Last weekend, I had the fortune of being in Goa with friends - for just two days, unfortunately, but two magical days nevertheless.

Goa is one of the places that never ceases to amaze me. We've been going there for vacations for several years now, and every time we discover something new that is amazing.

This time, it was an incredible tour by Konkan Explorers. The lazy Chapora river. A well-equipped boat that takes you close to the mangroves. You get on kayaks and explore the stunning mangrove forest. The calls of birds are the only sound you hear. The sun plays hide and seek with the clouds. A welcome burst of rain. Swimming in the river and lazing on paddle boats. Enjoying the company of Kingfishers (~~the birds and~~ the bottles).

Utterly magical.

And now, on to the newsletter.

Welcome to the eighty-second 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

Such a cool way to show the contrast between real events and what the news media covers.

Neat. Smart way of making people realise how their tax dollars are being used.

Where else but in BLR can this happen?

Question though - how does the smartwatch remain charged in the hours and hours of traffic? 🤔

📄 2 Articles of the week

a. 'Sleepwalking Elites' by Marco D'Eramo

This is an old article (Feb 2023) which I came across recently on Twitter. I thought of sharing it given its interesting premise - that in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, don't look for easy labels of heroes and villains. As Marco quotes the axiom, 'in war, truth is the first casualty'.

He finds it staggering that a such a long-standing proxy war is being fought:

Ten years ago, nobody could have imagined that Europe would risk such a catastrophe for the sake of the Donbass – a region that few of us would have been able to locate on a map. But now this is a plausible outcome of the constantly escalating conflict in Ukraine.

His dark theory - the war is in eminent interest of one entity - the US Military-industrial complex:

Much like today, the US extracted profit from a war fought on a faraway continent (a situation that was to recur with the European and Asian theatres of WWII). Then, as now, there’s something particularly vile – if you’ll permit the term – about the US telling its proxy warriors: we must be united in the defence of democracy and freedom against authoritarianism; we’ll arm you, but you do the dying. Oh, and your country will be pulverised in the process.

He concludes on a distressing note:

As I’ll never tire of saying: in war, the law of the excluded middle does not apply. It’s simply not the case that if one side is wrong, the other must be right; the negation of a falsehood is not by definition true. Everyone can be in the wrong, everyone can be lying. NATO’s aggression and expansionism doesn’t turn Putin into an innocent little lamb. And Russia’s unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine doesn’t absolve NATO of its responsibility in producing the conflict. In today’s world, we rely on elites – technocrats, the ‘cognitive aristocracy’ – to pilot us through perilous waters with their superior wisdom. But what does this stratum of decision-makers really know? Judging from the shipwreck they’re heading towards at top speed, the answer is: not much.

b. 'Sticky Wicket' by Nitesh Jain

I don't understand the stock markets or investing. But when I read Nitesh write about picking small company stocks, it makes me interested... and curious to know more. (Only for the knowledge though, no money will be changing hands).

I think there’s another, more emotional reason retail investors like myself gravitate towards the minnows. There’s usually a story, a simple and easy-to-understand business model. But more than that, it's the people. The management seems accessible. Their journey, struggles and optimism are infectious. You want to root for them, cheer them on. And, sure, make some money along the way.

Nitesh tells the story of a challenger to Pidilite (India's premier commercial adhesives company and the maker of the popular brand Fevicol). The moment he positions it as a David vs. Goliath fight, you know who you are rooting for:

First, consider a market where one brand (Fevicol) has 70% market share, decades-long customer loyalty, multiple award-winning advertisements and enough cash reserves to obliterate any newcomers. Oh, and the brand name is pretty much the generic term for the product. Imagine choosing to fight against that.

Enter: Jyoti Resins & Adhesives Ltd. A manufacturer of synthetic resin adhesives, the company makes various types of wood adhesives (white glue), under the brand name EURO 7000.

Despite competing with a massive 800-pound gorilla, Jyoti seems to be making some progress:

Fighting against that, how, in 15 years, did EURO 7000 achieve a reported 15% market share? Slowly, painfully, one store, one carpenter at a time.

How is Jyoti competing? For one, it has been generous in incentivising the carpenters:

Like the pharma industry, in the furniture business too there is an agency conflict. The doctor decides the medicine, but the patient pays for it. Similarly, here the carpenter/designer recommends materials but the client foots the bill. And unlike pharma, there is no carpenter’s guild or government body that forbids incentives, kickbacks or commissions.

You can see where this is going. The company offers a full-fledged carpenter rewards program, quite like airlines offer miles. Every purchase by the client earns the carpenter referral points. These can be redeemed against various gifts, from inexpensive tools to scooters or even a car! As of the last earnings call, the company has made provisions of ₹89 crores for such redemptions. To put that in perspective, as of today, the market values the entire company at ₹1780 crores.

I have no idea if Jyoti Resins will continue its growth - but if it does so, I'd love to read Nitesh' updated report.

🎧 1 long-form listen of the week

a. 'What most people miss about marketing' | Rory Sutherland on Lenny's Podcast

Rory Sutherland offers a great foil to the predominantly left-brain-heavy conversations that I usually consume. He forces us to rely less on logic and more on 'psycho-logic'. I loved this fascinating book, Alchemy, which he refers to in this conversation with Product Management leader Lenny Rachitsky.

What's the opposite of a good idea? A bad idea right? Not necessarily, argues Rory:

...the opposite of a good idea can be another good idea. I always say there are two great ways to check into a hotel. One of them is insanely high touch and the other way is no touch.

It'd be pretty cool to check into a hotel where basically you just walked in with your mobile phone and unlocked your room. That'd be pretty cool. It's also pretty cool if you go to the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong that they take you up to your room, show you how to use the television, the shower, I hope, because that's always a baffling thing and that actually make you a cup of tea in the room while you're filling out the paperwork at your vast desk. They're both pretty great ways to check into a hotel. They're complete opposites, but they are distinctive.

I think understanding the fact that what we're trying to do is we're trying to run the world of business entirely to a reductionist kind of maths and physics and finance model where everything's linear and everything works in straight lines and everything's proportionate, and the opposite of a good idea is wrong, and the past is a fantastic guide to the future.

An over-reliance on metrics and quantification makes work dull:

...And so this business where in the urge for quantification and the urge for what you might call de-psychologization of problems, in other words, you define them by entirely objective, non-psychological non-emotional measures. We've eventually created what I call Soviet-style capitalism. It's deeply demotivating. It's all about of quarterly targets. At least the Soviet Union had a five-year plan.

We've got these stupid quarterly obsessions with revenue for meeting our forecast for quarter two. And effectively people feel it's like metropolis and people feel fundamentally dehumanized by this. And the persistent cost-cutting has effectively destroyed much of the pleasure of the workplace because there's no discretion.

I like this idea!:

The ancient Persians, when they had to deliberate, they debated everything twice, once while sober and once while drunk. And only if they agreed in both states would they go ahead with the course of action. Now, I don't know whether being drunk is just an opportunity to come up with a better idea or whether it's a question of, 'Does this appeal to us rationally? Does this also appeal to us emotionally? I don't know.There's something really, really interesting about having what you might call a two stage, a double lock of decision making...

On that note, have a happy weekend, Persian style! (Or at least Goan).

That's all from this week's edition.

Ravi

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Ravishankar Iyer

Using 'Psycho-logic' to Make Better Decisions (3-2-1 by Story Rules 82)

𝕏 3 Tweets of the week

📄 2 Articles of the week

🎧 1 long-form listen of the week

How to Build Lasting Memories with your Children (3-2-1 by Story Rules #88)

A Data Story on India's New Elites (3-2-1 by Story Rules #87)

Improve your Public Speaking Skills (3-2-1 by Story Rules #86)