Good Morning Must Readers! ☀️

This week I have ten must read articles and I recommend three podcasts you should listen to improve your week ahead.

Must Read Stories Of The Week

Work Must Reads

> How To Shape 2023 For Success 👏 - I don my old journalists hat and interview Will Phillipson (famed CEO and COO) about leadership and how to improve work for everyone for 2023.

> Continued Culture Troubles 😔 - Google is notorious for putting on events for their staff and then rolling out on YouTube as Talks at Google, unfortunately, it seems like there is another cultural battle at Google…the new need to submit a business case for the speaker and the influence it is going to have on the business. Sometimes even the biggest companies struggle to make the investment in people and a cultural pillar at their own company, especially in the hardest of times and not having to make mass layoffs like every other tech giant. Related Read > Here are the top 20 talks at Google

> Shopify Amazon & Google Battle 🥊 - Shopify is coming back swinging and releasing much better search. What Shopify always did poorly was offering a way to surface or discover new retailers for something you wanted (this is often called universal search). Google used ads to make money from searches and charge brands for their own brand names => Amazon focused on becoming the place to search for products and hurt Google ad revenue => Shopify is fighting against these (and social apps) by prompting search through their shop app. The kicker will small mom-and-pop stores pay to be featured? Pay to play 101

> RIP To Voice Search 🗣️ - (As I said on my old Podcast in May 2021) Voice search just never landed, it has a handful of use cases, however, it has fallen short for the major tech brands like Google (apart from in India where people use voice because they didn't or couldn’t attend school), Amazon and Apple (Siri), why? Saying something in an open space or having to search a mix of words to make voice search work (alongside learning commands) is unnatural and often voice tech is really bad at understanding the request. Expect Apple to continue its push but like Amazon, many will gut their voice search teams to save money and resources. Just because it seems a good idea it doesn’t ever mean it’s a real need or answering a real problem.

> Cruise Ships For The Win 🏆 - I love it when brands think outside of the “box” and why luxury is leading the way with opening stores on (wait for it) cruise ships. Don’t be confined by your persona's like many brands are, really think about where investments are made and why understanding intent is so important! Copy-and-paste features and Marketing campaigns just aren't going to work in 2023, differentiation is.

> How We Got Addicted To Streaks & Nudges ➡️ - If you have read anything about apps, the success of websites and new products you would have heard everyone preach about adding streaks into your product or adding the addictive element into how your app or product works. Well, this is a nice breakdown of how we got addicted to streaks and why the 80s is to blame.

> YouTube Shorts Power - RG Factboy is a unique case, they have gone 3.7m subscribers in the last 30 days by posting Shorts only. This is a smart tactic, post numerous posts and then (likely) ramp up to longer form content. Shorts are often referred to where TikTok and Reels are just reposted, don't overlook a platform with 2b plus users every month (you have to have a unique game plan for platforms like this).

> Podcasts Of The Week

1// I am a huge fan of Annie Duke and her approach to decisions, here two books are incredible reads/listens, here is a brilliant podcast to the key to success (hint the right type of quitting) - remember your time and energy investments.

2// Business Movers - Pixar story, brilliant dive into Pixar, the culture clash with Steve Jobs and the importance of Toy Story

3//  Killing Burnout - Must Readers Anish and Chris discuss burnout, the triggers, the ways to rethink and how to reduce it.

Life Must Reads

> Engaging Everyone 👀 - There's something almost every platform struggles with, building a platform for every viewer. For those who have disabilities, some cater to hard of hearing and some cater to blind users but the biggest issue facing most is how do I engage my fans with content they can easily consume. An important and fascinating read for those in content creation and working inside a company who creates content.

> The Four Desires Driving Humans 4️⃣ - Brilliantly simple breakdown of the 4 desires that drive all humans.

> Mix Of The Week 🪩 - Louie Vega house mix Courtesy of Must Reader Chris Hutchings 👇

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