Weekly inspiration #34: Open Questions
May 24th, 2010 by Nico Luchsinger
When I tell people about Sandbox, the question I hear most often is: «What makes a Sandboxer a Sandboxer?» It’s not a simple question to answer. Our selection process looks at a range of criteria to determine if someone is an aspiring young leader. Apart from initiative and ambition, I believe that one shared trait of Sandboxers is curiosity. Sandboxers want to go further, they want to know more. They might not have all the answers, but one thing they always have are open questions. So I decided to post a few questions I recently had here, in no particular order, in the hope of getting a discussion going about them.
- Considering the recent debate about Facebook and Google: Is privacy making a comeback? Or has it never been gone anyway?
- New research suggests that «near misses» in gambling fuel gambling addiction, because the brain perceives them as «almost-wins». Could it be that the brains of entrepreneurs work similarly? Is entrepreneurship an addiction?
- Are you an Asker or a Guesser? What about the people around you? Does that matter?
- Will Google save the news industry after all?
- Are you still multitasking? Why?
- What makes a Sandboxer a Sandboxer?
Looking forward to your answers!
Nico is Sandbox’ Head of Business Development (although he isn’t sure what the «Head» means, because there is no one else). After completing this blog post, he will go sit on his rooftop terrace, enjoy the view and the sun, and ask himself: «Could life be any better?»
Great post Nico! Sandbox is one of my dominant daily news providers.
I want to attempt to answer some of your questions or at least give a perspective of how I see things
1. Concerning privacy. As a German national i have the idea that our government and society still protect the privacy to a larger extent than to other comparable nations like many Anglo-Saxon nations. It is diminishing all over the world however.
Privacy on the Internet in that sense isn't different I think. People simply haven't realized that Internet is also a part of the public space and if you want to safeguard it you need to take appropriate measures. You don't leave your front door open when you take a shower or do other things you don't want the general public to be able to discover.
The questions that arises from that is I guess how to shut this Internet front door. Well, one solution is to not put things you want anybody to see there. Or you have a life style where there isn't anything to hide.
I think the increasing transparency on the Internet brings out more integrity in people as they are more exposed to the public and maybe held to what they have said or written somewhere at some point.
I'll stop at this point, because I realize this could go on forever...
2. I'm both. Typically I have to be an Asker if I'm around Europeans, Anglo-Saxons, direct communicators. As I live in Asia, I have to be more of a Guesser with the local population, but also be able to switch to be an Asker with the expat community. So, it's is really context (in every sense of the word) related.
5. I still haven't gotten rid of the habit of multitasking and the arguments and procedures the article bring forward are compelling. I will try them from tomorrow on. I might event start tonight.
This is my 2 cents. :-)
Seth Godin on Curiosity
http://www.soulbiographies.com/2009/01/curiosity/
I'll ponder the answers to the questions
Eddie
1) Privacy has gone a long time ago, for good. Adapt, make your tradeoffs, and stop crying.
2) It's an addiction in the sense that once you (i.e. I) tuned your mind for entrepreneurship it's amazingly hard to switch to anything else - be it a "real job" or whatever.
3) Guesser! :)
4) Hm, they need some competition. Apple, Publish2, and then some more. Anybody in? :)
5) Attention goes to one thing at a time (configured a key on my notebook to hide /everything/ but the application currently running, that helps, too), but fast context/task switching times are crucial, I guess, as well as forgetting/ ignoring anything (currently) nonessential. And of course having a problem in the back of your mind that's being worked on by your brain without conscious effort is key. (Was that a yes or a no?)
6) No rules, no process, no criteria - your discrimination. And that's actually fine.
Best wishes from Berlin,
Hannes
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