By now, most of us will be familiar with Elon Musk’s infamous email of February 22 to US federal government employees instructing them to list, in five bullet points, what they did ‘last week’ to justify their jobs.
In the panic, contradictions and confusion that followed it was not clear whether the instruction was real or not (it was described later by Musk as a ruse) or whether it should or should not be responded to (various Trump-ist appointees diverged fundamentally on this). Musk then insisted it was simply a way of undertaking a ‘pulse check’ to see if staff could respond.
Since then, the mayhem, contradiction and confusion continue, a daily part of the ‘making our things (but not their things) great again’.
In using this approach, Musk was adopting a popular business methodology - Top Five Things (or TSTs) as detailed by AI company Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. It is a strategy to capture the thinking and the conversations dominant among senior staff in a fast-paced industry.
It is a simple way of trying to stay on top of things and to generate ideas, discussion and, theoretically, dynamism. As such, it is useful tool for all of us in attempting to think about and navigate these difficult and hostile times locally and internationally.
Applied positively, it offers a strategy for doing exactly the opposite of what Musk and his fellow tech bros and their fellow traveller Trump intend.
In that context, it might be instructive, even stimulating to ask ourselves, individually and collectively ‘what did I do last week’ to make a positive contribution to my life, my community, the planet etc.? What five things did I do (or might I have done) or what 5 things should I not have done?
In these febrile times, it also offers an effective way of answering some key questions we often ask (or avoid asking) ourselves about our presence in the world – what can I/what should I, do? If practised on a routine basis, it offers important insight into the additional question – what is it that I can actually do?
Having a ‘doable’ list can be an empowering agenda – the exact opposite of that well-worn belief that there is so little I can do.
Think personal, family and community life. Think immediate and wider environment. Think consumer power and options. Think governance and civic life. Think volunteering and associational life. Think skills and opportunities. Think friends, neighbours and networks. Think women’s groups, trade unions, church groups, student, sports and hobby groups etc. Think media, news and informational life.
Think home, school and work.
Think waste. Think food. Think transport. Think culture, politics and communication. Think what’s right and what’s wrong and what could be easily fixed. Think everyday life. Think ‘doing the obvious’.
Think that while it happens to be this, it could also be something else. Think not just problems but also solutions and alternatives.
Think values, ethics, rights, responsibilities and opportunities. Think, what top five things could I easily do to make a positive contribution in such contexts and circumstances. What can I do individually or in partnership with friends. Think also about the more difficult question – what might I stop doing?
Think of Eleanor Roosevelt’s reminder - Where after all do human rights begin? In small places, close to home.
Think T5Ts. Think what would Elon Musk do...and then do the opposite.