18. I drove from Germany where my father was stationed to a little teacher training college in West Sussex. I remember playing ‘The Morning Papers’ by Prince in the car and singing along, worried that I would miss the major junction near Antwerp that would whisk me south towards France, instead of west towards the car ferry in Ostend, Belgium. Remember flying through a very thick cloud of insects enroute and having to stop to wash yellow insect guts from the car windscreen by the side of the road. When I went to the College admin office to get a car pass on my first day I was mistaken as a new member of staff and got the wrong kind of pass. I attributed this to my natty tweed jacket and corduroy trousers, all of my student cohorts were in t-shirts and jeans. That’s when I felt I’d been mistaken for an adult.

I used to believe that COVID-19 could be transmitted asymptomatically but I read something recently that convinced me otherwise by Beda M Stadler, the former director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Bern. He makes a strong and clear case that most of what we know about this disease is factually incorrect mainly, because as he says “many of my immunology colleagues who so far have left the discussion about Covid-19 to virologists and epidemiologists”. Stadler talks about the “fairy tale of no immunity” and how “our antibody titre, i.e. the accuracy of our defence system, is reduced the older we get. But also people with a bad diet or who are malnourished may have a weakened immune system, which is why this virus does not only reveal the medical problems of a country, but also social issues.” I wish everyone would read what he’s written, I think if you do, you’ll still wear a mask but you’ll probably want to stare at/confront people who don’t wear them indoors, next to you, less.

Steve Jobs, is the person I admire a lot because he was a great example of someone who not only had singular, driving vision but knew how to execute on it too. Not sure about the high esteem bit. Apparently he was a bit of a dick, most of the time and seemingly unaware of his capacity and propensity to offend. Imagine how loved he would’ve been if he wasn’t unnecessarily unpleasant? I’m also grateful to him (and Jony Ive) for all of the sexycool and functional gadgets I’ve bought and used to good effect over the years. I switched most of my share portfolio to AAPL when the iPad came out. One of the best investment decisions I’ll ever make.

Get to the point. Mostly in business though this could apply to conversations at social gatherings where the person droning on about whatever, isn’t picking up on all of the non- verbal signals I’m sending. Don’t get me wrong, small-talk serves a purpose and is great for warming up or getting to know someone, but there have been way too many telephone conversations where I’ve received the core info like 5 minutes ago and the rest of what you’re telling me is not that relevant. I’m too polite to lie that someone’s at the door but I am probably rolling my eyes and muttering on mute.

That I’m a Kiwi. It’s really annoying because obviously, I’m a Brit. A Brit who’s apparently spent enough time in the States to have his British accent mangled and transformed into a New Zealand accent. How is that even possible? I’ll pin the blame on the folks who commonly make this wrong assumption – Americans who have probably never heard a Kiwi talk in their lives!

Driving your car is acceptable today but I look forward to the tomorrow when not having a car drive you automatically will be considered taboo, perhaps even illegal. Self driving cars will make mistakes, especially during the beginning of adoption, but they’ll always make far fewer mistakes than humans and I can’t wait for there to be fewer deadly or crippling accidents caused by drunk, distracted, tired, young, texting, old, risk-taking, speeding self-drivers.

I’ve tried so many different email systems, at least 20 over the years and none of them have been perfect or a joy to use. I recently discovered Hey (or HEY) from the makers of Basecamp and though it’s only been a few weeks since I’ve been using it, I’m loving the completely new approach. It’s been designed by people who started by fixing everything we usually hate about using email and though there’s a small learning curve, I’m thinking it’s a very well designed and powerful new way to deal with email traffic.

I bought an Electro-Voice RE20 microphone after doing a ton of research. There’s a reason why most radio stations have the RE20, it produces warm and beautiful, crystal quality sound and it’s heavy, metal clad, with a built-in pop filter. You basically find a swing arm sturdy enough to suspend it, plug it in and you’re ready to get to work. One thing I decided was essential when creating my new podcast, was getting the best sound quality I could afford and every time I use it, I think it was money well spent.

Easy! I’d split the bar into Men and Women only sections, divided by a glass, soundproof wall. No need to catch the bartender’s eye, you’d be served by the number of the ticket you grabbed. I’d also have a separate bar that offered different kinds of freshly poured drinks on a circular conveyor, for people who don’t want to wait, so they could scan their credit card, grab their drink and go. I remember there was a bar in London, probably still going strong today, that varied the pricing of booze they sold by the fluctuating supply and demand on the night, the punters could see the current prices on a big led screen. I think it was near the Stock Exchange. I’d incorporate that idea too. As a proud Scot, I’d offer haggis, neeps and tatties to soak up the alcohol.

Not necessarily the most, but I did feel quite sorry for the Joker after watching Joaquin Phoenix turn in that troubling and mesmerizing performance.

Early on in my career I had to give a presentation and the colleague I was presenting with had assumed that I was good to go, when I wasn’t. What we should have done was a dry run. On the day of the event I bombed, gave the worst presentation of my life, because I didn’t prepare and didn’t know how to present. I felt embarrassed and knew that I sucked, let everyone down, including myself. Ever since then, I’ve prepared every presentation and always been on my game.

Curiosity. I think people who are endlessly curious tend to succeed in life because they always seek to understand and learn. I worry about people who don’t ask questions or just go along to get along. I’m like the kid in class who always asked the teacher “But why?” I read constantly, admit that I can easily disappear down web rabbit holes and wonder where the time has gone. When that happens I write it off but there’s a good chance that I’ve learned something useful or relevant.

Poor dress sense, easily ignored but can be amusing.

Not sure. Probably confirmation bias followed swiftly by overconfidence effect.

I’d like to see WFH as the norm. More employers will realize that some workers perform better because they’re happier and more comfortable when they’re not in the office. The whole commuting to work thing is ridiculous and tedious, especially when technology makes location immaterial.

I’ve realized that the more I become immersed in a subject, the easier it gets to answer questions. I’ve also realized that some questions people ask are not always the right questions and you can help them by answering the questions they didn’t, couldn’t or wouldn’t ask.

Taika Waititi

Were you ever in a Beastie Boys tribute band at college?

Thank you to Andy Foote for taking 20 Questions for The Brainfood Tribune. Contact Andy at LinkedInsights for any help in upgrading your LinkedIn game