Let's be Fwends #145:

Brains, Schools, And One Wild Sustainability Hack

"Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Hi and welcome to number 145 of Let's be Fwends. Today, I have for you an interesting peek into fresh brain research (the research is fresh, not the braiiiinz (but Halloween is coming, so ...)), a model showing what happened in the Chernobyl reactor, a short brief on the importance of quality for agility and some really cool schoolhouses I wish I went to (instead of the grey/brown 70ies building that was my school). And finally, I present you the most incredible sustainability hack: Don't buy new stuff if your old stuff is perfectly fine, demonstrated by a bicycle.

Daily Habits can Influence Brain Activity for up to Two Weeks

This is interesting. Researchers tracked brain activity and all performed actions for five months in one individual.

"The study found that our brains do not respond to daily life in immediate, isolated bursts. Instead, brain activity evolves in response to sleep patterns, physical activity, mood, and respiration rate over many days. This suggests that even a workout or a restless night from last week could still affect your brain — and therefore your attention, cognition and memory — well into next week."

(Source)

It's important to note that the data was collected on one individual only, but the underlying mechanisms are intriguing. It's one thing to imagine the mind as an ocean that needs many many small interventions to change its course. It's a completely different mental model to think that one small action today has an impact that is physically measurable a week from now.

An Animated Explanation of What Happened Inside the Chernobyl Reactor

I was 10 when Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. We felt the results - we were not allowed to play in sand pits, couldn't eat mushrooms, had to stay away from the woods and got funny little pills to eat. We all saw the concept of a "nuclear war" in a much different light then (because as always, you need to experience something to start understanding it).

But what really happened inside the reactor? Later in school, our chemistry teacher told us about it, but whether it was due to his limited knowledge, the restrictive information policy of the Soviet Union or my lack of understanding, but I never thought I got the whole picture and completely understood what happened.

Then came the "Chernobyl" mini-series, with its "Explainer Scene", that makes things a bit easier to understand.

And if you follow along this model simulation, the violent reaction of the plant becomes frighteningly clear.

Why a Solid Quality Culture is Indispensable for Agility

You can be the most rigorous software engineer in the world. You can have written every single line of code in your product by yourself. You can have documented and cross-referenced every decision ever made.

You will still need test automation.

Any product that is around for long enough reaches a level of complexity where you no longer can say with confidence that a local change you introduce will only have local consequences. Ask me how I know.

If you are unable to say with confidence that your change will not brake anything, you can no longer release without checking. Every. Single. Thing.

Now, imagine how things look like with six software engineers (currently), the overall number of people who historically touched the code base being at a two-digit figure, meetings you know nothing about, decisions you aren't aware of, and constant pressure to release new features, and then tell me you don't need Test Automation to be agile.

School Houses that don't Suck

Metaphors have consequences, and how we think about organisations defines how we build them.

This also applies to organisations of education.

The metaphor for schools and libraries I know is that of the institution. Something that projects the power and the will of the state into the environment, that has dignity and a reputation. Something monolithic that says "This is a state-owned organisation, and you will adapt to it, because it surely will not adapt to you". It is built for hundreds or thousands of people, and individualism has no place in it. Even the emoji for "school" looks like this: 🏫

It's a machine, designed to take in children and spit out citizens.

To call this idea of education 'old-fashioned' is a bit of an understatement. Teaching facts and making pupils recite them back to you is useful if you need law-abiding citizens and soldiers who follow orders, but it doesn't help you much in our modern world. Instead, a more contemporary concept of education puts emphasis on teaching resilience, social skills and problem solving, all capabilities needed in a world that is much more complex than the one of early European nation states.

How refreshing to see new school architecture that shows that we can think schools differently. As villages, as homes, as organisms. What other metaphors can you spot?

The Ultimate Sustainability Solution: Get a Bike, Keep Riding it!

Jo is 82. Jo rides the same Gazelle for more than 79 years. Be like Jo. (Yes, Jo is dutch. Of course.)

That's it for this edition of Let's be Fwends. Just like that venerable Gazelle, you showed a lot of stamina by coming down here. You're a Rock Star, but you knew that already. 🙌

(Header Image: Light Installation by Massimo Uberti)