Modest Operations | Newsletter Volume 34

This Week's Links A list of things I've been reading & thinking about.* "Externalizing our processes is the best way to see them with clear eyes. The inefficiencies stand out like a lone tree on a desert plateau. Once the checklist is made, almost anybody in the organization can perform that operation." - The Checklist Habit (David Perell for David Perell) * "Restaurateurs have successfully channeled California ideals into unique, thoughtful restaurants in and out of the state, but it requires serious effort not to fall back on stereotypes. Over the last few years, California, and not just LA, has begun to set the national culinary tone. Los Angeles is influential in a way it hasn’t been since the 1980s, with Japanese, Mexican, French, Middle Eastern, and Italian restaurants all gaining due recognition for their impact on dining trends there and across the country." - The Californication of America’s Restaurants (Nick Mancall-Bitel for Eater) * "As popular as he seems to be with quote-unquote regular guys, that’s how unpopular Joe Rogan is with the quote-unquote prestige wing of popular culture—Emmy voters, HBO subscribers, comedy nerds. Thought leaders. Thought followers." - Why Is Joe Rogan So Popular? (Devin Gordon for The Atlantic)