> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.improvesomething.today/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Monthly links & notes for January 2024 - URL: https://www.improvesomething.today/monthly-links-notes-2024-01/ - Published: 2024-01-26T16:00:30.000Z - Updated: 2025-10-22T21:28:56.000Z - Description: An obituary, a few readings, a book & an online course. - Author: Brian Kerr - Tags: Monthly notes ## Online reading This month I’m remembering the life and work of David Mann, who passed away in late December. He was one of those Michigan lean people who had a big effect on me, although I only met him once, in passing, at a conference. That big effect was through his book [Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions](https://bookshop.org/a/56572/9781482243239). It helped me and [Andre](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrehelmstetter/) more skillfully support a couple of lean projects back in the day, including the one where I saw that when it all worked, it really *worked*. So, thanks, David. [David Mann Obituary](https://obits.mlive.com/us/obituaries/grandrapids/name/david-mann-obituary?id=53961061) Ruth Malan shared a free systems thinking (“systems seeing”) month-long daily journal. She encourages you to work through it, spending \~15 minutes on each daily exercise: [Ruth Malan (@RuthMalan@mastodon.social)The System Seeing Journal “starter kit” (daily prompts and related quotes to reflect on) is up: (Pdf) https://ruthmalan.com/systems/2024SystemSeeingJournalStarter.pdf It expands on the #AdventOfSystemSeeing prompts (to a full month) and is a revision/extension to last year’s version.![](https://mastodon.social/packs/media/icons/apple-touch-icon-180x180-a75559a0af48064c1b7c71b81f3bf7c6.png)Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@RuthMalan/111687003121161583) Finally, Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s “The Science of Learning to Let Go” is one of those pieces I’m still thinking about a month after reading. [The Science of Learning to Let GoLearning to let go is much harder than holding on. Why do we cling onto past sorrows, bad relationships, old things, meaningless goals?![](https://nesslabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/cropped-favicon-ness-270x270.png)Ness LabsAnne-Laure Le Cunff![](https://nesslabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/letting-go-science-banner.jpg)](https://nesslabs.com/learning-to-let-go) (If you like that, and want something short enough to carry with you forever, contemplate [Tilopa’s Six Nails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilopa#Six%5FPrecepts%5For%5FWords%5Fof%5FAdvice).) ## Books Mike Rother posted a thing that included a citation from [Ignorance and Surprise: Science, Society, and Ecological Design by Matthias Gross](https://bookshop.org/a/56572/9780262543989) and I immediately picked up a copy. *(Ever since I encountered one of the key concepts of my consulting practice in a tossed-off back page column about fish scientists in a 1995 ecology journal, I know to pay attention to these people (ecologists).)* I owe Mike and his outfit more detailed notes on this book, but for the moment let me share this amazing illustration. I give you the “house of the unknown” ↓ !["The house of the unknown", showing a progression from nescience outside the house, to ignorance, nonknowledge, further non knowledge and negative knowledge inside the house. Finally, there an interior 'core' of extended or new knowledge.](https://www.improvesomething.today/content/images/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-25-at-10.02.19-PM.png) The ecological interventions (or experiments) Gross is concerned with tend to happen in “the real world” instead of a laboratory. And that’s the ledge I use to climb up into this book. Kaizen is the choreography that happens in order to allow people to make improvements to their own “real world” work and relations. I think we can learn a lot from this book’s framework about how people respond to various kinds of surprising conditions or discoveries. ## On the site Recent changes @ improvesomething.today: - Added to the [Junk Drawer](https://www.improvesomething.today/goodies/) → a placeholder for LinkedIn carousel postings I’ve been doing. These mostly reiterate items from the site, but in a format people seem to enjoy. - Some changes to e-mail newsletter delivery, formatting, and list membership that hopefully go smoothly. (If you’d like to join, unsubscribe, or change delivery of the e-mail newsletter, [this is the link](https://www.improvesomething.today/#/portal/).) ## Course recommendation I recommend The Center for Humane Technology’s free, self-paced, multi-mode course, “Foundations of Humane Technology.” If you design or make decisions about technology products or experiences, you might take a couple of afternoons to work through this material. The shift you’ll grapple with: ![](https://www.improvesomething.today/content/images/2024/01/6570b98e3b690807f03b025a_cht-course-what-learn.jpg) And the course: [Foundations of Humane Technology Course - Center for Humane TechnologyA free, self-paced online course for professionals shaping tomorrow’s technology. Join thousands globally, including people from top organizations such as Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and the United Nations.![](https://assets-global.website-files.com/5f0e1294f002b15080e1f2ff/5f0e1294f002b1e0b2e1f48a_CHT-Logo-white-01.png)HomeTom GruberCo-founder of Apple’s Siri![](https://assets-global.website-files.com/5f0e1294f002b15080e1f2ff/62212686316eb702667d3643_foundations-of-humane-technology-course-social-thumbnail.png)](https://www.humanetech.com/course)