2024-07-17

• I continue to make (slower now that I’m working) progress through Will/Ariel Durant’s great history tomes. I’ve made it to Luther. Fascinating. Especially after I’ve getting through the preceding ~600 years of bad behavior from the Church. These big moments really hit hard after wading through hours and hours and hours of people doing bad stuff. Anyways, it’s great. One interesting thing that stands out is how you can draw some parallels with the Reformation and The Innovators Dilemma, which is quite popular today in my technology-focused circles. Basically, a key sticking point in the Reformation was around the selling of indulgences by the Catholic Church. And, much like a large incumbent in the world of business, The Church struggled to respond effectively to Protestant complaints because they were heavily dependent, organizationally, on the revenue from the sale of indulgences. When faced with the choice between innovating in a more lean environment (sans indulgences) and holding on as long as possible to the existing ways, they made the choice so common among large organizations of today. History may not repeat, but it does seem to rhyme. Cool to see.
  
• I finally figured out Weddingpalooza!

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