Welcome to the 42nd edition of the TOTR newsletter.
Allons-y.
1. Quote to Think About
Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.
- Mary Shelley
Change is never easy. But as much as you can, whatever you decide to change, make sure that you take your people along with you.
I wish our politicians and tech moguls understood this more.
2. An Insight Worth Considering
As the World Cup officially starts today, all eyes turn on the legendary football player who might be finishing his international career on the biggest stage of all.
Lionel Andrés Messi.
For almost 20 years, Lionel Messi has captivated football fans worldwide wth his skill, creativity, and almost unearthly ability to make the ball stick to his feet.
Many consider Mr Messi the greatest player of all time.
But there’s something he understands that most adults don’t.
But if you watch his game, especially now, you’ll see that he’s not that prolific a runner. He’s actually sometimes trudging around the pitch like he’s having a kickabout.
But he understands space.
His former manager, the legendary Pep Guardiola, said that Messi's mind is a football supercomputer.
Messi is always scanning his environment and within 30 minutes, he completely mapped out the pitch and knows all the places where he can use to his advantage.
He occupies the spaces where the ball is going. He preserves his energy for when he needs it and makes it count.
It’s the same with us and technology. Most of the decisions we’re making are based on the things we know now, especially in education. But like Messi, we need to look at the signs where the future is and start working from there.
Technology is advancing so rapidly that by the time legislation catches up, it’s already too late.
This is where adults have a crucial role to play. Too often, we're teaching young people how to operate in the world we grew up in, rather than the one they're about to inherit.
The goal isn't to stop young people from using AI.
The genie is out of the bottle. Unfortunately, I don’t think the world powers will slow down the development of this mind-bending technology. We’re riding shotgun in this car whether we like it or not.
But it doesn’t mean we lie down and take it either.
Just like Messi stopped relying on his physical abilities and leaned on his footballing IQ, we have to adapt and lean on our emotional intelligence or EQ, to get us through these changes. And we have to help our kids do the same.
AI can provide answers, but it can't provide wisdom. It can generate ideas, but it can't decide what matters.
Our job is to help young people develop the human skills that become more valuable as technology advances: critical thinking, communication, adaptability, empathy, and the confidence to ask better questions than a machine can answer.
If you help your young people understand this, you will be GOAT’ed in their eyes for sure.
3. Resource to Explore
I'm a massive fan of Austin Kleon and he recently released his brand new book called 'Don't Call It Art.'
I love being creative, but 'creative burnout' is real. Sometimes I simply get stumped for ideas and don't know what to do next. Then I pop one of his books off the bookcase, and after a couple of flicks through the pages, I'm inspired again.
His latest book is no different. In our AI world, where we have exported our creativity to algorithms and machine learning, Kleon encourages us to be playful and harness that playful curiosity.
He lists 10 real lessons in creativity he learned from his primary school-aged children, and they are pretty cool!
His books are laid out beautifully and are short reads, so you can get through them in an hour.
If you do anything remotely creative or want a beautiful book to be a talking point on your coffee table, I thoroughly recommend this book
4. The Small Thing That Helped Me This Fortnight
Notebook by Zoho - It's a cracking little notetaking app in the vein of Everlast or Notion. It's very visual and allows you to create folders to put all your digital stuff in.
It's so easy to open, type some notes and organise your stuff that it works seamlessly with my setup. It plays nicely with my Android setup, and the best news is the free version is brilliant! Give it a whirl!
5. A Question to Sit With
What opportunity are you missing because you're waiting to feel ready?
Although we are living through disruptive times, the good news is that they can help us see unique pathways we might not otherwise see. To paraphrase John F Kennedy, in times of great change also come great opportunities.
Before you go, there might be something that can help your young people (and you) answer that question.
This week on the Maverick School Podcast, I explore one of the most important questions facing young people today:
Are we thinking about careers completely the wrong way?
The timing couldn't be more important.
Former MP Alan Milburn's latest report reveals that more than 1 million young people in the UK are currently not in education, employment or training — a figure projected to rise significantly over the coming years.
The traditional playbook isn't working for everyone.
So where do young people go from here?
In this solo episode, I uncover the surprising parallels between the gaming industry and the modern economy, arguing that some of the best career lessons may not come from career advisers at all...
...but from the games many young people are already playing.
Inside this episode, you’ll learn:
🎮 The surprising connection between open-world gaming and the way opportunities now emerge in the real economy
🎮 What The Legend of Zelda can teach us about overcoming seemingly impossible challenges
🎮 Why becoming "the expert" may no longer be the safest strategy in an AI-powered world
🎮 The simple decision-making framework used by the richest man on Earth — and how it can help you make smarter choices when the future feels uncertain
And perhaps most importantly:
🎮 How young people can stop worrying about finding the perfect path and start building the skills to thrive no matter what path appears next.
If you're a young person (or a person who works with them) trying to make sense of an increasingly unpredictable world, this episode might completely change the way you think about work, opportunity and success.
Because in an open-world game, the people who win aren't always the ones with the best map.
They're the ones willing to explore.
Listen on your podcasting platform of choice: 😎👇🏾
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep8-the-ganondorf-paradox/id1881678199?i=1000771710654
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4f042kWZyp2dzFcQvkr3uW?si=85a6dcc483844009
Podbean
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-fi7qj-1ae3745
The next newsletter comes out on Thursday, 25th June 2026.
Speak soon!
Karl
