#82 - Notes on Purple Cows, Exercise and Swiggy
Education Coffee is a Newsletter on People, Ideas and Culture.
In each edition of this newsletter, I will share some inspiring web resources that I have curated after hours of research to ensure that you have the best education coffee in your inbox. In upcoming editions, I will focus on sharing insights, notes and realizations that I gather from people, ideas, books, films and podcasts. This month I have taken up a #30DaySubstackChallenge. I want to challenge myself to write a newsletter everyday for the next thirty days. I have really enjoyed writing this newsletter and this is a way for me to build my skill set as a newsletter writer. I will go back to writing a 2xWeekly Newsletter in January 2025.
1. Learning from People
Wendy Suzuki is an American neuroscientist. She is a professor at the New York University Center for Neural Science. She is the author of ‘Healthy Brain, Happy Life: A Personal Program to Activate Your Brain and Do Everything Better’. In this TED Talk, Suzuki discusses the science of how working out boosts your mood and memory -- and protects your brain against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.
2. Learning from Ideas and Questions
A Mental Model is an internal representation of external reality: that is, a way of representing reality within one's mind. ‘Purple Cow’ is a mental model that describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat-out unbelievable. It is a powerful mental model created by Seth Godin in 2005 that describes how people and companies need to differentiate themselves to stand out in crowded markets.
3. Learning from Books, Websites and Blogs
I love discovering blogs about books. Harika Rao is one such reader I came across on the Internet that has a penchant for sharing unique insights on the books she reads and connect with on her reading journey. She reviews and recommends both Fiction and Non Fiction and documents all her notes on a blog called, ‘In My Opinion’. I have found some delightful reads from this blog.
4. Learning from Films, Videos and Shows
In this episode of AD Talk, I share my thoughts on this innovative advertisement from the food delivery platform, Swiggy. #ADTalk is a Youtube series where I share my reaction to popular Indian advertisements In each episode of this series I will share my reaction by talking about the 3 S's which are:
Story being told (connection to a human story or need)
Service being provided (product or service details)
Strategy adopted (audio, video, branding, setting).
5. Learning from Podcasts and Music
Amit Varma hosts the Seen and Unseen Podcast and writes the India Uncut blog. His interviews last anywhere between 3 hours to 8 hours. In this 400th episode of the podcast he shares some life lessons he has learned after completing so many interviews.
Thank you for reading this edition of #EducationCoffee. I look forward to writing weekly editions of this newsletter this year. I hope to continue to share resources that will add value to your life. You can also review the archive of Education Coffee for free at this link (81 past newsletters).
Please do send me your thoughts and resources on any edition of this newsletter through email at abhishekashokshetty@gmail.com, Linkedin or Twitter. You can find my work online at this website. I love taking these discussions forward on those platforms and look forward to hearing your feedback. If you would like to read pieces in the future please do consider subscribing to this newsletter by clicking the button below.
Abhishek Shetty