Every Friday, we distribute an internal email about what we’ve been reading. As you’d expect, the topics are quite diverse but almost all of them have some connection to our work here. Several people have suggested that we should share this with people outside the company. Good idea …

Many of you went to art school and already know everything I just learned from Kit White’s 101 Things to Learn in Art School. But thing #45 is worth being reminded of, regardless of your background: “Work from your intuition, and analyze with your intellect. To keep your work spontaneous and inventive, try to draw upon what lies beneath normal cognition in an uninhibited way. Intuition is not hocus-pocus. It is simply a judgment system that operates without immediately available conscious evidence. Intuition draws upon subliminal knowledge and allows the unfamiliar, unfiltered, and unknown to enter your work. Once there, you can apply your powers of rational analysis to discover what you have done. At this stage, you can always edit, but don’t edit or preclude what does not yet exist.” I found this to be a great lesson about when it’s safe to be a little crazy in one’s work and when it’s time to get serious.

Politics and sarcasm seem to go together, so it was refreshing to read this piece by someone who gave up snark to become a politician and try to build something. Another super lesson on how your attitude has an effect on whether you’re going to get anything done.

I know it’s not always fashionable to be a Seth Godin fan, but this blog post about getting the work done distills his best ideas concisely.

Finally, I hope you will be spending this coming Monday celebrating the greatest of all fake holidays.