We recently completed the Dark Knight trilogy by Chris Nolan. What high-quality writing.

Seeing Morgan Freeman in the movies reminded me of another classic - Invictus - and we watched that next.

Nelson Mandela was perhaps one of the greatest leaders of recent times. Watching the movie, I was stupefied thinking of what he achieved:

Convinced his own people (from many tribes, regions and languages) to follow him
Convinced the hostile White Afrikaaners to peacefully hand over power through a democratic process,
Was not bitter about his 27-year incarceration by the White rulers, and when he came to power, ensured that there was no civil war
Won over the Whites by embracing the sport of rugby (a sport that was hated by Black South Africans)

Absolute legend.

I'm currently reading the book on which the movie is based. Gripping reading.

Also, here's wishing everyone a great new year celebration and a wonderful, healthy and fulfilling 2025!

And now, on to the newsletter.

Welcome to the ninety-sixth edition of '3-2-1 by Story Rules'.

A newsletter recommending good examples of storytelling across:

3 tweets
2 articles, and
1 long-form content piece

Let's dive in.

𝕏 3 Tweets of the week

Interesting way to value the AI opportunity.

Ooh, that one hits hard.

You better get that AI!

📄 2 Articles of the week

a. 'Ravichandran Ashwin - One of a Kind' by Sarthak Dev

Sarthak pays a masterful tribute to India's best off-spinning allrounder, R Ashwin.

I loved this tidbit about E. Prasanna, India's OG off-spinning wonder:

Cricket has always had its intellectuals, but they usually kept their nerdery private. Consider Erapalli Prasanna - in many ways, Ashwin’s true predecessor, and one of India’s forgotten greats. When asked about his 189 Test wickets and how many were carefully planned, he responded with, “Around 160.”

Ashwin wears the tag of cricket’s biggest, hungriest nerd like a badge of honour.

We are so much in awe of Ashwin's test career stats, that we sometimes forget that he was an incredible limited-overs player too. Sarthak reminds us;

Barely a year into his international career, he was bowling to Shane Watson in a World Cup quarter-final. He was specifically chosen for that battle, and he won it. Within a couple of months more, he was put against Chris Gayle at the Indian Premier League final, in the first over of the chase, without the luxury of protection from Gayle’s explosive instincts. He won that battle too. He sent two loopy off-spinners that turned away before bowling a straighter one that Gayle was late at adjusting to. Ashwin finished that final with 4 overs, 16 runs, 3 wickets.

I loved this para where Sarthak talks up Ashwin's determination to do well, despite not being naturally athletic and how that led to some jaw-dropping milestones:

But, here’s the truth: what Ashwin lacked in athleticism, he more than made up for it with application. He was cricket-fit. Fit enough to become the backbone for India’s new, young team to begin building a fortress at home. Fit enough to become a bowling weapon who helped push India to a World T20 final. Fit enough to become ICC Cricketer of The Year in a year when the face of the sport, Virat Kohli, scored big runs practically every time he walked out to bat. Fit enough to become the fastest Indian bowler to 100, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 Test wickets

How could we forget that Sydney innings when Ashwin held fort with a bad back:

On the same Sydney Cricket Ground where he was once deemed good but not enough, he woke up on Day Five with a back that refused to function, had to be practically carried from his bed to the shower, but found enough strength to drape his India whites and bat for four hours to save a match and the series.

Read the whole piece for an excellent, Ashwin-esque tribute to Ashwin.

b. 'Secret at the Family Dinner' by Maanav

If you want to liven up your day, read this hilarious account of a dope family dinner by Maanav.

Like Sarthak, Maavav is part of the wonderful Clear Writing Community that I'm a member of. Maanav is a master at chronicling interesting life experiences. I don't know if:

Maanav has more interesting experiences than the average person, or
He is just a better observer and storyteller of the incidents that do happen to him.

(I know, it's probably the latter).

Anyway, this is a lovely story about when Maanav and his wife decide to, um, ingest some gummies before a dinner with their parents and other senior relatives in Canada. What follows is pure hilarity.

I love how Maanav begins his piece with the action, straight up:

Our Uber was coming to a stop outside the restaurant in GreekTown when Tara asked the driver to keep going for two more blocks. “They’ve all been waiting, where are you taking us?” I said, trying not to pick a fight before we got to our damn dinner, and without looking up from her phone, she said “I need to get something from a shop.” Telling me the plan would get the wrong reaction, she knew, but once we were there I’d be grateful.

Maanav and Tara popped a gummy each before the dinner. These things take their time to make their presence felt. So the adventurous Tara decided to pop in one more. And before Maanav can have his second, the first gummy kicks in. For both of them.

I was cackling in mirth reading Maanav's description of the feeling he experienced:

I was waiting for them to look away for a moment so I could pop the second gummy when I noticed Tara. She seemed… not quite herself. Eyes half-shut and head tilted at an angle, she wore an asinine smile on her face. Gummy No.1 had arrived in grand style and Gummy No.2 would soon release further THC into her bloodstream.

My own shoulders were light and tingly too, the hairs on the back of my neck tickled by the breeze floating through the restaurant. And even though I had no conscious desire to move my limbs, my hand grabbed a piece of bread, dipped it in olive oil and shoved it into my mouth. Ohhh so good. Unremarkable elevator jazz was suddenly refined, as if emanating from a live quartet. Everything was at least a little funny.

What happens next? Do the elders find out? Or do our adventurers return unscathed? Read the entire piece to find out!

🎧 1 long-form listen of the week

a. 'Should leaders be feared or loved?' Adam Grant with historian Niall Ferguson

This friendly-yet-combative debate between Grant and Ferguson - two stalwarts of their field (organisational psychology and history respectively) - is entertaining and thought-provoking.

Ferguson's point: Fear is an important element in respecting a leader:

Ferguson: ...my impression of leadership in history is that fear plays a considerable part and my own experience suggests that if people aren't a little bit afraid of you, they really don't work terribly hard. If they are afraid of you, they work that bit harder. So there must be some elements of fear in leadership...

Essentially, Ferguson is channelling the wisdom of Tulsidas: "Bhay bin preet na hove".

He cites the example of legendary Man-United coach, Alex Ferguson:

Niall Ferguson: Now (Alex) Ferguson was famous for his halftime berating of Manchester United players when he was the manager of Man United and the hairdryer was Ferguson's, famously loud onslaught at halftime on players who'd under underperformed.

To which Grant responds with an evidence-based study (not another anecdotal example) which shows that while occasional displays of anger work, if you are always angry, it loses the impact:

Grant: ...they scored college basketball coaches halftime speeches for anger, and they were interested in whether teams were more likely to win games after an angry halftime speech was given. And they control for what the score was beforehand and, and a host of other factors that might matter. And they, they do indeed find that if as a coach you give an angry halftime speech, your team is more likely to win. But there are a couple of caveats. The first one is, it only works if you're not too angry.

So moderate anger is more effective than completely berating your players. And secondly, it only works if you're not typically angry, because if you're angry all the time, people think you're just a jerk and they tune you out. Whereas if this is unusual, they think, well, we've done something wrong and we've gotta now step up our game.

Ferguson reiterates his key point - that there needs to be an element of fear to drive followers:

But there needs to be this (fear)... I think, without the elements of fear, without the potential, uh, for that to be not just disappointment, but real anger, I think the process of collective endeavor, of leadership and followership, is diminished and people will not produce their best work.

To which Grant responds, eloquently, about his objection to the word, 'needs':

I just bristle at the, the use of the term need, right. I'm a systems theorist. I believe in the principle of equifinality, that there are always multiple paths to the same end. And I think that we shouldn't confuse the descriptive with the prescriptive. The fact that throughout much of human history being a little bit nasty, or having the capacity to be a little bit nasty has produced results, doesn't mean it always has to be that way.

Whether or not you agree with Ferguson (or Grant), the conversation is an interesting debate and a great example of how to respectfully disagree with someone.

That's all from this week's edition.

Ravi

PS: If you found this thought-provoking or useful, please consider forwarding it to a friend or colleague.

And if you got this email as a forward, you can get your own copy here.

Access this email on a browser or share this email on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, or Twitter. You can access the archive of previous newsletter posts here.

You are getting this email as a part of the 3-2-1 by Story Rules Newsletter. To get your own copy, sign up here.

Ravishankar Iyer

Do Leaders Need to be Feared or Loved? (3-2-1 by Story Rules #96)

𝕏 3 Tweets of the week

📄 2 Articles of the week

🎧 1 long-form listen of the week

Damodaran on the Corporate Life Cycle (3-2-1 by Story Rules #95)

How to Introduce Yourself Better (3-2-1 by Story Rules #94)

A Fascinating History of Modern Hinduism (3-2-1 by Story Rules #93)