It’s been a while since I sat down at the keyboard and wanted to write. No, it’s not that I use AI for writing, but I’m in a bit of a creative crisis. I’ve read so many bad AI-written papers that I started to doubt whether this medium of communication between people is essentially still alive. Maybe it’s already dead, but it just hasn’t stopped breathing yet? – as my colleague Jan usually says.
I also realized I am very old-fashioned and like stability more than disruption. I do like disruption, but I like it when I disrupt, not when I am disrupted. There is a difference, believe me. In some dark corners of our souls, we still believe we are the disruptors, but at the flash of light, that feeling disappears, and all that’s left is being disrupted.
I’ve stumbled upon this book by Eric Ries, who wrote “The Lean Start Up” and a few other great management books. It’s an easy read and a phenomenal text to start thinking about what we really want to achieve.
The book is not about hope, but it certainly gives one. It’s about the missions of great companies. It mentions Volvo and its three-point safety belt, which was given away for free, and it tells the story of shipping containers, which were also given away for free. Although they may seem crazy, the freedom to use them for free transformed our society. As Volvo says, “there is a little bit of Volvo in every car in the world”. These kind of inventions and openness gives me a bit of hope for the future. We should be more open; we should be more collaborative.
One of my personal role models is Katalin Karikó, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine a few years ago. Modest, dedicated, smart- all qualities worthy of great scientists. I believe science and innovation should drive societies, and, by extension, humanity, toward better. Shareholder values, new papers, grants- these are just vehicles for making the transformation possible.
I strongly recommend this book to everyone who is willing to get into creative mode and to make our planet a better place.