Latest Unthinking - September

Author

Team Unthink
September 13, 2023

Welcome to the Latest Unthinking newsletter, September edition!🤘🏼

583 words. 3 parts. 3 mins of your time.🚀

  1. Tell me something new!

  2. Dirt track mindset

  3. Highlights

Chat GPTs quick summary of today’s newsletter:

“How Alfred Nobel went from "the merchant of death" to creating the Nobel Prize, while world records are broken in Nebraska and Unthink is jet-setting across the globe, asking you to ponder if you were a pilot, where would you go, and who's on your cabin crew? ✈️🏆”

Enjoy!

Tell me something new

The story of how the Nobel Prize was created showcases what we at Unthink call ‘above the line’ thinking - taking control and being proactive.

In the 19th century, Americans wanted to blast tunnels through mountainous rock using Nitro-glycerine, an effective but incredibly dangerous liquid.

It had the potential to save thousands of hours of labour, but was susceptible to exploding in the manufacturing process or if handled poorly.

In 1864, a scientist by the name of Alfred Nobel lost his brother in an accidental explosion that killed 16 people. He wondered if he could make nitro-glycerine safer.

By mixing it with earth, he created an equally destructive explosive, that could be handled much safer and shaped to fit into holes in rock. Alfred named this dynamite. 🧨

Consequently, he saved hundreds, potentially thousands of lives.

Although, not everyone saw it that way. When Alfred’s older brother died of illness, the papers confused the brothers and reported Alfred’s death alongside the headline “Nobel, the merchant of death, is dead”. The story went on to describe how he made a fortune from killing people faster than ever before.

That wasn’t how Alfred wanted to be remembered, he believed he was a humanitarian, so went about correcting his legacy himself. He founded the Nobel awards to recognise achievements across science, chemistry, medicine and literature.

One of these was the Nobel Peace Prize that is awarded every year. The most prestigious humanitarian award there is. ✌

Dirt track mindset

We are traveling a lot this month - Frankfurt, Dublin, Singapore, New York, London… And every time we step on a plane we remember these simple, but powerful questions:

If you were the pilot of the plane…

→ Where would you be going? (what are you trying to achieve/what’s your goal?) 

→ Who would be your cabin crew / support team going with you? 

Take a moment to think about this today. It doesn’t take long, but will make some things very clear….

Highlights

📈 Our next Women’s Leadership Experience kicks off next month, on 5th October. We have a handful of spaces left, so if you’d like to join, please do drop us a reply!

🏐 92,003 fans! On Wednesday 30th August, a women’s college volleyball match in Nebraska set the record for the highest attendance at a women’s sporting event. True unthinking of what seems impossible - we love this!

🍚 Not much to do with Unthink but a video of someone mastering a skill that we enjoyed!

🔄 ICYMI ( = In Case You Missed It): Our last four Unthinking Thursdays 💡:

If you're not signed up to this newsletter and it was forwarded on from a friend, you can correct this here 👇️ 

Team Unthink 🫶