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Japanese art of Kintsugi, Mental Models & Community Building

Community action and learning adventures on Network Capital

May 31, 2021

Dear readers,

This past week has been all about the micro-experiments, mental models and community building . Before we dive into the details, here is a quick overview for you -

🧠 Mental Model: Pain + Reflection = Progress

📚Network Capital Summer School: The Mental Model Graphic Novel

🚀 Fellowship: The Side-Hustle Fellowship

Pain + Reflection = Progress

But most of us reflect in the wrong way. Learn to ask what can I do about it instead of asking why is this happening to me

The Mental Model Canvas

Clarity is power and mental models are tools for clear thinking. At Network Capital, our mission is to help you build your category of one.

Using these 40 mental models, you start your journey towards compounding clarity. With practice you will internalize them. Treat this book like a boardgame – tinker, experiment, play.

For Network Capital Subscribers - you have complete access to this book and our weekly discussions on them. We look forward to doing a deeper dive on these ideas in the Network Capital Summer School and CEO & ‘I don’t know what I want to do with my life’ Fellowship.

Weekend projects and side hustles make us better thinkers by sparking lateral thinking. We are able to develop a broader perspective on the way the world works and what our unique role is in shaping it. Essentially we are able to connect dots better. Here’s a sneak-peak into our faculty and curriculum.

Masterclasses

Community building is a critical skill for the 21st century. Our community building bundle will provide you with all the guidance and resources required.

Jennifer Risher is on a mission to move money out of the taboo category and help us have much-needed conversations about the emotional side of wealth. She is the author of “We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth” which tells her story and explores the impact of wealth on identity, relationships, and sense of place in the world.

David Risher is a renowned American business leader and philanthropist with specific interest in creating Education and Reading opportunities for every child on the planet. He is the President and co-founder of Worldreader, a non-profit organization that aims to bring digital books to the developing world through mobile phones and e-readers. Before Worldreader, Risher served as an executive at Microsoft Corporation, and was Senior Vice President of US Retail at Amazon.com from 1997 to 2002.

Newsletters

The Japanese art of kintsugi (golden repair) is a method of repairing broken pottery that honors the its unique, imperfect history by emphasizing its cracks.

Kintsugi asks us to reconsider our approach. Far from running away from our shortcomings and mistakes, Kintsugi encourages us to wear them as badges of honor. To us on Network Capital, Kintsugi has meant acceptance and kindness to our own selves.

Laurence Johnston Peter was a Canadian educator and "hierarchiologist" who is best known for the formulation of the Peter principle which states that people rise to their "level of incompetence". Promotions are based on the success in previous jobs until we reach a level at which we are no longer competent. Skills, proficiencies, networks in one job do not necessarily translate to another. If we want to overcome the trappings of the Peter principle, we need to reinvent ourselves continually.

Let’s start with some research-backed mental models for brainstorming ideas.

  1. More ideas = Better Ideas

  2. Your best ideas don’t come fast and early

  3. Resilience helps shaping our ideas. Stick with the difficult ones, build on them

  4. Creativity and productivity are not the same thing

  5. Creativity does not drop off with time

The rest of today’s newsletter will build on these insights, particularly exploring the relationship between creativity and time.

⚡️If you are new to Network Capital, start by going through our most popular - masterclass (Career Principles with Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller); newsletter(Writing Fast and Slow); and podcast (The art of writing with Dr. Shashi Tharoor)

💝 Connect and network with other Network Capital members here. You can sign up for a networking session and our serendipity tool here.

💞 If you need an invite to Clubhouse or Lunchclub, let [email protected] know. You can also reach out to them for feedback, suggestions, doubts and any help navigating the Network Capital ecosystem.