The potential energy crisis in Europe has turbo-charged its green transition. The ‘truth’ is up for sale. Beware ‘hidden’ fees. Design thinking matters, but execution matters more. What our children could learn from their ‘ice age’ counterparts.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
David Wallace-Wells, Europe Turned an Energy Crisis into a Green Energy Sprint
(The New York Times, 15 February 2023)
We thought this would be the case – this article vindicates our conviction of last September. The energy crisis unleashed by Russia’s war did create big problems, but the worst did not materialise. Instead, the EU succeeded not only in averting a major crisis, but also in “turbocharging the green transition,” to an extent that has knocked a full decade off its decarbonization timeline. (In 2022, for the first time, wind and solar generated more electricity in Europe than did gas and coal). The key take-away: energy transitions can move fast when there is genuine political commitment and social buy-in (gifted article – reads in 7-8 min).
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Stephanie Kirchgaessner (and colleagues), Revealed: the hacking and disinformation team meddling in elections
(The Guardian, 15 February 2023)
It’s a fact and there is the evidence to proof it – for just a few millions, (pretty much) anybody can recruit a private company whose business consists in “killing the truth”. This piece that stems from an undercover investigation exposes “Team Jorge” – an Israeli group that specializes in selling hacking services and access to a vast army of fake social media profiles. Tal Hanan, the mastermind behind the business, has run disinformation campaigns around the world, claiming covert involvement in 33 presidential elections (free access – reads in 6-8 min).
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Emily Stewart, Joe Biden is mad about hidden fees and you should be, too
(VOX, 15 February 2023)
This article is focused on the US but hidden (or junk) fees are pervasive in most economies: frustrating, deceptive, and expensive for the consumer. Overall, they distort market efficiency and end up sapping trust in big business. Airlines and hotels are among the worst, so much so that President Biden is calling for a “Junk Fee Prevention Act” to axe once and for all hidden fees (free access – reads in 5-7 min).
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Rebecca Ackermann, Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?
(MIT Technology Review, 9 February 2023)
This is about the craze for “design thinking” – a seemingly simple methodology for innovation through collaboration and creation (in six steps filled with post-its). It had emerged in the 1990s but started reaching the height of its popularity in the tech, business, and social-impact sectors in the 2000s. Its premise: “We are all creatives, design thinking promised, and we can solve any problem if we empathize hard enough.” Today, this magical promise has vanished. Read on to understand why and to grasp how easily we can get fooled. Spoiler alert: “execution has always been the sticky wicket for design thinking” (metered paywall – reads in 7-9 min).
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April Nowell, Children of the Ice Age
(AEON, 13 February 2023)
The author of “Growing Up in the Ice Age” (an archeologist) gives us a marvelously vivid picture of young lives in the Paleolithic age. She shows that they were children who loved and were loved; who experienced hunger and pain, but also joy; who played games, did art and occupied ‘secret spaces’; who listened to stories and made music; who learned to hunt, gather and fish; and who produced ceramics, stone tools and, sometimes, little footprints in soft mud (free access – reads in about 15 min).
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