#23: Chapter 6; fixing Zoom; starting countries; chips shortage; and Liberland

Twenty-third edition. I was expecting to have at least ten chapters drafted by now, but I'm making slow progress. There is so much other writing ideas popping up and I'm letting them flow. Yes, there is a third book sketched-out, but I have to take it slow and finish this one first.

At times, I get frustrated about jumping back and forth in writing out different stuff, but then I realize it's a beautiful problem to have.
I sure hope you are also indulging in your creative flows, whatever they are!

Title photo: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey. Shot in July 2018, this impressive building has a rich history. Istanbul is a fantastic city, and I can never get tired of the famous Turkish hospitality (although there is a certain EU Commission President who might  disagree with me).

• ⌨️ More draft writing for this year's book project delivered Sixth Chapter draft: Delegate. Delegate. Delegate. I was hesitant even starting to write this draft, as I believe delegation to be one of the most essential parts of managing, yet so many of us struggle with it. I'm never worried about the ones talking about it; the worst are those living in the stage of denial. In my book, Micromanager is Latin for a boss who can't delegate. That about sums it up.
  However, this is a draft, and I know that I'll need to take my writing further in the second phase of book writing.
  Now it's all about throwing everything out there. I want to churn out at least twenty-five chapters worth of raw material.  
• 🎥 Seth Godin about Fixing Zoom Calls: Looking better and feeling better.
  Video calling gear is a WFH-equivalent of investing in a business attire. We weren't showing up to in-person meetings in ragged clothes, yet we sometimes show up with a smudgy camera. I've heard debates about how employers should let us expense this stuff — you mean, like we used to expense business suits? If Seth's suggestion sounds like overkill, here's my starter advice.
• 🌍 How to start a new country. As we're building more things in the cloud, the entire world is becoming the Old World. Old politics, old ways of working, and outdated thinking is holding humanity back. Let's build something new.
• 💾 If you haven't yet had a debate about the computer chips, you'll have it soon. The acronym TSMC might not mean anything, but much of our daily lives depend on it. The device powering the screen on which you're reading these lines; your car; your smart home; your everything has a chip inside, and over 90% of them are manufactured in Taiwan. And while we were annoyed by the iPhone launch delay, farmers in Taiwan are facing irrigation shut-downs to keep the water flow to the TSMC's semiconductor production facilities.  So, this is the world we live in — balancing chips vs. food production. This has the potential to explode into a global geopolitical crisis and cause the next economic downturn.
• Ever heard of Liberland? It's a self-proclaimed state on the terra nullius, a small piece of land on the western bank of the Danube, between Croatia and Serbia. Initially dismissed as a provocative idea, it started reaching serious proportions and being discussed by serious politicians.  

See you next week.
Stay Hungry; Stay Foolish.
Peter K.