June 8-12

Hi Gang,

When I was in middle school, we were assigned a project called, Create a Country. We had to sort out everything – location, governance, culture, imports and exports, currency, topography. At age 11, I thought an island shaped like a pony, on which ponies run free to graze on hilly pastures of lush grass, was a terrific idea. Everyone rides ponies to school and work. With our currency, Equis, we import kittens and raspberries, and we export carrots and apples. I’d probably architect it a little differently today, but I do think it’s a valuable exercise for people of all ages to consider.

What if we could just start over? What country would you create? Would everyone look the same, live in the same houses, wear the same outfit, agree on literally everything all the time? How boring. How dangerous. Many of you build companies from scratch. Do your colleagues look the same, act the same, agree on everything all the time? Or do they debate, seek alternative points of view, challenge each other with unconventional ideas? No one has all the answers. You have some. I have some. They have some. We need all of them. It’s so obvious, and yet we still can’t get it right in our country. NO kid would design today’s United States. But today’s kids can design tomorrow’s United States. Let’s give them the right crayons to do it.

News & Resources

Diversity & Inclusion

• Privilege/Class/Social Inequalities Explained in a $100 Race (a good video for kids)

• To my white friends, the time for talk has passed. Now is the time for work.

• My White Boss Talked About Race in America and This is What Happened

• Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence – President Obama hosted a townhall to address the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and to discuss how to move forward in a way that will prevent these tragedies from happening again. You can watch the replay here.

• RRA: A Leader's Guide to LGBTQ+ Talent Strategy

• Pride in the Time of Covid – thoughtful reflections and recommendations from my friend and colleague, TR Straub

Business, Leadership & Self

• HBR: Great Leaders Are Thoughtful and Deliberate, Not Impulsive and Reactive

• The downsides of remote work

• 3 tips on resiliency to help you avoid remote-work burnout

• Beyond Well-being: Developing Resilience in a Post-COVID World – RRA’s L&D team hosted a session on resilience that was remarkably helpful; I received permission to share the attached slides in case they are helpful (and we can also host these types of trainings if you’re interested)

From the Community

• Going where PROTACs can't, Versant unveils $50M bet on Carolyn Bertozzi's LYTAC tech — with a rising star at the helm

• BIO: Kura Oncology CEO Wilson on the power of biotech in the quest beyond KRAS

• BIO: Audentes CEO Holles on keeping the biotech spirit

• A Fast Coronavirus Vaccine, Without Cutting Corners – article by infectious-disease physician, Luciana Borio, and Scott Gottlieb

Food Fight – send me yours!

This week’s winner is Jeff Knapp (CEO of DNAtrix). Jeff is OVER. IT.

Chef’s comments: “No comment.”

Cuteness Contest

Thanks for this, David McNinch, CBO at Encoded Therapeutics (and Gisela!). “This is a picture of our new puppy Hazel and her big brother, Blake. Being home is great for puppy training!”

A Little Levity

• Man reveals the VERY clever way his brother's ex has been secretly using his Netflix account – brilliant

• 10 Tricks to Appear Smart During Meetings

• Our trusty media is at it again…

Be well,

Jackie