. The economic theory behind it is sound and intuitive. But, we are seeing more people turning against it. Is it a misperception? Or, something fundamentally wrong? I think Mr. Summer did make a point here:

Let’s take the global dimension first. We have done too much management of globalization for the benefit of those in Davos, and too little for the benefit of those in Detroit or Dusseldorf. Over the last two decades, better intellectual property protection for Mickey Mouse and Hollywood movies has been an A level economic issue. Better global tax cooperation, so that tech companies’ profits do not locate themselves in cyberspace and entirely escape taxation, has been a B-level issue. Achieving better market access for derivatives dealers has been an A-level global economic issue, while assuring that bank secrecy does not permit large-scale money laundering has been a B-level economic cooperation issue. The protection of foreign investors’ property rights has been an A-level issue, and the maintenance of worker standards, or the avoidance of unfair competition through exchange rate depreciation, has been a B-level issue. And ultimately, that has all estranged the elite from those they aspire to lead.

And this is what to make of Secretary Pompeo decertifying Hong Kong autonomy. Now, the fate of HK is in the hands of the two leaders.