What a great list of mini standards by Nicholas Bate.

Definition of done by @patrickrhone

Dinner is not done once everyone has eaten. Dinner is done once the dishes are washed and the kitchen is cleaned.

Another example of a word that has lost its original meaning.

We’ve probably lost the battle to save the word masterclass. Much like the word “decimate”, masterclass has acquired a broader and less specific meaning, becoming an adjective rather than a noun, a way to describe the qualities of a performance or teacher.

Though the summary did not motivate me to buy this book, I love the quote:

One of the most unfortunate realities about being productive is that most of what we do is a total waste of time.

Some more thoughts by Cal Newport based on the same research that led me to write this note in my Digital Garden.

The allure of productivity is therefore a complex one. We cannot dismiss it as the result of the evil master plan of mustache twirling capitalists. We also cannot embrace it as an unalloyed good. It’s a human drive tangled with the contradictory imperatives of culture.

The Netherlands offer so much more than Amsterdam and tulips. Most tourists do not take the opportinity to visit the heather field, which especillay in august, are very beautiful as shown by these spectacular photos by Albert Dros.

It usually starts mid or early Augusts and lasts until the end of the month, and it turns a lot of areas completely purple. What am I talking about? The heather plants. Compare it to the France’s Lavender fields that start a couple of weeks earlier in July. The purple heather fields in the Netherlands are a dream for any landscape photographer. Combine them with mist and you’ve got yourself a dreamscape that looks like it popped straight out of a fairytale.

Heck, even I would love to go back to school if this were the curriculum:

The basic foundation is student-centered, self-directed projects. In service of learning to solve interesting problems and how to lead as well as follow. And to support that, the “courses” are practical tools students can use on their projects.

This quote perfectly descibes my current professional situation:

You teach best what you most need to learn.

Many things may be important but only one thing can be the most important.

Meetings are the worst form of productivity. The “doing” gets done outside of meetings. Doing happens when you have time to think.

Doers schedule thinking.

As Jason Fried once said, meetings should be like salt on a meal.