19. The Weekly - Natural Engines

On resources (natural and human), imperfect processes and institutions.

May 04, 2025

Welcome to the Happy Medium newsletter, where I share inspiration and bite-sized musings on creative business each week. Enjoy!

Inspiration

Things that have inspired me this week.

Creativity as a natural resource

By Benj Edwards for ars Technica

There’s no denying that AI is an amazing tool but it’s also new and as with any new technology, it will disrupt the ecosystem. This article is an interesting conceptualisation of human creative work as a natural resource that should be protected (and compensated).

“Every human brain isn't just a store of data—it's a knowledge engine that thinks in a unique way, creating novel combinations of ideas. Instead of having one "connection machine" (an AI model) duplicated a million times, we have seven billion neural networks, each with a unique perspective.”

The Man Who Made Vogue: The Life and Death of Condé Nast

by understitch,

Recently, I’ve been finding a lot of examples of great leaders who also happen to be good people. A fascinating deep dive into the life and business of Conde Nast.

Quick thoughts

Musings on business, creativity, psychology and more.

The best way to think about hiring

Think of every new hire as a percentage of your business. This isn’t my idea (in fact, I think Steve Jobs said it) but it’s a helpful way to conceptualise the impact of bringing on someone new.

For example, if you’re a team of 9 people and you’re hiring your 10th employee, that new person now represents 10% of your company - whether they are a grad or a CFO, 10% of your company is now reliant on their energy and effectiveness.

Synaptic Lanterns #1 — Artist: Edmund Dantes

On Imperfect Processes

Whenever I start working with a client to improve their processes, I always start by mapping out the current state; what do they currently do.

There is often a tendency to want to rush through this part and get to the improvements. But there is a lot of value in understanding a process as it currently occurs.

Firstly, it helps me to understand what actually happens and in what order.

More importantly though, the current process is, by definition, the most efficient, clear and straightforward option that they currently have. Sure, they can see the gaps and potential for improvement but also - it works!

I always treat this stage with humility because if you miss the point of what this process does now, you’ll risk replacing an inefficient system with an ineffective one.

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That’s it for this week! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, or DM me if you’re shy.