#i think team principles need to remember that their drivers are people too

[keepthedelta]

now thinking about the nico jenson podcast episode where they both said that they needed to be loved and appreciated by a team in order to perform

[vivwritesfics]

Padawan Learner

Mrs Vettel, ex Williams driver, current McLaren driver, can't drive while pregnant. Although she's contracted until 2026, she can't drive while she's with child. But she can't stay away from racing, and can't help but take the Williams rookie under her wing.

Sebastian Vettel x Reader, (Platonic) Logan Sargeant x Reader

Warnings: Brief description of smut

She wasn't supposed to retire at the same time as her husband. He felt as if he was at the end of his career and there was nothing more he could offer to the sport, so he retired. He'd had his glory years in Red Bull, moved to Ferrari, every racers dream, and ended things in Aston Martin, alongside his wife's old teammate.

She still had more race left in her. She'd been with Williams for years, racing alongside Valteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, George Russell, and, later, Alex Albon. But then she moved to McLaren, a team she felt would help her fight for wins.

Her husband very thoroughly celebrated the beginning of his retirement. She found herself stuffed full of cum almost every day of winter break.

It shouldn't have been a surprise when they got pregnant. But she wanted to murder Sebastian. For all of five seconds she wanted to drown him in their pool. But, after that five seconds passed, she was overjoyed, wrapping her arms around Sebastians neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

She told McLaren and they pulled Oscar Piastri in for the year. That was how he got his first drive in F1. All because Sebastian Vettel was incredibly horny, but he didn't need to know this.

She might not have been able to drive, but she still wanted to be trackside whenever she could. Her old team gave her this opportunity. She didn't hang around the McLaren garage, as she had half expected.

No, it was Williams and the new team Principle, James Vowles, who gave her somewhere to be during the season. Even in preseason testing, she was there, watching the Williams.

It was great to be in the garage with Lily again. She'd always liked Lily, thought she was great for Alex when they first met. After her move to McLaren she rarely got to see Lily, and as much as she hated sitting in the garage, it was nice to be sat in the garage with her.

Alex was a great driver. Any advice a veteran like her could have offered him, he already knew.

But then there was his teammate.

She watched Logan from his very first race weekend. She had known about the rookie for a couple of years now and had watched him succeed in Formula Two.

But now, in the Williams tractor, he was struggling. Week after week after week he was finishing outside of the points, or he wasn't finishing at all. She really felt for him.

"Hey," she said after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Logan hadn't spoken to anybody since he got out of the car and did all that he needed to do. Clearly he was struggling. He didn't say anything, just looked up.

She stood beside him. At her stage of pregnancy she could have gotten down to the floor to sit with him, but she wouldn't have been able to get up without help. Her hand rested on her bump as she looked down at him.

"I still remember my first season in Formula One," she said as she looked at the retired car. "It was 2013 and Seb was set to win the championship. I was in my first year in Williams and I think I only finished maybe ten races," she said with a laugh.

"Wait, seriously?" Asked Logan as he looked up.

She nodded her head. "I crashed out of most, or the car fell apart on me. Most people wondered why I had a seat for the next year, but Williams saw potential in me. I know they see it in you, too."

Every time Logan didn't finish a race, every time he came dead last, she was there. Nobody could comfort her like she did. Sometimes Seb joked that they might as well adopt him, and Logan agreed. Most up and down paddock called Logan her padawan learner, which was very fitting.

Logan began being the person she spent the most time with when Sebastian wasn't there. He'd looked up to her for many years and having her support meant the world to him. He was there for her too, making sure she had somewhere to sit and something to drink whenever she needed it.

In September, a month before her due date, Sebastian begged her to stop travelling. Just in case he wanted her home with him, where he could take care of her. They still watched every race together and she made sure to send Logan a good luck text before every practice session, qualifying, and race.

When Logan got his first points, nobody celebrated more than Sebastian Vettels wife. She was so proud of him, even if those points were because of two disqualifications. She posted a picture of him and her from a previous race on Instagram like a proud mum. Funnily enough, Logan comments 'thanks mom' on the post.

Just two weeks after this, her water broke. Sebastian got her to the hospital. He stayed by her side, holding her hand through the hours of excruciating labour.

Leon Vettel didn't cry when he was born. He was so quiet, that it actually scared his mother. But the doctors and nurses assured the new parents that he was perfectly healthy.

He was their perfect little man.

She insisted on asking Logan to be Leons godfather. They had grown so close over the last few months that it seemed fitting.

Logan accepted. As soon as the Vettels could, they were taking Leon to races. Or, Sebastian took Leon to races, to watch his mother race. Of course he was wearing a Williams hat and McLaren shirt.

"Papa," Leon said at four years old after watching the Australian Grand Prix qualifying session.

"What is it, my little man?" Asked Sebastian as he sat Leon on his lap.

"I wanna be like mama and Uncle Logan," he said, and Sebastian couldn't stop himself from grinning.

[bahrain-lights]

The news that Red Bull is intending to employ a lawyer to advise them on appealing the steward’s decision from last week’s British GP with the intention of getting Lewis Hamilton a race ban or worse had my legal brain itching. Under the ‘read more’ button you’ll find an explanation of what Red Bull’s options are as well as my humble expectations of the whole situation, should Red Bull go all-out on this.

I'll tag @race-week, @babssionate and @weraceasone because they're bound to get questions about this and maybe this'll help :)

FIA appeal procedure

The FIA has its own appeal procedure. If a team, a driver, or any motor sport figure/authority does not agree with a decision, this decision is firstly appealed to the stewards who made the decision. This can also be read in the decision itself (here). The stewards can then re-evaluate their decision. If they decide not to change the sanction they decided on (in this case, the 10-second penalty) or if they change it but any party still doesn’t agree, they can appeal this decision to the FIA International Court of Appeals (ICA), which is an international tribunal with 32 (independent) judges. I won’t bore you with the full procedural course of an ICA case, if you want to you can read it here (in the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules), but if you don’t want to or can’t, just take it from me that this is a lengthy procedure, time-wise. It is also expensive: just the filing of the appeal in and of itself costs (in this case) €3000,- (Article 9.1.1 FIA Sporting Decision), not even beginning to think of the costs of travel (parties are obligated to appear in person to the hearings) and legal representation (you can bet your ass that Red Bull Lawyer is being paid good money).

So, summarizing, a FIA decision can be appealed as follows:

Original decision made by the stewards – appeal with the stewards – appeal at the ICA

Wait - what is a tribunal?

Now seems like a good time to explain what a tribunal is, exactly. A tribunal is a specialised court that focuses on one single event or one single professional group. On the one hand you can think of war tribunals, like the Nuremberg Tribunal after WWII. Tribunals exist in day to day life in professional groups that have their own set of rules and regulations. For example, there are medical tribunals for doctors and surgeons who break medical rules, there are legal tribunals for lawyers who break behavioural codes, and there are military tribunals for soldiers who break the law. Think of it as a small legal system within the larger existing international legal system. The FIA is the same, it’s its own ‘legal system’ with its own legal code (the International Sporting Code and all affiliated codes) and its own court and appeals system.

So – what happens after the ICA?

The reason it is important to understand that the FIA is its own legal system is because it means the ICA is the final body where an FIA decision can be appealed. What the ICA decides, goes, no more appeals possible.

But what about the ‘regular’ court then?

So let’s say the ICA decides not to give a race ban, and decide that the original 10-second penalty was a correct penalty. Can Red Bull take the case to a regular court? Well, yes and no.

They can’t bring any party to court based on the FIA Sporting Code. As explained above, the FIA has exclusive jurisdiction over the application of this Code. If Red Bull wants to bring any party to a national court, they’d have to base it on national law, not the sporting code.

Now this is where it becomes interesting and also legally very improbable that Red Bull is going to achieve something. Red Bull has two options here, either taking Mercedes to court or taking the FIA to court.

Taking Mercedes to court

This would be a private case – and most likely be ruled by British law as both teams are based in GB. Now, I am not well versed in British law at all because the British legal system is fundamentally different from the one I study (Dutch). However, this would come down to some sort of personal damages and liability claim. This would be such a lengthy, complicated, impossible case that I doubt anyone will take this route. They’ll have to hire experts to analyse the actual move on track, wait for reports – it would take years. Meaning it would be wrapped up years after this year’s WDC is decided. Also taking into account that Max hasn’t suffered any permanent physical damage either (thank god), this is such an improbable scenario for Red Bull to win I just don’t think this is a route they’ll take.

Taking the FIA to court

Speaking of complicated cases: this. If it would get this far, Red Bull would be taking the FIA to court based on the FIA breaking certain procedural rules or fundamental legal principles. I won’t explain this too far because (1) it’s very complicated anyway en (2) I just cannot be asked to take all my Dutch legal knowledge and properly translate all the legal terms to English because that would take hours to convert.

Since the FIA is based in France and Red Bull in England, but is an Austrian company, I’m not sure to which national court this would be taken. To find that out I’d need to check several international treaties and, well, I disliked my International Law courses for a reason so I am Not Doing That.

So, what do I think will happen?

I think there’s a high chance Red Bull will appeal the decision at least once. However, I am not deeply familiar with the Sporting Code. Since I couldn’t say which Articles from the Code they’d be using I can’t really predict the success rate of that appeal. I’m guessing Red Bull are currently employing that lawyer to find out just that: how sensible an appeal would be. Assuming an appeal had a high chance of success, I think there’s a solid chance they’ll take it up to the ICA. However, I think the chance of them taking this to a regular national court is slim to none regardless of the final FIA decision.

This news sounds a lot more dramatic than it actually is - don't blow it out of proportion! I just wrote this because I enjoy this topic and I like informing people, lol.

All in all, Red Bull for now has only hired the lawyer for advice - this is incredibly common all across the corporate world and is by no means alarming. Remember: asking a lawyer for advice does not always lead to an actual court case. Advice and mediation is often a far larger part of a lawyer's job than taking things to court!

[venusinmyrrh]

WIP ASKS GAME: rules are as follows. post the barebones plot of your WIPs and let people send you an ask with the title that intrigues them the most and then post a snippet/tell them something about it!

i was tagged by @tybaltsjuliet, who surely must be aware i have upwards of two dozen stories kicking around my google drive at any given time. that is too damn many to list, so here are a handful that have actually moved from ideas to words.

challenge of the warrior: after juliet helps to bring down a sorcerer warlord’s power-hungry, murderous gang, she expects that will be the last she sees of kai, his handsome and enigmatic lieutenant. but there’s more to him than the company he keeps, just as there is more to war than the fighting. there is also the aftermath, the healing, and the learning to rebuild. 

the farewell tour: frankie is an undisputed icon of rock and roll - or was, thirty years ago. he’s ready to let his career die a quiet death, but his label has other plans: co-headlining a national tour with stef, a brilliant young indie artist headed for stardom. for her part, stef doesn’t feel much like a star, but as she finds her fire, she just might relight his. 

guy ritchie’s england: evie’s made something of a career out of negotiating with gentlemen criminals, but when she stumbles upon a casino kidnapping orchestrated by her ex-boyfriend tommy (who is just as handsome as she remembers), all bets are off. 

rombare: jacqueline is the first female formula one driver in half a century, but has always played second driver to her more experienced teammate. when she gets the opportunity to lead an exciting new up-and-coming team, her boss, team principle jean-christophe, doesn’t want her to go... but not for the reason she thinks. 

rombare: the film: when award-winning actress isabel is offered the lead role in a biopic about the first female formula one driver in half a century, she accepts, even though she knows next to nothing about racing and the idea of it scares her half to death. veteran driver alessandro offers to train her up, but it turns out that he needs her help as much as she needs his.

[kellyedith]

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[psychopersonified]

Kidnapped!Q

Don’t we 00Q shippers love a good kidnapped!Q story. Here’s my take on an attempted kidnapping story. 

Available on AO3 look for handle Psychopersonified. 

------

Friday 10:00am

The buildings’ security system pings his phone ::Lobby Alert:: 

Frowning, Q sets down the steaming mug of ginger tea. He was looking forward to the steam helping clear his congested sinuses. He’s developed a cold over the last couple of days, and medical sent him home yesterday for an early weekend.

He goes to the tablet mounted on the wall and pulls up the security feeds. There’s no one in the lobby which is a little strange. Movement in the next window catches his eye. It’s the hallway camera looking down the length of his floor, one of the lifts just opened and three men in paramedic uniform steps out. Curious. Who on his floor is requiring assistance? Wait, shouldn’t the doorman be escorting them? Belatedly he realises the men have stopped at his door...

They don’t even bother with a perfunctory knock. Q sees the police style door ram before he even hears the equipment colliding with his door. The door frame splinters inwards but holds. It is reinforced to buy him time but will not hold indefinitely. The loud crash sends a jolt of adrenaline into his sluggish system. 

He springs into action, punching the panic button on the wall next to the tablet. It should send a signal to police and MI6.  Q then grabs his MI6 laptop and turns it over. On the bottom is a red tab sticking out of a slot and he yanks at it - hard. It is the quick release mechanism for the hard drive - allowing the user to remove the hard drive quickly in an emergency. Pulling it also mechanically rips the chip from the board, damaging it hopefully beyond recovery. It also triggers a self destruct code in the laptop to wipe any remaining RAM. He designed the mechanism himself after the Istanbul fiasco and is now standard for all field issued laptops. 

He pockets the remains of the hard drive just in case along with his phone and runs into the bedroom. One of the windows here open to the fire escape. He looks around the room and grabs the nearest coat he sees.  

He makes it to the bottom of the fire escape just as the front door bursts open. Shit, shit, shit. He runs down the back alley and emerges onto the main street a block away - activating the tracking and distress signal on his watch as he does. 

His phone buzzes not even a minute later, he knows it is MI6. He swipes answer without hesitation. 

“Q? Are you alright? We received two distress beacons registered to you a few minutes ago.” He recognises R’s voice immediately. 

“Mayday, not a drill. Three assailants, they came in though the front door.” Q blurts out. The professional words belying the panic rising within. 

“Police are on their way as we speak. Where are you?”

“I’m no longer in my residence, hostiles in pursuit. Taking southbound route towards rendezvous point. Do you have me on camera?” He’s panting from the run. 

“Yes we see you.” That gives Q a little comfort. He needs to stay within view of the CCTVs. 

“The assailants?” Q inquires still running down the street. 

“Two on foot. Appears to be searching for you. Turning the corner.“

There is short crackle through the speakers and 007 joins the line. His comfortingly familiar voice comes over the phone,“Q? Stop running.”

“What??” Q’s chest is tight, his congested airways making it hard to breathe. The instruction is counterintuitive. 

“Stop running.” 007 repeats, Q recognises Bond’s tone of controlled annoyance. “Slow down. Walk at brisk pace. Put on the coat, it’ll disguise you.” 

Q complies. The coat is too big, it isn’t his. But that’s probably even better.

“Trust me, Q-..,” Bond assures, “..-that’s it. Good.” He must be watching the video feed. “At the next opportunity cross the street. Do not run. Do not look back. Keep your head down,” comes the next set of instructions from Bond.

“How much longer till the extraction team gets here? I don’t know if I can make it to the rendezvous point. I can hardly breathe,” his lungs are burning. The cold air not helping his already constricted airways.  

Q tries his best to follow Bond’s instructions. The temptation to look back and get a relative bearing on his assailants is overwhelming. But if he turns back, it will make it easier for them to spot him. 

“ETA 8 mins,” R supplies over the line.  

“We’re on our way, and police should be there before us,” Q can hear Bond’s voice sounding like he’s on the move; a few moments later, muffled sirens wail in the background. He wills himself to calm. Pulling in one stuttered breath at the time. 

Breathe, walk, repeat. Eight.minutes.more... 

A few minutes later, R pipes up, “Q, they’ve turned into the same street. 100 meters. Try and blend in with the crowd best you can.” Shit. Q turns up the collar on Bond’s coat to hide more of his face. 

“Q, do you have anything on you that can be used as a weapon?” 007 asks. 

Q checks his trouser pockets. There’s just the hard drive he pulled.. and a Waitrose receipt. The watch he’s wearing has no weapons capabilities. Then he pats down Bond’s coat- something slim and hard is in the inside pocket. He removes it. Its an unexpectedly heavy silver pen. 

“Umm… only things I have on me is the hard drive... my phone, my watch and your pen,” Q’s voice catches in desperation. 

“My pen?” Bond prompts for clarification. 

“Y…Yes. Silver pen in your navy wool coat. Off the back of the bedroom door.” Fuck. In the back of his mind, he’s mortified that he’s revealed something so personal over the comms. Their relationship isn’t a secret; its probably the worst kept secret in MI6 - but its not official either.  

R’s voice cuts in, “-50 meters… shit, looks like they are heading straight for you.” 

“Q...listen carefully. That pen is from Q-Branch. Recognise it?” Now that Bond has mentioned it, Q realises it does look familiar. The lack of air is not helping with his cognitive abilities. 

“Which one is it? Ss-sorry that was months ago. I can’t recall at the moment.” He really can’t, his head is starting to hurt. 

“Its alright... It’s the taser version.“ Bond’s voice is infuriatingly calm.

“30 meters,” R updates.

“Q…shift the pen to your dominant hand. Prime the pen, remember how you showed me? In a few moments, when you feel a hand on you, turn around and twist away perpendicular to where he’s coming from, jab the pen anywhere you can reach, the face or neck if you can-.”

“20 meters.” R’s tone is urgent now.

“...Then run as fast as you can in the direction you were going. We’re just coming up to the bottom of the street. Can you do that?“ 

No! - “Yes… turn, jab and run”. Q swaps the phone and pen in his hands. 

“10 meters.” 

“Get ready.” Bond’s voice is steel.

“NOW!” R’s warning shocks him into action.

Q ducks and twists around, the attacker barely has a grip on the collar of the coat. The action catches the attacker off-guard. Q then swings his arm around and jabs the pen under the man’s jaw, the tip lodging into the soft flesh there. A little more pressure and the pen discharges, sending the attacker spasming backwards and dropping him instantly. 

The motion throws Q off balance momentarily and he looses his grip; phone clattering to the ground. But he recovers an instant later. Q turns back and makes a run for it, pelting down the busy street as fast has he can. 

He can hear the screech of tyres and sirens up ahead. He sees a familiar dark green Range Rover and black Jaguar sedan skid to a stop, blocking the end of the street. 

So close. He looks back over his shoulder to see the second attacker just meters behind and gives his legs a last push. 

Ahead, he sees the doors of the vehicles fling open, agents swarming out. He doesn’t have time to slow down so he uses his momentum to launch himself over the bonnet of the Jag - sliding on his hip across it to land in a crouch on the other side, sandwiched between the Jag and Range Rover.

Behind him, he hears the sounds of punches and kicks being thrown. A choked groan of pain and a crunch of bones. Slightly further away, there’s the sound of agents calling out to a third assailant to stand down. 

He thinks to pear over the bonnet, but ducks again when he hears, “Get down!” followed by the rapid pop of gunshots. Then all hell breaks loose. People screaming and scattering causing absolute confusion. 

Over the gunfire, he hears, “Sir! Q! Get in!” An agent is standing over him and herding him towards the rear door of the Jag. 

He crouch-crawls his way to the back of the sedan keeping low. The agent shuts the heavy bulletproof door after him. A few seconds later another agent enters from the opposite door, throwing himself into the passenger seat next to Q and shutting the door. The Jag peels away immediately. 

Q exhales shakily after a minute. Finally taking stock of his surroundings. He can see Tanner’s familiar profile in the front driver seat, eyes on the road, weaving through traffic. 

“Alright?” the agent sitting next to him asks. Q turns his head, it’s Bond. Relief washes over him and it’s all he can do not to launch himself into Bond’s lap. He nods in acknowledgement.

Bond reaches across to squeeze his knee. The briefest of touches. He notices the fresh abrasions on the back of Bond’s knuckles. 

“Third assailant managed to escape. Police are in pursuit. The other two are in custody,” R’s voice comes over the speaker. 

“Received. Principle secured, we’re in transit.” Tanner replies. 

“R, do we know who they are yet? Links to anyone?” Bond asks.

“Nothing so far. Facial recognition is still running. CCTV shows an ambulance arriving outside Q’s building. The assailants posed as paramedics to gain entry. Once inside, they shot the plain-clothes police officer stationed there. They had a collapsible gurney with them too. We’re assuming that was how they intended to move Q once they’ve incapacitated him. It would not arouse suspicion.”  

Bond takes a deep breath, the only break in his cool and collected armour. Hearing the details was difficult. Too close. Too damned close.

The Jag pulls up at MI6, Tanner using the underground entrance. He parks the car in Mallory’s spot, close to the tunnel that houses the lifts, only then does Q realise the Jag is M’s government car. 

Tanner and Bond get out of the car. Bond crossing behind the car to open Q’s door. Q feels odd - his limbs sluggish, uncompliant and cold. Belatedly he thinks he’s in shock. It must have shown, because Bond reaches in to gently clamp his fingers around Q’s bicep and slowly help him out. 

They make it into the lift with Q increasingly leaning on Bond to keep himself standing. Why does his lungs still feel like they cant get enough air? 

The lift doors open and Q all but tumbles out into the lift lobby. His vision tunnels and the colours wash out. That’s the moment he crashes. 

“Q!” Bond lowers him onto the marble floor. Taking care to cushion his head.

Tanner is already on his phone, barking at medical to send a team, “Level 5 lobby stat!”

--------

Update: Part 2 here

Notes: Yes, prompted by that No Time to Die trailer. But this story doesn't take place in that universe so to speak. Was thinking to use this for the imaginary Q Netflix series I’m writing. 

If you’re interested: 

Series 1 Pilot here.

Series 2 Episode 1 & 2 here. And Episode 3.

[warninggraphiccontent]

24 July 2020

Missing numbers

Investment in preventive services, like children's centres and youth services, could make a real difference to children's lives - but the lack of consistently good-quality data makes it difficult frontline staff, local authorities and central government to understand what works.

That's one of the conclusions of a new report I've published with my colleague Colm and the excellent team at Nesta. We hope that as well as being useful to those in the children and young people's sector, the findings - and the recommendations - will be useful more widely to people working with and thinking about data. There's a graphic for thinking about data in different ways, and everything.

In brief:

On the subject of Missing Numbers... you may remember the project launched last year by Anna Powell-Smith (Data Bites presentation here). This week, she's launched the Centre for Public Data which will look at improving data provisions in new legislation. It's a great idea. More details here.

Data has gone missing from DCMS (well, bits of policy, including 'government use of data' and open government), as responsibility has been transferred back to the Cabinet Office. My lukewarm take here.

We're missing Data Bites this August to give me/everyone a summer break. Back in early September. Watch back the archive here.

Flourish joined the ranks of those subject to missing attribution this week. They also join a very select group that includes Neil Kinnock.

In case you missed it, yesterday marked a year since Boris Johnson became Conservative leader, and today marks a year since he became PM. It's been another quiet year in British politics, etc.

Finally, Warning: Graphic Content will be missing from your inboxes over the next few weeks as I take whatever passes for a holiday in these strange times. There definitely won't be a newsletter next week, and it will be intermittent through August. Have a lovely summer (or whatever passes for that in the UK or wherever you are), and see you again soon!

Very best

Gavin

Today's links:

Tips, tech, etc

End of the office: the quiet, grinding loneliness of working from home (The Guardian)

Digital remote working - research findings (Essex County Council)

The home-working revolution: new normal, old divides?* (New Statesman)

How well does working in open work when working from home? (Nick Halliday and others)

Putting feeling into policy making (CSaP)

Make a mask (Reuters)

Graphic content

Viral content: coronavirus

Our history is a battle against the microbes: we lost terribly before we developed vaccines to protect ourselves (Our World in Data)

Where the Virus Is Sending People to Hospitals* (New York Times)

After the Recent Surge in Coronavirus Cases, Deaths Are Now Rising Too* (New York Times)

A Detailed Map of Who Is Wearing Masks in the U.S.* (The Upshot)

The World Is Masking Up, Some Are Opting Out* (Bloomberg)

The UK And US Were Ranked Top For Pandemic Preparedness. What Went Wrong? (Huffington Post)

How to Understand COVID-19 Numbers (ProPublica)

T-cells: the missing link in coronavirus immunity? (FT)

When a simple gif is possibly the only way to show something: news desk wanted a size comparison of antibody, virus and T cell (FT via Ian Bott)

Viral content: consequences

The psychological toll of coronavirus in Britain – a visual guide (The Guardian)

Which jobs can be done from home? (ONS)

Amid a Deadly Virus and Crippled Economy, One Form of Aid Has Proved Reliable: Food Stamps* (New York Times)

US airlines fly in different directions in middle-seat debate* (FT)

How Remote Work Divides America (Reuters)

The costs of coronavirus: Just how big is £190 billion? (House of Commons Library)

US politics

Race and America: why data matters* (FT Data)

What Coronavirus Job Losses Reveal About Racism in America (ProPublica)

Republicans And Democrats See COVID-19 Very Differently. Is That Making People Sick? (FiveThirtyEight)

New polling makes clear what Trump refuses to see: His pandemic response has been a political disaster* (Washington Post)

At least 76% of American voters can cast ballots by mail in the fall* (Washington Post)

Everything else

The Living Standards Audit 2020 (Resolution Foundation)

Ministerial directions (Oliver for IfG)

Civil service pay (IfG)

Location of the civil service (IfG)

How much warmer is your city? Behind the scenes of our climate change interactive (BBC Visual and Data Journalism)

Where does the British public stand on transgender rights? (YouGov)

Meta data

MOG OMG

Machinery of government change: government use of data (and commentary from me)

DCMS loses government data policy to the Cabinet Office (Computer Weekly)

Cabinet Office takes charge of government use of data again (Civil Service World)

Viral content: testing times

Coronavirus: England's test and trace programme 'breaks GDPR data law' (BBC News)

Coronavirus: Government admits its Test and Trace programme is unlawful (Sky News)

Government admits that NHS Test and Trace programme is unlawful* (Wired)

Viral content: the only way is app

Coronavirus: The inside story of how government failed to develop a contact-tracing app (Sky News)

Cheap, popular and it works: Ireland's contact-tracing app success (The Guardian - 'works'?)

Data collection in new Covid-19 app ‘troubling’ (Belfast Telegraph)

Coronavirus: New NHS England contact-tracing app may bring 'personal benefits' (Sky News)

Coronavirus: The great contact-tracing apps mystery (BBC News)

Isle of Wight infection rates dropped after launch of contact tracing app (The Guardian)

Government

A No10 data science unit could create more problems than it solves (Lewis for IfG)

DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION: Data to support policymaking (ODI)

Scotland’s Census to be moved to March 2022 (National Records of Scotland)

A few final reflections as Chief Statistician (Welsh Government Data and Digital blog)

Addressing trust in public sector data use (CDEI)

Driving forward trustworthy data sharing (CDEI)

The continuing excellent performance of the ONS in this pandemic... (Tom Forth)

ICO hails transformative year as average fine trebles (Computer Weekly)

Resources and tools (GOV.UK Design System)

Government sets out draft agenda for a 21st century tax system (HMRC, via Gemma)

Data ethics and AI guidance landscape (DCMS)

Creating great online services: how we test services in our research lab (Inside DVLA, via Oliver)

The digital government atlas 2.0: the world's best tools and resources* (Apolitical)

ICO launches self-assessment Freedom of Information toolkit (ICO)

Public services

Missing Numbers in Children’s Services: How better data could improve outcomes for children and young people (IfG/Nesta)

Health data chief says UK’s data deficit in social care during COVID-19 a “catastrophe” (diginomica)

Six months of binnovation in Leeds (ODI Leeds)

Big tech

The inside story of Babylon Health* (Prospect)

Should you delete TikTok from your phone? (The Guardian)

Uber drivers to launch legal bid to uncover app's algorithm (The Guardian)

Europe must not rush Google-Fitbit deal (Politico)

Recovery from Covid-19 will be threatened if we don't learn to control big tech (The Observer)

Vestager has tasted defeat, but she should not stop chasing Big Tech (The Observer)

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt is working to launch a university that would rival Stanford and MIT and funnel tech workers into government work (Business Insider)

From Russia with ****

We need a single agency to be responsible for UK elections (Democracy Club)

The Russia report has shown our election laws are dangerously out of date (The Independent)

Sharing is caring

How Schrems II will impact data sharing between the UK and the US (Computer Weekly)

Further (unhappy) thoughts on Schrems II (Panopticon)

Applying new models of data stewardship to health and care data (ODI/The Health Foundation)

Frameworks, principles and accreditation in modern data management (Felix Ritchie and Elizabeth Green, UWE Bristol)

How Wikidata might help the Smithsonian with its mission to diffuse knowledge (Wiki Education)

Everything else

Professional standards to be set for data science (Royal Statistical Society)

Understanding Machine-Readability in Modern Data Policy (Data Foundation)

Data and the Future of Work (Common Wealth)

Talking about data (Citizens Advice)

We are facing a global crisis of widespread unverified information (DCMS Select Committee)

White Paper on Artificial Intelligence - a European Approach: contributions to the consultation (European Commission)

The UK address mess: a way forward? (Peter Wells)

Public attitudes to science 2019 (BEIS)

Opportunities

JOB: Head of Data Infrastructure (ESRC, via Catherine)

JOBS (HDR UK)

JOBS: Technology opportunities (ICO)

EVENT: Exploring data institutions: trustworthy, sustainable access to data (ODI)

And finally...

Sport and entertainment

Defining the ’90s Music Canon (The Pudding)

Empty stadiums have shrunk football teams’ home advantage* (The Economist)

Does home advantage exist without football’s partisan fans?* (FT)

Sneak preview: The Seinfeld Chronicles (Andy Kirk)

Politics

As it's #WorldEmojiDay, can you guess the Conservative MPs? (Conservatives, via Pritesh)

congrats to Newspoll, who, according to the Courier Mail's Sunday editorial, surveyed a whopping 124% of Queenslanders to find just 59% were satisfied with the Premier (Sinéad Canning, via Sarah)

Breaking: there is one new case of a disgraced politician in New Zealand (The Spinoff)

Everything else

Stop resisting it, editors - the vast majority of people say "data" should be treated as singular, not plural (YouGov)

We should start a competition (Maarten van Smeden, via Nick)

Food hazards from around the world data competition (University of Bristol, via a quantum of sollazzo)

Penguins (Allison Horst/Oli Hawkins)

Alright, let’s go back to hating pie charts. (Randy Olson, via Nick)

[yourteaminindia]

How to Effectively Structure Your Business with an Offshore Product Engineering Team?

Effectively structuring your product team requires way more than hiring a team of experienced developers from a different geographical location. There is a lot that goes into the bigger picture.

How will you be able to manage your in-house and outsourcing team together?

How will they work efficiently on a single project?

Well, when your team expands, it is important that you assign respective roles as per abilities.

Building a strong product engineering team by hiring offshore developers is no more a challenge.

You have to stay involved with the product design decision making and encourage different ideas on the cultural levels.

Steps to Structure & Manage Your Product Team

Here is how to structure and manage your offshore product engineering team so that they deliver maximum productivity.

a) Principles for the Development Process

Considering the common issues a good framework should have the below-mentioned principals.

Accurate planning

Predictable release

Flexibility to handle ad-hoc requests

Keeping the in-house and outsourcing team in sync

Keeping everyone happy

Efficiently controlling everyone

With effective planning and efficiency, you can achieve these goals.

b) Consider the Team as One

The offshore team is an extended version of your already existing team. Your in-house and offshore team both should be considered as one. The complete team has to work on your ambition and a meaningful objective.

You will experience high team productivity and zeal in both the teams.

c) Communicate the Vision

Regardless of what you are getting built – a product, a component, a prototype. Ensure that the team can see the bigger picture and understand the complete strategy.

Keep communicating the core vision and the important messages frequently. Ensure that the team dynamics reflect the entrepreneurial spirit. This is going to be the main driver of the project execution.

Every team member should have access to the ‘what and why’ and be able to relate to the mission.

Having dedicated developers, you have a more talented team that has a great purpose and a bold vision.

It is very important to communicate your thinking as well as articulate the opportunity to the hired developers.

Tell them, how a successful release will better serve your customers, drive profits and create value for the company.

d) Show the Entrepreneurial Spirit

You are an entrepreneur who owns an organization. So, it is important that you think, feel and act as an entrepreneur.

Your company should set a mission while providing the resources to build an amazing product.

Know how to utilize resources, equipment, code, etc. Embed the innovation mentality to every member of the team.

e) Be Open to the “How”

When the problem has been identified, it can be solved in many different ways.

It is not good to dictate why rather discuss with the dedicated programmers who will be working on it.

Ask them to make recommendations so that it becomes easy for you to pick from their suggestions. This will help you to find the best solution.

f) Optimize Your Meetings

While you are managing a product engineering team, it is important that meetings are meaningful and actionable.

There always have to be the right people in the room.

Everyone from the in-house and outsourcing team who join the meeting should be well prepared in advance.

g) Provide Relevant Information and be Specific

Information sharing with outsourcing product development is very important.

You have to establish a flow of updates, resources, and ideas in order to encourage collaboration and have a meaningful interaction.

The relevant information among the team has to be shared whenever required. Everyone should be able to access updates, ideas and take critical decisions with planning.

Always remember that no detail is too small. You may have a technical detail that you think that the development team will by default know. But it is good if you share with them everything.

This will also help in making the product better and earn respect from inhouse and offshore members.

Both the teams strive to add value to your company, so keep a record of every detail in writing.

h) Understand Roles & Responsibilities

In every product development team, there are members that have different functional roles.

There are product managers, designers, web developers, quality analysts etc. Everyone should have a clear understanding of their respective roles.

The Project Manager should understand the problem space.

Designers are responsible for exploring the problem and coming up with the solution. Developers should be further responsible for executing the solution and delivering a quality product.

i) Always Be Transparent

Hire programmers that are highly analytical and understand the product strategy.

Keep things clear with the offshore product engineering team from the very beginning.

This should be done so that they equally get a chance to contribute to the product vision.

Transparency builds trust and this trust leads to great effort. Always remember that building a great product is a collaborative process.

j) Never Commit without Team Consideration

You are getting the best development services from your product engineering team. So, it is good to discuss everything in detail with them.

If you have got a third-party project and have assigned offshore developers to complete the tasks, ask them how much time they will take to complete the project.

Don’t commit on your own. Make sure you are aligned with your team before you set the deal.

k) Recognize the Value of Iteration

There may be a possibility that you are focusing too much on the interior and ignoring the exterior. You may have overlooked the important details as you jumped straightaway to build the final product.

Therefore it is extremely critical that you design a solution that quickly resolves the problem and is built in the latest technology stack.

For this implementation, you have to hire offshore developers from the best outsourcing company.

The ones that have a lot of knowledge about the solution space and thereby get indulge in the iteration process.

l) Use of Advanced Collaborative and Productivity Tools

You may already be following the Agile approach and have adopted the waterfall development model. But:

How are you setting and tracking the quarterly goals?

Are you handling unexpected bugs?

How do you deal with customer’s requests?

Do you know your project has quality standards?

Has your product met all the requirements?

Well, the answer is communication via collaborative and productivity tracker tools. Take the help of Basecamp, Slack, Jira, Asana, Trello, etc. The key is how effectively you make use of them.

m) Respect Their Time

What will be the feeling when you are in the middle of a long and important calculation and you are asked to check your inbox regarding an important mail? That will be distracting right.

Whatever your product engineer company is working on may be more important than the detail that you may have sent.

Ask yourself, how critical it is?

Is it worth the loss of productivity?

When you think it is a high priority, only then send them an email during odd hours.

n) Share Leadership and Credit

Don’t damage your relationship with the offshore development team by giving your in-house team all the credit. Make sure you keep boosting both teams equally.      

There have to be executives that lead meetings and announce results. They are the most important individuals in the team.    

Every role should have a clear responsibility, but everyone should work together to share your points of view and come to better solutions together.

There are different viewpoints, but everyone knows that they are working on the same project and shared goals.

The best way to share relationship responsibilities via your Program Lead (PL) can be a Project Manager.

Project Lead owns the communicating progress, establishing the rhythm for the team, and the unity of the team.

The Program Lead can be the same person as the Technical Lead, but on the same teams having different engineers.

That one person is responsible for running the team, while a different person is responsible for the technical direction.

Another way the leadership and credit are shared is with the help of Key Results. There are team goals that get shared across the company.

You assign them to the person that genuinely contributes the most towards success, whether it is an engineer, PM, designer, user-researcher, or data scientist.

With this type of system, many people are capable of taking leadership roles and everyone gets recognition for work.

o) Build a Strong Relationship

This extends way beyond only having a professional deal with your outsourcing company. Besides making the work done on time, acknowledge and appreciate every one.

From the professional level, move to the personal level and make sure everyone is comfortable working with you. This leads to a long-term relationship for the future.

Key Takeaways                                                            

As a development company, your primary goal should not be to get the product right in the first go. Rather it should be what features your users like and what will make the product better.

Every good product engineering team strives to influence product decision making by avoiding function separating dynamics.

They invest in building a strong relationship with every member of the team whether inhouse or offshore

Your product team structure can change as per the needs and evolution of time.

For now, as per the company budget, culture, product portfolio, and the aforementioned steps set up an efficient product management team.

This blog was originally posted on Your Team in India.

[polss]

Political Swizzlestick: Tulsi Gabbard argues for election reform

It is funny. I was writing about election reform when I got this email from Tulsi Gabbard listing out steps that the DNC should take to fix the electoral system for voters who want to vote Democrat.

But she also has an ad out there demanding the resignation of Tom Perez, the public face of the DNC. While I admire her team’s constant embrace of jiu jitsu, In this instance turning someone who seems to be actively pushing down on the scales against them into a reason for people to vote for her, I’m going to deal more with the email part.

I’m going to share the points from the email here because conceptually I agree with almost all of it, and as somebody who likes cleverly run campaigns, I want to give Tulsi and her folks credit for running this. It is timely and resonates with a significant chunk of potential democratic voters.

I also am sharing it because I want to discuss it in terms of both practicality and long-term necessity.

“Join me in calling on the DNC to institute reforms — open primaries in every state, paper ballots, same-day registration, and more — that make Every Vote Count…

We need to fix and secure our elections

I’m asking you to join me today in working to put We, the People back in the driver’s seat of our democracy, and to join me in calling on the DNC to institute reforms that make Every Vote Count. These reforms include: Open Primaries

Transitioning to open primaries in every state, away from our broken and egregiously expensive caucus system, and getting rid of the influence of superdelegates

Same-day Registration

Allowing same-day registration so every person gets to vote, regardless of how they choose to affiliate that election cycle

Paper Ballots

Instituting a paper ballot system (or voter-verified paper backup) to keep our elections secure and free of foreign influence

Ranked-choice Voting

Introducing ranked choice voting at the national level, making sure no vote is ever wasted

Automatic Voter Registration

Ensuring automatic voter registration for every person who turns 18 because there should be very few barriers to participating in democracy

Make Election Day a Federal Holiday

We should reduce all barriers to performing one of our greatest civic duties”

Let me just start by admiring the fact that Tulsi and her people are so “no bullshit” about things that they don’t even follow the rules of grammar.

“Periods at the end of sentences?!?! I am a no-nonsense, ass-kicking Soldier. Who needs that crap?”

I applaud you, Tulsi. That is freedom! Wave that flag!

(Sadly my high school English teacher sometimes reads my stuff and I would feel like a total ass if I didn’t try my best to get the punctuation right. She spent so much time working on me, that I can’t disrespect her in that way. I’ve got too much love for that lady.)

Let’s get down to our breakdown of Tulsi’s points.

Open primaries instead of caucuses Eliminating superdelegates No mention of Any changes to the delegate system?

Caucuses are an incredible klusterfuk. A caucus takes place in an extremely narrow window of time So you are effectively limiting the number of people who can participate. This is the basic concept of a lot of things Republicans to prevent people from voting. It already fails Democratic principles and you haven’t even got into the most egregious part.

Take a look at what information we do have on the Iowa caucus. In terms of people coming in and saying X candidate is our first choice, Bernie won the state going away. But due to caucus rules forcing supporters of other candidates that the rules deem having “unviable” levels of support being forced against their wills to choose their second choice, Mayor Pete may end up winning Iowa. 

Joe Biden Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar all got significant numbers of votes in Iowa, but next to none of them are going to get any delegates for all that hard work and money. This is the most egregious element of a caucus. It forces people to effectively vote against the candidate that they like.

In my previous article I talked about the problem with having delegates at all. Going to a Nationwide primary system where the candidate who got the most votes won the nomination represents democracy far far better then any system that has delegates, So I’m kind of disappointed that Tulsi stops at that point...but I get it. 

The reason the delegates our Inn place is that it allows people who volunteer for the Democratic party to have the feeling that they have some power. It is strictly throwing a bone to the workers. But it isn’t democratic.

Same day registration

I questioned this from Tulsi in some ways. It is fair territory in political ads from one perspective in much the same way as it’s fine for political ads to say, “we need term limits. Or we need to end corruption.”

In terms of high Concepts and things that we should strive for few people disagree with that.

But it’s kind of b******* as well. Those kinds of statements are like me saying. “Yeah, I’m all for oxygen.”

Yes, we all need oxygen to breathe. And all of us in general are for having enough oxygen around.

But when you start taking a closer look at things. How quickly could something like this ever be implemented? Is this viable? Is it viable in some states and not others? Can the DNC make these types of decisions on their own?

I live in the state of Texas. As is the case in most republican-dominated States, We have a GOP Secretary of State who is all about controlling the ability to register voters.

I can remember a time 5-10 years ago When I could register to vote online in the state of Texas. Now the rules are you have to send in a paper registration like 30 days before.  Has there been a electromagnetic pulse that has wiped out computers in Texas where I can’t spend 60 seconds immediately adding my data to the registered voter database?  No, but our continuous stream of GOP secretary of States have realized the GOP odds of staying in power increase with restrictions added to the registration process.

I don’t think this is something that you can force red states to do for this election.

Now I do think it would be very very smart for a candidate to encourage every blue state to immediately pass a bill making same-day registration possible by time the early voting starts for the presidential election.

It would help the chances of defeating Donald Trump and it would create immense pressure on the red states to comply. It would be good policy today and tomorrow.

But that’s not what Tulsi and her people are saying here. They are playing at more like standard politicians. And saying, “I’m in favor of oxygen. Vote for me if you are too.”

That is an opportunity missed by Tulsi and her people in my opinion.

Paper ballots

This is a similar kind of argument. I love the idea of a voting paper trail. I worked for Verizon for 10 years and for internet service providers for about another 10 years prior to that. Doing things electronically without a paper trail is asking for corruption.

But Tulsi And her folks are again kind of playing lip service in a standard political game.

We are less than a month away from Super Tuesday where a ton of states are going to be voting. You can’t just say, “let’s do paper”. And have it roll out that quickly.

I love it conceptually, but given that reality. I have to take it as another. “Vote for oxygen, It’s important.”

Ranked-choice voting at the national level

I love ranked-choice voting at the national level. You may ask how can I like ranked-choice, voting and hate caucuses? Very easily In this regard because we’re talking about ranked-choice voting at the national level. IE in presidential votes.

In ranked-choice voting you are still casting a vote. You have the control whether or not you want to list 2nd or 3rd place candidates to move your votes behind.

It gives you an immense amount of control . You can vote for your pie-in-the-sky presidential candidate who you love and still list your preferred bland but safe second-choice candidate.

I love this as policy. I think it would be fairly easy to roll out in blue States and again would be something that Red State GOP would feel a little bit of pressure from to comply.

But again Tulsi’s people being very fuzzy here. People love ranked-choice voting conceptually But when you start applying it to specific types of races, there are certain instances where it seems non- ideal.

By generically throwing out ranked-choice vote and then shoehorning in “at the national level” , they’re attempting to have their cake and eat it too.

“ Vote for awesome oxygen! (but only because we breathe it.)”

Automatic voter registration

I don’t want to be a broken record here, but this is more of the same damn thing. You could vote to pass it and every blue leaning Democratic State and in several purple States And it would create pressure on red States to comply and would help the effort to vote out Donald Trump but this isn’t going to get implemented prior in most of our primary voting days.

It is another high-concept proposal. As long as you don’t get into the minutiae high-concept appeals appeal to a whole bunch of folks.

Make election day a federal holiday

This is a platform of Andrew Yang. I’m not going to bag on Tulsi about this because Tulsi and Yang seem to really like each other. One gets the feeling that if Yang wins the nomination, Tulsi would be the favourite to be his VP. And if Tulsi wins the nomination, Yang would be on her short list.

Tulsi runs on her own points and to borrow a minor Point like this from Andrew Yang is pretty insignificant. It is not like mayor Pete where Yang followers have famously created a video of Pete stealing point after point after point from Andrew Yang.

This is again a very high concept appeal. You would have to get Mitch McConnell To allow the GOP Senate to vote for this prior to the election. Such a move would almost certainly help the Democrats, so there is no way McConnell will ever approve it. 

So this is basically a high-concept appeal to voters sensibilities and nothing more until McConnell is no longer the voice of the dominant party in the Senate.

Overall, I would give Tulsi and her people a solid B to B+ for their work on this. There were points where they could have gone farther and really showed showed their candidate to be a thoughtful candidate, but they did enough to earn the support of “the common man” voter here.

[di-sss-learning-engineering]

Ideas Our home for bold arguments and big thinkers.

MEMORY METHODS “No pain, no gain” also applies to memory tricks. ROTE AND WRONG The most effective memory methods are difficult—and that’s why they work

By Miles KimballAugust 8, 2018 Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder In the 2014 book Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, authors Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, and Mark McDaniel describe which learning techniques work, and which ones don’t. I can distill their message into one sentence:

If it isn’t making you feel stupid, it isn’t helping you learn.

Since most people like to feel smart, they run away in terror from learning techniques that make them feel dumb. Instead, they mistakenly focus on methods that give them the satisfaction of feeling like they’re improving in real time. Some of the most common ones are:

rereading a textbook underlining and highlighting key themes burning an idea into your memory by going over it again and again and again in a single intense session waiting until you fully understand an idea to try to apply it or explain it But unfortunately, any improvements made evaporate quickly with these methods.

What makes knowledge and understanding stick in the long run is studying in a way that guarantees that you fail and fail and fail. Testing your knowledge and understanding in ways that make you realize what you don’t know is the rocky path to genuine learning. The details are in a battalion of studies the authors cite—many in which they participated. These studies make the key points: testing your memory, mixing things up with different kinds of concepts, establishing memory cues, and generally making things hard on yourself are crucial.

It’s a no pain, no gain philosophy. After all, real life is hard—it taxes your memory, mixes things up, and rarely gives you multiple choice options. Any approach to learning that isn’t hard won’t match what you experience in real life.

There are three key activities that effectively sear what you want to learn into your long-term memory:

Doing things in real life, or in a simulation as close to the real thing as possible. Flashcards done right. Building your own picture and story of the ideas. Let’s dig into each of these in turn.

“Practice like you play, and you’ll play like you practice.” This is a key bit of folk wisdom endorsed by the authors of Make It Stick. The military conducts war games. Pilots train on simulators. Footballers practice scrimmages against second-string “scout teams” who mimic the strategies of their next opponents. If you only run the drills in optimal, predictable conditions, you’re never going to be prepared for a curveball. (Quite literally in the case of baseball—practicing hitting unpredictable pitches has been shown to do a lot more good than concentrating on hitting one type of pitch at a time.)

If you are a student, you need to do practice exams under conditions that are as close as possible to the real ones. If you aren’t allowed notes on the real exam, don’t allow yourself any notes when you do a practice exam. If you have to write an essay on the real exam, force yourself to really write an essay for the practice exam. Most importantly, do the practice exam under exactly the same time limits as the real exam. That way you can learn whether you get flustered by time limits and if there are things you get right but can’t do fast enough yet.

In non-academic settings, you can’t expect to learn much by just watching. For example, you can drive to the store 20 times while relaxing in the passenger seat and still not know the route yourself. But once or twice driving there yourself—making your own mistakes along the way and correcting them—and you’ll have the route nailed.

In the modern era, we’re often in the driver’s seat physically, turning the steering wheel, but rely so heavily on directions from our smartphones that we still don’t learn how to get from point A to point B. If you are sure a crutch will always be there for you, then using it counts as “practicing like you play.” But practicing with a crutch doesn’t prepare you well for a time when the crutch isn’t there.

The work counterpart to having someone else drive is letting the IT department just fix your computer problem rather than first trying fix it yourself. It is awfully hard to learn how to do something without doing it, however messy or unsuccessful your attempt.

Recall a piece of information repeatedly Most of the information we absorb in a typical day is not only forgettable: It should be quickly forgotten. Do you really want to remember forever all the menu items you didn’t choose for lunch or what all the strangers you passed today on the sidewalk were wearing?

So how does your brain know whether something should be put into your long-term memory or not? Research finds that that attempting to remember an item repeatedly over an extended period of time is what puts it into long-term memory.

This means you need to intentionally try to retrieve items from your memory repeatedly to make them stick. The catch is that you can’t wait too long, nor try to solidify it too fast. If you try to remember too late after the fact, the original memory will be nowhere to be found; but if you wait only a few minutes to try to remember something, it’s too quick for you to signal your brain to put it into long-term memory. The key is to space out the attempts to remember in just the right way. The extensive references in Make It Stick include quite a bit of detail, but those results aren’t likely to be as useful as experimenting with the frequency and spacing that works best for yourself.

Done right, flashcards, whether they’re physical or virtual, are a great way to do memory retrieval practice. This is because they help space out attempts to remember an item, and you can come back to them easily periodically. But flashcards require some discipline in order to help. The number one principle is that you need to guess the answer before looking at the back of the card. Even if you think it is hopeless for you to remember, try. Sometimes you will surprise yourself. But even when you guess hilariously wrong, that effort of guessing carves out a space in your mind for the real answer to go—and you’ll definitely remember that’s not the right result next time.

The second principle is that you need to make it hard. Wait long enough between practice sessions—or put enough flashcards in the deck—that by the time a card comes around, you have to struggle to remember it. Third, cards you think you have down can be put in a slower rotation—but they shouldn’t go out of the rotation entirely. (Cards you make a mistake on can be put in a faster rotation.)

Another way to make memory-retrieval practice harder and really get your brain working is to shuffle in different kinds of tasks. The benefit of “interleaving” is one of the most surprising results from the research on learning, but it has been verified over and over again, such as in the batting practice study.

For example, if you are studying German vocabulary, have half the cards with German on top so you have to try to remember the English equivalent, and half the cards with English on top so you have to try to remember the German.  If you are using an app, choose one that switches between different types of challenges—like Duolingo, which tests you on verbal, aural, and text-based examples simultaneously—or go back and forth between apps on different subjects.

Teach what you are learning—if only to yourself If you want to learn something you were taught or heard about, write about it in your own words, from memory, after the fact. It is great if you can find someone else to teach what you are learning to, but this principle works even if you just pretend to teach it.

If you had to explain things without notes, based only on your memory, what would you say? What are the most important ideas? How do they hook together? Why should your listener care about the ideas? Trying to figure out how to teach something not only involves a lot of retrieving things from memory—it also involves putting things together in a structure that creates a lot of memory cues. This creates hooks to hang the memories on and drag them out of hiding when you need them.

Another great way to teach yourself this structure-building skill is to try to guess where a teacher or manager is going next when they’re explaining a concept. Here you are harnessing the power of surprise and your competitive spirit to imprint things on your memory. If you made the right guess, you won; if not, it was a surprise. Either way, it will be more memorable.

The same technique will help you understand someone else’s point of view. In conversation, instead of trying to think of what you are going to say next or interrupting when you think you already know where things are going, say silently to yourself exactly what you think the other person will say next—then notice where you guessed wrong. Not only will you perhaps learn something you didn’t know—you’ll also be a better conversation partner.

ideas, science, education, gfk, school

READ THIS NEXT There’s one key difference between kids who excel at math and those who don’t October 27, 2013Quartz

[fumbliesthots]

So, I’m a scuba diver now

Successfully completed my PADI Open Water Diver course in Phuket, and didn’t die! Hooray.

It wasn’t easy for both Az and I, since we were both deathly terrified of drowning. In fact before the trip I was (jokingly) bidding farewells to people in case I didn’t make it *touch wood*.

The course spanned over 3 days, and weeks before that we had to watch a long-ass series of training videos to acquaint ourselves with the techniques of diving, and complete a rather long and technical MCQ test.

Day 1

On the first morning of our lesson, we met our instructor, Andre, at the dive school. He went through our test sheets and patiently explained the principles and techniques behind each questions, especially the ones we didn’t get right. (I was super confused on questions about no-stop dives and calculating safety stops)

After that, we were driven to the pool, a short distance away, to have our basic swimming and underwater techniques training and test. Az and I were asked to first swim 10 short laps across the pool without goggles. Then we went through the lesson on preparing our gear and equipment checks. There were many details to remember but we were assured that once we do them a few times it would be easy enough.

The entire afternoon was then spent in the pool, learning the techniques of managing our equipment underwater, moving through the water, buoyancy and how to deal with emergency situations. Some of the exercises that I thought were quite challenging were removing our masks underwater and swimming without them, and then replacing them back on; and removing our heavy equipment underwater and putting them back on again.

I must say that was quite an intense training, trying to train our bodies to breathe and move in a new way that we were not used to. It was a hot day, and we didn’t even get a lunch break! So by the time we finished and went back to the dive shop for our final theory exam, Az and I were blurry-eyed and exhausted. We were quite anxious about how the next lesson in the actual sea dive would be like. (And whether we would die??)

Day 2

We were picked up by the driver from the dive school at sunrise to be driven the pier, where we met up with the other divers and our instructor. There, we board ferry which would bring us to our first dive site. The only thing memorable about the boat ride out was the lady boat captain(?) who made boat safety sound like we were in a military camp. She would fit right in with the Ma’ams in our NCC days so long time ago.

Fortunately the weather was pretty nice that day – overcast and not too hot. As soon as the boat started on its way, Instructor Andre got us up to the deck to start preparing our equipment. With wind whipping in our faces, and trying our best to gain our balance on the bumpy boat ride, we tried as best as we could to remember what to do from our practice in the previous day’s training.

Just look at our nervous faces, lol.

After our equipment check, we moved back into the cabin where Andre started giving us a long pep talk to prepare ourselves for our first actual dive. But I remember not hearing a word of it because I was getting a little bit seasick in the cabin. 

Some fresh air from the top deck, (and several Moana soundtrack karaoke) later, we finally reached the first dive site at Koh Racha Yai.

We put on our wetsuits and equipment with the help of the boat crew, and stepped to the edge of the boat. We hadn’t done this jump in the previous day’s lesson and I was terrified suddenly. Andre went in, followed by Az. 

So the giant stride technique is, holding on to your weight belts, and pressing your mask and regulator in your face, you put both feet to the edge of the boat and take a big step out into the water. 

All I remember from this first jump was,

Put my hands where?  Step where? Huh? 3, 2, 1... uhh wait.. hold on.  Okay, 3, 2, 1, go!  Ahhhhhh! Bloop bloop bloop... cough cough cough!

Turns out I forgot to press my mask to my face, and it flew right up. The shock made me gasp and drank a bit of sea water.

But after a few coughs, it was no big deal. We followed Andre’s instructions and did some surface exercises, before slowly descending into the water, as we held on to a mooring rope to the bottom.

It was pretty terrifying trying to descend correctly at first, taking precautions that we equalised our ears as often as we can.

To be honest, I didn’t remember much of the first dive except that at one point I accidentally floated up to the surface by myself. There was a sense of helplessness when there is nothing to grab onto to stop the ascend upwards. Andre had to send up with emergency float for me to hold on to descend with again as he and Az waited at the bottom.

Once below again, he handed me an extra weight to better control my buoyancy. We explored the bottom for a bit, and I was still so nervous that I couldn’t really enjoy the view. 

After lunch back at the boat, we went for our second dive.

Buoyancy control was still a challenge, and this time it was Az that kept floating up. The emergency float was released again. We tried to hold our hands to stabilise ourselves as we moved to prevent one of us from uncontrollably floating up again.

Andre tried to get us to do some exercises at the bottom but found that we were having difficulties trying to balance ourselves and moving properly. I for one, kept tilting off to the side, unable to stabilise myself at rest. And once I tilted off, I would flail my arms to try and regain my balance but apparently that’s the wrong move to do so. 

Once back on the boat again, Andre recapped to us about our performance so far. We managed to do most of the exercises correctly but buoyancy and balance control was still a weakness. At this rate, we couldn’t pass for Open Water yet, as he’s still not confident we could be independent diving by ourselves, but assured us that we were already eligible for the Scuba Diver cert.

Side note: on the boat ride back to land, this happened. 

Kids, the lesson here is – never to put your hands on the ledge of a door, even to steady yourself on a boat. Nope.

Day 3

Last day of the course to prove ourselves worthy of the Open Water Diver title, something unfortunate happened for Az. Her red tide came, shit. We googled whether it was safe for one to dive on a period and the results were not encouraging. Surprisingly not because of possible shark attacks, but more of higher risk in getting decompression sickness.

The weather that day was not in our favour as well. A storm was brewing, causing the sea to get super choppy on our boat ride out. I took 2 seasickness pill and hoped for the best. 

Seeing how ill I was sitting in the cabin trying not to puke, Andre took pity on me and helped me prepare my equipment. He made a deal with me that on the 2nd dive once we are on calmer waters again, I would do it on my own.

This time without Az diving with me I was a bit more nervous. But Andre was incredibly patient and tried to instruct me step-by-step of what I need to do once in water. 

Az helped take some pictures of the pre-dive. This was me waddling toward the waters with all the heavy load on me. 

The first dive was fine, with better weight distribution around my waist, I was able to control my balance better this time, but the same problem of buoyancy control persisted. I started floating upwards very fast as we neared the surface. Andre figured that perhaps the problem was of my BCD self-inflating for some reason, and suggested that I used another for the next dive. Another problem was I was too anxious to fix any small problems too quickly. So while I was breathing out to deflate my lungs so I would sink lower, my next breath was too big, making me float right up again. Patience and mindfulness is key. 

With all the lessons learnt from the previous dives cumulated in my mind, I had one last dive to prove myself. 

This time I would hold my hose high to let all the air escape my BCD properly. This time I would distribute my weight evenly.  This time I would not kick around. This time I would observe my breathing. This time I would be patient. This time I would go slow.

We slowly sank down to the bottom without a moor line this time. After observing that I was able to keep my balance and buoyancy fairly well, Andre led me to deeper waters to explore the reefs and get closer to the underwater creatures. And we even got to an amazing shipwreck site 19m down, where I high-fived another dive team who were surprised we managed to get there.

We did some more mandatory diving exercises like the removing my mask underwater and swimming without it. I was anxious about this exercise before but was actually quite surprised when I managed to do it without problems. I even managed opened my eyes a little bit, in salt water! Shocking, I know! I think this was all thanks to Andre’s constant encouragement that made this easy.

And that concluded my last dive where I finally passed all my tests to become a PADI Open Water Scuba Diver. Oceans of the world, here I come! *  *Footnote: With a licensed professional divemaster as a guide at all times, preferably.

Btw, here’s us with our amazing dive instructor, Andre Jensen. 

[codebred]

Many years ago, when programs were written mostly in C and C++, a programmer had to know quite a bit about how his code was affecting operations inside the machine. He had to know how much memory would be required to store a data structure, and then he’d have to request that memory from the operating system, and then free the memory later when he was done with it.

The programmer had to understand fundamental data structures and how the machine stored and accessed data in an array vs. a linked list vs. a hash table. He could only choose the right structure if he knew what kind of data the program would store and how and when the program would need to access it.

For a long time, there were no standard libraries for implementing and manipulating basic data structures, so programmers had to write them themselves. That, in turn, required programmers to understand and be able to implement basic algorithms for sorting, searching, etc.

The systems that developers had to work with decades ago had very little CPU and memory. You had to make the most of every resource, and if there was inefficiency anywhere, it showed up quickly. So you had to write code that was lean and efficient.

You may learn a programming language (or think that you have) but if you lack the ability to think logically, you won’t make it as a programmer.

By “programmer” I am covering all the various titles being tossed around.

If you write programs, you are a programmer. If you analyze systems and automate them, you are a programmer, etc.

A “software developer” is a programmer and there is no such thing as a “Software Engineer.”

Any title other than programmer is merely a name someone gives themselves to make them APPEAR to be better than they are and more important.

I disagree that there has been a decline in the quality of software developers. For that to be true, there would have to have been a time when the majority of software developers were highly skilled. My observation is that it has always been the case that a small percentage were of relatively higher skill than the norm. We see more people running around today than in years past; that’s all.

“In the early days, the only people who would be able to successfully program were those who were the very top of the scale in terms of innate ability.”

I don’t think that’s true. For one thing, the machines only supported a handful of operations, and they were just load/store, basic arithmetic, and shifts. The “programmers” were mathematicians and engineers. So the task of writing the “orders” (they didn’t have the word “software” then) wouldn’t have seemed very hard to them. Based on interviews and their memoirs, it seems they didn’t even regard it as a distinct type of work; it was just one of the things you did to build a device.

For another, the quality of “application” code was no better than today, on the whole. If you look at one of the major early projects, the Apollo Guidance Computer, the code was pretty hacked up at first. There was lots of duplication and tight coupling, and the system was plagued with integration errors. It was only after a NASA engineer (whose name escapes me at the moment) visited the team while they were still at MIT and introduced some engineering principles to them, and later when the work was at NASA and Margaret Hamilton joined the team., that the code was straightened out enough to work well. Even then, the code (that code in particular, and the concept of “software” generally, as well) had gained a reputation for unreliability, such that the inertial guidance system was used as the backup navigation system rather than the primary, as had been the original plan.

And the context of most programming in that era was different than today, too. Most of the few people involved with it were computer scientists, and they were engaged in developing operating systems, device drivers, compilers, and fundamental algorithms. Today, most software work is at the application level. It’s true that the high-end software engineers tend to produce cleaner and simpler designs than the average coder, but business applications come and go and they don’t actually have to be written to a high engineering standard in order to provide business value. The whole history of business applications proves that point. As long as we use programming languages that isolate the average coder from memory management (the most common stumbling block for average coders, and the reason COBOL, Java, and .NET in turn captured so much market share for business applications), the solutions they write will probably run more-or-less okay most of the time.

So, with all due respect, I think this is a non-issue. Grist for an article, maybe, but not a real problem.

The first computer I was able to put my hands on was a Tandy 1000 with 256KB RAM, a 5.25 inch floppy disk and DOS 2.51 (If I remember well).

To put a mouse in that machine was necessary to add a serial card. In that machine I was able to print complex things controlling the individual pins in an Epson matrix printer. My first achievement was to create my own music paper, and for that I made many attempts to have the right distance between the individual lines.

Later, I acquired, for my University studies, a wonderful Clone, with 512KB RAM, a Green monitor and a 3.5 inch floppy disk … oh, that was marvelous. Then I added to it a Genius mouse. To clarify, the mouse came in a nice box with a programming manual inside … in those days, that was “normal”, and the mouse was an investment because it was really expensive.

Then, I created my own text based user interface that, later, I improved to a graphical one … where the Borland Pascal 5.5 and Turbo C++ days.

You really needed to understand your machine to make it to sing because these machines were not really powerful. My Clone had a 8MHz TURBO mode that I improved replacing the Intel by a NEC V20 chip.

—

Let’s jump to today.

You just make software. You don’t worry about resources and, even with current monsters, you lack of memory and disk. And your user interface it is how you use what others designed for you, so you really don’t need to worry about.

How to deal with this?

I have been working with Raspberry and Arduino machines recently. My SBC machines are doing complex things, because they are extremely powerful, and with the Arduino I remembered my early days… if you are not careful enough your program will use so many resources that your Arduino will freeze.

For me, the answer is, to prepare the new bread of programmers.

Instead of providing more and more, and to facilitate things every day, the best solution is to put the programmers on a diet. Give them LESS and LESS and LESS, but ask them to do MORE and MORE … you will see how they improve their skills.

And, please, forget the easy food. Go to school, STUDY, try hard to understand complex math and physics and other basic sciences. The computer it is only a tool after all, you need to understand how to resolve real life problems.

Then, when the new programmers arrive to their new jobs, they will be flying on the all almighty machines they will receive to work with instead of painfully try to do whatever because they don’t know how to manage their resources.

[albertcaldwellne]

The Art of Influence: 11 Techniques to Steal from House of Cards

No one personifies the dark arts of influence and persuasion like Frank Underwood from House of Cards.

Since my moniker is to bring the dark arts of influence into the light,  I’m going to explain his most influential techniques in order for you to start using them in your own life. So, if you’d like more people to bend to your will — in a positive, ethical way — you’re in the right place.

You might notice that most of these examples come from seasons 1-3 (I’ll try to avoid spoilers, but no promises.) and there’s a reason for this. As Frank rises to power throughout the series, he uses fewer skills of conversational influence and begins to default towards straight-up coercion.

I’ve chosen specific principles and techniques that you can (and should) use in your every day life. Frank uses these tools for nefarious purposes, but that doesn’t mean the tools themselves are evil. A hammer can kill, but it can also build a shelter. The hammer is neither good nor bad: the intention with which the hammer is used is, and the same is true of each of these techniques.

1. Influence the Influencer

In the first episode, Frank shares a poignant piece of influential advice.

FRANK: When it comes to the White House, you not only need the keys in your back pocket, you need the gatekeeper. (referring to the President’s Chief of Staff)

When you need to influence someone, you need to know who already influences that person. Whose opinion do they heed. Sometimes the best route to influencing your mark (the person you want to influence) is to actually build rapport with the person who already has influence over them and get them to do the convincing.

This comes up again later in the series when Frank says,

FRANK: The president is like a tree, bending whichever way the wind blows. And Raymond Tusk’s wind blows a little too strongly for my taste.

Frank knows that he has a strong opponent to either win over or remove from the equation. He is always aware of who holds sway over the person he wants to influence.

2. Communicate with a Goal

As a viewer, we have no idea of what Frank is up to, nor the scope of his schemes. But, it is clear that from day one, Frank and Claire have their plan.

The Underwoods exhibit a critical persuasive principle: influence is communication with a goal.

In episode one, Claire hints to their massive plans when she says, “This is going to be a big year for us.”

That quote also highlights another influential principle that most people struggle with…

3. Know Your Influential Timelines

People often associate the term influence with a single conversation. They believe that you are influential in one moment, but the best influencers know that influence requires time and strategy.

Influence is actually a 3-step process: 1. Observe, 2. Connect, 3. Influence.

If you try to jump to the 3rd step (influence) without learning (observe) your mark’s influential drivers and without building rapport (connect), then you might bungle the whole deal.

For example, CIA agents will plan on a year or more for turning an asset.

Every step counts. Don’t skip them.

Frank highlights his awareness of the time it takes and these necessary steps when he says, “”You can’t turn a no to a yes without a maybe in between.”

This is a particularly difficult lesson for our era of instant gratification. Most people aren’t wired for long term planning – especially when we really want to land a big business deal.

Just remember that the bigger the opportunity, the longer your influential timeline might need to be.

4. Suspend Your Ego

Frank Underwood seems to be pure ego, but he also knows the importance of suspending his ego when it’ll serve his greater purpose.

When he finds out that he won’t be named Secretary of State, even though he was promised the position, he is at an impasse. He could tell them all to go to hell, but instead he makes the smarter move. He doesn’t burn bridges.

He responds, “Whatever the President needs.” He knows it’s more important to be perceived as a team player than to be ousted from the group. By suspending his ego, he is able to adjust his plans and continue to influence from the inside.

And, of course, his ego is only suspended. When he gets a moment to himself, he let his anger and frustration out by smashing his cabinet at home.

Which is more important: your ego or the mission? That’s a question you must answer in many influential endeavors.

5. The Familiarity Principle

We watch Frank’s climb to power by how close he is to the President during press events. At first, he’s barely in the shot, then he’s only one or two people removed from the President, and then he is standing right behind him during the State of the Union.

In his words…

FRANK: Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value.

A related influential lesson is the familiarity principle. This basically states that people tend to build a preference for things simply because they have been exposed to them often enough. This is also called the mere-exposure effect. It’s the reason why companies spend so much in advertising and product placement. They want you to become familiar with their brand so that you develop a preference towards it.

There is a personal application for this principle as well. If you want to influence someone, plan out how they can regularly be exposed to you. Attend events that they will be at, communicate periodically, and include video conversations in your plan because you want them to see and hear you. Video is much more influential than email.

6. Quid Pro Quo

Everything about House of Cards is give and take — with the emphasis on take. Even though Frank’s angle is always to someone’s detriment, there is a lesson to be learned here: the Law of Reciprocity.

In general, the Law of Reciprocity goes like this: someone is more likely to do you a favor if you have done something or given them something first.

The interesting thing about the Law of Reciprocity is that you can likely get a return on value that well exceeds the value that you initially gave. Frank is aware of this when he helps Edward Meechum get back on his security detail.

FRANK: It requires very little of me and will mean the world to him. It’s a very inexpensive investment.

Simple favors can have a significant ROI. And Frank is right because that one favor earned him a highly loyal servant.

Frank also twists reciprocity into something much more diabolical when he says, “Generosity is its own form of power.”

7. Appeal to the Higher Self

There is only one glimmer of positive influence from Frank Underwood in the series. It is when he convinces Congressman Russo to get sober and not have a drink for a month so that he can run for Governor. A month goes by and Russo accomplishes the task. He returns to Frank saying that he’s prepared and ready to run.

When they conclude the meeting, Frank says, “Peter, I feel like I just met you for the first time right now” — implying he’s a changed man now that he’s sober. Frank is positively reinforcing Russo’s behavior. With this, he is appealing to Russo’s higher self.

Everyone has a vision for themselves—the person they know they can become. One of the best positive ways to influence someone is to show them how your idea will help them attain their higher self.

Of course, in House of Cards, this positive technique is overshadowed by Frank’s bigger plans.

8. Strategic Confession

Frank (almost) gets caught in one of his schemes when the President’s Chief of Staff directly asks him if he helped her son get into Stanford in hopes that she would help him get appointed to a high-level position. She clearly has figured it out and she puts him on the spot.

Most people would panic, but not Frank.

He knows how to leverage the moment to actually make himself seem even more trustworthy. He uses the opportunity to make a strategic confession. He confirms all of her suspicions. And because she feels like she finally has the whole story (which she really doesn’t), she feels comfortable enough to move forward with their plan.

Making concessions or sharing your flaws can actually be highly influential. I outline this specific technique in more detail in this article.

9. Use Their Words, Not Yours

Once again Frank takes a blow when he finds out that the President wants to nominate someone else to a job instead of Frank.

And once again, Frank is faced with the need to suspend his ego so that he can serve his bigger mission.

When the President asks Frank what he thinks about the idea, Frank responds,

FRANK: I think that Raymond Tusk is an exciting, bold idea.

Clearly, Frank doesn’t share what he actually thinks. He did something even smarter.

Frank chose those words — “exciting” and “bold”— specifically because he was told prior to the meeting that that’s how the President felt about the decision. Frank used the President’s words instead of his own, which made the President feel good and validated.

Be aware of the specific words your mark uses to describe a person, situation, thing, or their feelings. When the opportunity presents itself, use those keywords in conversation and you’ll get the same effect that Frank did.

They will feel heard and validated, like you get them.

10. The Door in the Face Technique

Sometimes the most influential thing you can do is NOT get what you want.

This is known as the “door in the face” technique, when you purposefully ask for something that you know the other person is likely to say no to. The theory is that if they have said no to you for one thing, they are more likely to comply to the next…or the next. When done well, you trigger the person’s desire to be polite and helpful, and they are more likely to work with you because they did, after all, already shut you down on one thing.

Or, in Frank’s words:

FRANK: The only thing more satisfying than convincing someone to do what I want is failing to persuade them on purpose. It’s like a do not enter sign. It just begs you to walk in the door.

11. A Partner in Persuasion

Here’s the it’s-so-obvious-that-you-probably-missed-it influential lesson of House of Cards. Frank isn’t working alone; he has Claire with him. They create their plan together. They adjust to the unexpected together. They role play through critical conversations together.

This is directly reflected with the world’s best influencers as well. Field agents have their handlers to plan with. Some of the biggest cons are done with a team. Trial attorneys role play with fellow attorneys within the firm. Hostage negotiators will have a team of other law enforcement officers feeding them information.

Business professionals need the same amount of influential support as anyone else. You need someone to bounce ideas off of. You need another pair of eyes on marketing materials before a launch. You need to role-play a negotiation for a massive deal. You need someone to build a cohesive strategy that leads you to your goal.

Find your partner in persuasion.  

I’d be honored to be your partner in persuasion. Sign up for my newsletter and never miss another influential technique that can help you achieve your personal and professional goals.

The post The Art of Influence: 11 Techniques to Steal from House of Cards appeared first on Roman Fitness Systems.

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[douglassmiith]

Self-Made Millionaire Matt Clark Shares How to Build Your Own Ecommerce Company

Pay attention to expenses and double down on what works.

March 31, 2020 8 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Growing up near Houston, Matt Clark didn’t seem destined to be an entrepreneur. He struggled after his parents divorced, comparing himself to kids with two-parent homes and seemingly happy lives. In high school, he hung out with kids going nowhere, doing drugs, and even selling drugs.

Fortunately, he never got into some of the same legal trouble as his friends. Still, Clark recognized his risky behavior threatened his hazy but ambitious dreams of one day running a business. He knew he needed change. Clark left Houston without telling any friends and spent the summer in Austin, Texas, to reset and distance himself from bad influences.

Clark’s aimlessness finally began to dissipate during his sophomore year of college, when he read The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield. “It was like the book was written for me,” he says, remembering how he tore through it within days. “It sparked my passion for entrepreneurship.”

That passion proved a powerful driver: He joined the college’s business-plan team as part of the undergraduate entrepreneurship program, and graduated near the top of his class with dual degrees.

But after graduating in 2008 amid the economic crash, Clark sought refuge in an investment banking job at Citigroup rather than pursue his then-hazy entrepreneurial dreams. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time, and someone told me to work for a big corporation for three to five years and learn the ropes,” he recalls. But almost immediately, Clark realized that following standard advice would only get him mediocre returns. To build something huge — something bigger than he could even imagine — he had to follow his gut and fast.

Scratching the Entrepreneurial Itch

Clark skipped the hand-wringing and second-guessing to quit his banking gig just seven months into the job to launch a website selling health supplements. When he expanded to Amazon soon after, he watched in disbelief as his sales mushroomed, far eclipsing the site’s volume. Soon his business had surged from selling 10 to 11,000 products on Amazon.

To fuel that astronomical growth, Clark immersed himself in the then-fledgling community of ecommerce entrepreneurs. He attended seminars about Google advertising and read every sales and business book. “This helped me go from zero to $2 million in revenue, but I was scaling so fast that I wasn’t tracking anything,” says Clark, who was so focused on that top-line number he didn’t pay attention to things like hard-line expenses, labor and profit margins. If he had, he would have quickly seen that his booming business was operating in the red.

This unsustainable growth came to a head when he got a six-figure credit card bill and realized he didn’t have the cash flow to make the full repayment. “I’d been so focused on sales that I didn’t pay attention to my expenses,” says Clark. “I realized I had to learn to produce profits, not just sales.”

Facing such financial strain, some entrepreneurs might have tightened their belts. Clark made another bold move instead: scraping his bank account almost clean to spend $10,000 to attend one of renowned life coach Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery events — even though he was barely making ends meet. “I was desperate,” he recalls. “I needed to meet others as motivated as me and figured anyone willing to pay $10,000 must be pretty motivated.”

There he met someone who later introduced him to Jason Katzenback, a serial entrepreneur who was looking to dive into the next big idea. Together, they decided to help aspiring entrepreneurs build ecommerce companies while avoiding Clark’s mistakes. “I learned how to build a business in college and attended all these courses and events, but I encountered lots of challenges,” says Clark. “There was a better way to teach this stuff.”

Founding an Ecommerce School

With Clark’s supplement business now out of the picture, he was able to focus on building a new company with Katzenback: Amazing.com. One of their programs, Amazon Selling Machine, helps people create private-label businesses selling physical goods on the rapidly growing platform.

They guide students step by step, from choosing a product to sell and finding suppliers to marketing agency. The videos, community support and access to business tools usher newbies through the sometimes painful early stages. Customers can also leverage a mentor network to connect with someone who has successfully navigated similar challenges.

Jason Katzenback and Matt Clark hosting an Amazing Selling Machine tutorial.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

Amazing urges entrepreneurs to focus on high-quality products and take packaging seriously. “It sounds crazy to me now, but I didn’t do that with my supplement company,” admits Clark. “In my rush to get a business up and running, I sold the first thing I could get my hands on. Some of my early products had terrible packaging, while the ingredients were pretty much the same as everyone else’s.”

Clark counsels sellers to picture a real person — someone like their mother, brother or daughter — who will experience the product. “The better you can make that experience, the more likely your business will succeed long-term.”

Not Living Up to the Amazing Name

By 2015, Amazing.com hosted Richard Branson at their annual live event and had a team of around 50 working at its Austin headquarters — but the company was teetering on the edge of ruin. That year, Katzenback’s daughter was diagnosed with cancer, prompting him to quit the business temporarily to focus on family and leaving Clark to steer the ship solo.

Amazing.com hosted Richard Branson at their 2015 annual event but was on the brink of ruin.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

While Katzenback was away, Clark pivoted Amazon Selling Machine from a premium-priced, intensive course to a low-priced monthly membership, hoping to help even more people build businesses. “I tried to go wide to appeal to everyone instead of going deep into a niche,” he explains.

It didn’t work.

“I made several bad decisions fueled by blind optimism and ambition,” he shares candidly. “I thought, What got us here won’t get us where we want to go. So I completely threw away our main product.

“We were stuck with a massive operational load, including $40,000 monthly rent, and were burning through half a million dollars every month,” he continues. “I had to lay off half my team and came within a week of running out of cash.” Clark found the experience personally devastating — he couldn’t sleep, eat or bear to let his mind linger on the employees he’d lost.

But he also recognized that the Amazing.com live events were a bright spot. The company continued to host the live events, and the joy he saw on members’ faces was like a salve for his soul. “They kept telling me that our original program changed their lives,” says Clark. “I realized we just needed to do what worked.”

Humility, Discipline and the Right Kind of Growth

Clark refocused the business on the original, premium ecommerce training program. By slowly expanding from there, he is looking forward to sustained growth.

He shares that the struggles taught him humility and how to spot customers who are about to make similar mistakes with their businesses. Most importantly, it taught him to be careful about hiring because others’ lives are affected.

Clark also advises not to become too risk-averse. He counsels his customers to manage risk carefully so they can aggressively pursue their targets. “We could have discovered that the new product didn’t work by simply testing it before we threw away our flagship product,” he points out. 

Now that Clark knows how to take smart risks in business, he also combines caution with adrenaline in his personal life. He practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu several times a week and has spent his off-time earning his helicopter pilot’s license in Hawaii and attending Porsche driving school.

Life outside business: Matt Clark earning his helicopter pilot’s license and Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

“I recharge by doing activities that consume me,” says Clark. “Pushing so hard in business burned me out; but when you’re sitting in a giant metal bucket for 12 hours a day trying not to kill yourself, you can’t think about anything but flying. I felt a million times better when I came back.”

In the end, he says building a business is like martial arts or driving a race car — it’s all about remaining disciplined while taking calculated risks and leaning into the obstacles.

Connect with Matt Clark on his website and Instagram. Learn how to build an Amazon business at Amazing.com.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

Via http://www.scpie.org/self-made-millionaire-matt-clark-shares-how-to-build-your-own-ecommerce-company/

source https://scpie.weebly.com/blog/self-made-millionaire-matt-clark-shares-how-to-build-your-own-ecommerce-company

[laurelkrugerr]

Self-Made Millionaire Matt Clark Shares How to Build Your Own Ecommerce Company

Pay attention to expenses and double down on what works.

March 31, 2020 8 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Growing up near Houston, Matt Clark didn’t seem destined to be an entrepreneur. He struggled after his parents divorced, comparing himself to kids with two-parent homes and seemingly happy lives. In high school, he hung out with kids going nowhere, doing drugs, and even selling drugs.

Fortunately, he never got into some of the same legal trouble as his friends. Still, Clark recognized his risky behavior threatened his hazy but ambitious dreams of one day running a business. He knew he needed change. Clark left Houston without telling any friends and spent the summer in Austin, Texas, to reset and distance himself from bad influences.

Clark’s aimlessness finally began to dissipate during his sophomore year of college, when he read The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield. “It was like the book was written for me,” he says, remembering how he tore through it within days. “It sparked my passion for entrepreneurship.”

That passion proved a powerful driver: He joined the college’s business-plan team as part of the undergraduate entrepreneurship program, and graduated near the top of his class with dual degrees.

But after graduating in 2008 amid the economic crash, Clark sought refuge in an investment banking job at Citigroup rather than pursue his then-hazy entrepreneurial dreams. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time, and someone told me to work for a big corporation for three to five years and learn the ropes,” he recalls. But almost immediately, Clark realized that following standard advice would only get him mediocre returns. To build something huge — something bigger than he could even imagine — he had to follow his gut and fast.

Scratching the Entrepreneurial Itch

Clark skipped the hand-wringing and second-guessing to quit his banking gig just seven months into the job to launch a website selling health supplements. When he expanded to Amazon soon after, he watched in disbelief as his sales mushroomed, far eclipsing the site’s volume. Soon his business had surged from selling 10 to 11,000 products on Amazon.

To fuel that astronomical growth, Clark immersed himself in the then-fledgling community of ecommerce entrepreneurs. He attended seminars about Google advertising and read every sales and business book. “This helped me go from zero to $2 million in revenue, but I was scaling so fast that I wasn’t tracking anything,” says Clark, who was so focused on that top-line number he didn’t pay attention to things like hard-line expenses, labor and profit margins. If he had, he would have quickly seen that his booming business was operating in the red.

This unsustainable growth came to a head when he got a six-figure credit card bill and realized he didn’t have the cash flow to make the full repayment. “I’d been so focused on sales that I didn’t pay attention to my expenses,” says Clark. “I realized I had to learn to produce profits, not just sales.”

Facing such financial strain, some entrepreneurs might have tightened their belts. Clark made another bold move instead: scraping his bank account almost clean to spend $10,000 to attend one of renowned life coach Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery events — even though he was barely making ends meet. “I was desperate,” he recalls. “I needed to meet others as motivated as me and figured anyone willing to pay $10,000 must be pretty motivated.”

There he met someone who later introduced him to Jason Katzenback, a serial entrepreneur who was looking to dive into the next big idea. Together, they decided to help aspiring entrepreneurs build ecommerce companies while avoiding Clark’s mistakes. “I learned how to build a business in college and attended all these courses and events, but I encountered lots of challenges,” says Clark. “There was a better way to teach this stuff.”

Founding an Ecommerce School

With Clark’s supplement business now out of the picture, he was able to focus on building a new company with Katzenback: Amazing.com. One of their programs, Amazon Selling Machine, helps people create private-label businesses selling physical goods on the rapidly growing platform.

They guide students step by step, from choosing a product to sell and finding suppliers to marketing agency. The videos, community support and access to business tools usher newbies through the sometimes painful early stages. Customers can also leverage a mentor network to connect with someone who has successfully navigated similar challenges.

Jason Katzenback and Matt Clark hosting an Amazing Selling Machine tutorial.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

Amazing urges entrepreneurs to focus on high-quality products and take packaging seriously. “It sounds crazy to me now, but I didn’t do that with my supplement company,” admits Clark. “In my rush to get a business up and running, I sold the first thing I could get my hands on. Some of my early products had terrible packaging, while the ingredients were pretty much the same as everyone else’s.”

Clark counsels sellers to picture a real person — someone like their mother, brother or daughter — who will experience the product. “The better you can make that experience, the more likely your business will succeed long-term.”

Not Living Up to the Amazing Name

By 2015, Amazing.com hosted Richard Branson at their annual live event and had a team of around 50 working at its Austin headquarters — but the company was teetering on the edge of ruin. That year, Katzenback’s daughter was diagnosed with cancer, prompting him to quit the business temporarily to focus on family and leaving Clark to steer the ship solo.

Amazing.com hosted Richard Branson at their 2015 annual event but was on the brink of ruin.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

While Katzenback was away, Clark pivoted Amazon Selling Machine from a premium-priced, intensive course to a low-priced monthly membership, hoping to help even more people build businesses. “I tried to go wide to appeal to everyone instead of going deep into a niche,” he explains.

It didn’t work.

“I made several bad decisions fueled by blind optimism and ambition,” he shares candidly. “I thought, What got us here won’t get us where we want to go. So I completely threw away our main product.

“We were stuck with a massive operational load, including $40,000 monthly rent, and were burning through half a million dollars every month,” he continues. “I had to lay off half my team and came within a week of running out of cash.” Clark found the experience personally devastating — he couldn’t sleep, eat or bear to let his mind linger on the employees he’d lost.

But he also recognized that the Amazing.com live events were a bright spot. The company continued to host the live events, and the joy he saw on members’ faces was like a salve for his soul. “They kept telling me that our original program changed their lives,” says Clark. “I realized we just needed to do what worked.”

Humility, Discipline and the Right Kind of Growth

Clark refocused the business on the original, premium ecommerce training program. By slowly expanding from there, he is looking forward to sustained growth.

He shares that the struggles taught him humility and how to spot customers who are about to make similar mistakes with their businesses. Most importantly, it taught him to be careful about hiring because others’ lives are affected.

Clark also advises not to become too risk-averse. He counsels his customers to manage risk carefully so they can aggressively pursue their targets. “We could have discovered that the new product didn’t work by simply testing it before we threw away our flagship product,” he points out. 

Now that Clark knows how to take smart risks in business, he also combines caution with adrenaline in his personal life. He practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu several times a week and has spent his off-time earning his helicopter pilot’s license in Hawaii and attending Porsche driving school.

Life outside business: Matt Clark earning his helicopter pilot’s license and Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

“I recharge by doing activities that consume me,” says Clark. “Pushing so hard in business burned me out; but when you’re sitting in a giant metal bucket for 12 hours a day trying not to kill yourself, you can’t think about anything but flying. I felt a million times better when I came back.”

In the end, he says building a business is like martial arts or driving a race car — it’s all about remaining disciplined while taking calculated risks and leaning into the obstacles.

Connect with Matt Clark on his website and Instagram. Learn how to build an Amazon business at Amazing.com.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/self-made-millionaire-matt-clark-shares-how-to-build-your-own-ecommerce-company/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/03/self-made-millionaire-matt-clark-shares.html

[riichardwilson]

Self-Made Millionaire Matt Clark Shares How to Build Your Own Ecommerce Company

Pay attention to expenses and double down on what works.

March 31, 2020 8 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Growing up near Houston, Matt Clark didn’t seem destined to be an entrepreneur. He struggled after his parents divorced, comparing himself to kids with two-parent homes and seemingly happy lives. In high school, he hung out with kids going nowhere, doing drugs, and even selling drugs.

Fortunately, he never got into some of the same legal trouble as his friends. Still, Clark recognized his risky behavior threatened his hazy but ambitious dreams of one day running a business. He knew he needed change. Clark left Houston without telling any friends and spent the summer in Austin, Texas, to reset and distance himself from bad influences.

Clark’s aimlessness finally began to dissipate during his sophomore year of college, when he read The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield. “It was like the book was written for me,” he says, remembering how he tore through it within days. “It sparked my passion for entrepreneurship.”

That passion proved a powerful driver: He joined the college’s business-plan team as part of the undergraduate entrepreneurship program, and graduated near the top of his class with dual degrees.

But after graduating in 2008 amid the economic crash, Clark sought refuge in an investment banking job at Citigroup rather than pursue his then-hazy entrepreneurial dreams. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time, and someone told me to work for a big corporation for three to five years and learn the ropes,” he recalls. But almost immediately, Clark realized that following standard advice would only get him mediocre returns. To build something huge — something bigger than he could even imagine — he had to follow his gut and fast.

Scratching the Entrepreneurial Itch

Clark skipped the hand-wringing and second-guessing to quit his banking gig just seven months into the job to launch a website selling health supplements. When he expanded to Amazon soon after, he watched in disbelief as his sales mushroomed, far eclipsing the site’s volume. Soon his business had surged from selling 10 to 11,000 products on Amazon.

To fuel that astronomical growth, Clark immersed himself in the then-fledgling community of ecommerce entrepreneurs. He attended seminars about Google advertising and read every sales and business book. “This helped me go from zero to $2 million in revenue, but I was scaling so fast that I wasn’t tracking anything,” says Clark, who was so focused on that top-line number he didn’t pay attention to things like hard-line expenses, labor and profit margins. If he had, he would have quickly seen that his booming business was operating in the red.

This unsustainable growth came to a head when he got a six-figure credit card bill and realized he didn’t have the cash flow to make the full repayment. “I’d been so focused on sales that I didn’t pay attention to my expenses,” says Clark. “I realized I had to learn to produce profits, not just sales.”

Facing such financial strain, some entrepreneurs might have tightened their belts. Clark made another bold move instead: scraping his bank account almost clean to spend $10,000 to attend one of renowned life coach Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery events — even though he was barely making ends meet. “I was desperate,” he recalls. “I needed to meet others as motivated as me and figured anyone willing to pay $10,000 must be pretty motivated.”

There he met someone who later introduced him to Jason Katzenback, a serial entrepreneur who was looking to dive into the next big idea. Together, they decided to help aspiring entrepreneurs build ecommerce companies while avoiding Clark’s mistakes. “I learned how to build a business in college and attended all these courses and events, but I encountered lots of challenges,” says Clark. “There was a better way to teach this stuff.”

Founding an Ecommerce School

With Clark’s supplement business now out of the picture, he was able to focus on building a new company with Katzenback: Amazing.com. One of their programs, Amazon Selling Machine, helps people create private-label businesses selling physical goods on the rapidly growing platform.

They guide students step by step, from choosing a product to sell and finding suppliers to marketing agency. The videos, community support and access to business tools usher newbies through the sometimes painful early stages. Customers can also leverage a mentor network to connect with someone who has successfully navigated similar challenges.

Jason Katzenback and Matt Clark hosting an Amazing Selling Machine tutorial.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

Amazing urges entrepreneurs to focus on high-quality products and take packaging seriously. “It sounds crazy to me now, but I didn’t do that with my supplement company,” admits Clark. “In my rush to get a business up and running, I sold the first thing I could get my hands on. Some of my early products had terrible packaging, while the ingredients were pretty much the same as everyone else’s.”

Clark counsels sellers to picture a real person — someone like their mother, brother or daughter — who will experience the product. “The better you can make that experience, the more likely your business will succeed long-term.”

Not Living Up to the Amazing Name

By 2015, Amazing.com hosted Richard Branson at their annual live event and had a team of around 50 working at its Austin headquarters — but the company was teetering on the edge of ruin. That year, Katzenback’s daughter was diagnosed with cancer, prompting him to quit the business temporarily to focus on family and leaving Clark to steer the ship solo.

Amazing.com hosted Richard Branson at their 2015 annual event but was on the brink of ruin.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

While Katzenback was away, Clark pivoted Amazon Selling Machine from a premium-priced, intensive course to a low-priced monthly membership, hoping to help even more people build businesses. “I tried to go wide to appeal to everyone instead of going deep into a niche,” he explains.

It didn’t work.

“I made several bad decisions fueled by blind optimism and ambition,” he shares candidly. “I thought, What got us here won’t get us where we want to go. So I completely threw away our main product.

“We were stuck with a massive operational load, including $40,000 monthly rent, and were burning through half a million dollars every month,” he continues. “I had to lay off half my team and came within a week of running out of cash.” Clark found the experience personally devastating — he couldn’t sleep, eat or bear to let his mind linger on the employees he’d lost.

But he also recognized that the Amazing.com live events were a bright spot. The company continued to host the live events, and the joy he saw on members’ faces was like a salve for his soul. “They kept telling me that our original program changed their lives,” says Clark. “I realized we just needed to do what worked.”

Humility, Discipline and the Right Kind of Growth

Clark refocused the business on the original, premium ecommerce training program. By slowly expanding from there, he is looking forward to sustained growth.

He shares that the struggles taught him humility and how to spot customers who are about to make similar mistakes with their businesses. Most importantly, it taught him to be careful about hiring because others’ lives are affected.

Clark also advises not to become too risk-averse. He counsels his customers to manage risk carefully so they can aggressively pursue their targets. “We could have discovered that the new product didn’t work by simply testing it before we threw away our flagship product,” he points out. 

Now that Clark knows how to take smart risks in business, he also combines caution with adrenaline in his personal life. He practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu several times a week and has spent his off-time earning his helicopter pilot’s license in Hawaii and attending Porsche driving school.

Life outside business: Matt Clark earning his helicopter pilot’s license and Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt.

Image Credit: Matt Clark

“I recharge by doing activities that consume me,” says Clark. “Pushing so hard in business burned me out; but when you’re sitting in a giant metal bucket for 12 hours a day trying not to kill yourself, you can’t think about anything but flying. I felt a million times better when I came back.”

In the end, he says building a business is like martial arts or driving a race car — it’s all about remaining disciplined while taking calculated risks and leaning into the obstacles.

Connect with Matt Clark on his website and Instagram. Learn how to build an Amazon business at Amazing.com.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/self-made-millionaire-matt-clark-shares-how-to-build-your-own-ecommerce-company/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/614131472751804416