VOL. 2 | JULY 26, 2024

Welcome to The Viewfinder — a weekly invitation to reframe perspective, explore different angles, and live in wonder.

This week, we’re learning about microgenerations and the banana pandemic, and doing our best to stay cool in the summer heat. Keep scrolling for more on what we’re reading and cooking.

THE PARADOX: Competition & Collaboration

Humans are natural competitors who seek reward, vie for resources, and fight for control. A must-get-ahead mindset constantly pits us against one another and yet, we remain social beings who need (and even choose) to live, work, and play...together. We declare GOATs but remain a herd.

Today, the world begins watching as our greatest athletes compete in the Olympics. While there may only be a finite number of gold medals to be awarded, we can’t help but think of the other monumental accomplishments that are jointly achieved during this epic gathering.

INITIAL WONDER: Can there really only be one winner?

CRITICAL INSIGHT: Competition prioritizes the success of one, whereas collaboration enables the success of many.

ACTIONABLE WISDOM: Setting tiers of goals allows the individual to achieve greatness while working towards a shared ambition.

Grappling with a vexing problem? Noticing a paradox emerging in culture that you want us to explore?

We’d love to hear from you!

Fascinating reads, unique experiences, and intriguing objects that sparked our curiosity:

1. What’s a microgeneration? It’s a term used to refer to in-betweeners or cuspers, members that straddle both sides of a generational divide. “Xennial” refers to someone in between Gen X and millennials; now “Generation Jones” is becoming more common as a term referring to people who are not quite baby boomers but not quite Gen X. “Generations aren't just calculated by birth year but by a person's cultural reality.” Read more here.

2. We were drawn to the humanity in this interview with writer Anne Lamott on the FT Weekend podcast about tapping into your creativity. Asked about teaching writing, she says: “People think that there’s a destination you reach, instead of the process...But the only pay-off is the inside job, that you establish the habit that you do it every day by pre-arrangement with yourself. You do us a debt of honor, and you push back your sleeves and you establish your discipline. And that discipline in every walk of life is the only thing that has ever afforded me any freedom at all.”

3. The world's banana supply is under threat from a deadly fungus. The Cavendish variety, which has been bred for export, is typically grown in monoculture which leaves it more vulnerable to disease. The “banana pandemic” is a complicated issue that touches on genetic modification, agriculture, and fair wages.

Want to know how wonder fuels and informs our research and strategy work?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“A great insight feels like the best, most comfortable pair of shoes you’ve never worn before.”
— Elizabeth Talerman

4 GO-TO SUMMER RECIPES
+ Roasted Tomatoes with White Beans, Smitten Kitchen
+ Silken Tofu with Sesame-Soy Dressing, Hetty McKinnon
+ Braided Cherry Tart, Amy Holland Droubay
+ Bibim Guksu (Spicy Cold Noodles with Kimchi), Christina Chaey

3 BOOKS WE’RE READING RIGHT NOW
+ Choice, Neel Mukherjee
+ The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and Consumption, Katy Kelleher
+ All Fours, Miranda July

2 WAYS WE’RE STAYING COOL IN THE HEAT
+ Drinking peach cider from the farmers’ market with a splash of seltzer and some mint
+ Wearing breezy linen dresses, wrinkles be damned

1 TV EPISODE WE CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT
+ Napkins, the best of The Bear’s third season, telling the story of Tina (played wonderfully by Liza Colón-Zayas) and how she ended up at The Original Beef.