Four For Friday | March 10, 2023

LF29 | Job roles for the new economy, Roger McNamee on tech’s failures and the gut-skin axis

Welcome to a Looking Forward’s Four For Friday. Four links that have piqued my interest this week relating to Web3, healthy longevity and / or impact. Enjoy.

21st century job role 1: Mission Manger

A mission manager, a concept from Denmark, does three things: focuses on fulfilling the mission, establishes a legitimate governance structure that is there for the long term and builds a team to manage a strategic portfolio to address wicked problems.

21st century job role 1: Transition Broker

Another attractive-sounding job title is the ‘Transition Broker’. This role, identified by looking at a number of local government circular economy initiatives in the Netherlands, involves being a ‘system orchestrator’ to knit together public and private networks in support of the broader objective. I love the idea of government employees having porous, fluid, entrepreneurial roles.

Roger McNamee on Big Tech’s lost decade

The author of this LA Times op-ed, an early investor in Facebook and others, has been a recent vocal critique of the tech industry. He identifies myopic assumptions about tech: “There is only one path for the tech industry; new tech is always better; markets are always the best way to allocate resources; industries will self-regulate in the public interest; and there is no meaningful role for government as a referee of capitalism.”

The surprising thing is despite the plausible story he makes, his recommendations - for regulating tech companies with an FDA-equivalent and outlawing personal data collection seem extreme. Is there a middle way?

The gut-skin axis

Did you know that your gut health and skin health are closely linked?

It turns out that both your skin and your gut are around 300 sq ft, and both act as a barrier between the outside world and your body, using acid to help (skin uses salt) repel nasties. There’s increasing evidence connecting the two around diseases such as celiac and psoriasis, and likely multiple other links. Another argument pointing to importance of the gut in overall health and well-being.

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That’s all for this week. As always, feedback welcome. Feel free to share insights or links of interest.

- Stephen