- Skepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be skeptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.
- Go to parties. You can't even start to know what you may find on the envelope of serendipity. If you suffer from agoraphobia, send colleagues.
- It's not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.
- Wear your best for your execution and stand dignified. Your last recourse against randomness is how you act -- if you can't control outcomes, you can control the elegance of your behavior. You will always have the last word.
- Don't disturb complicated systems that have been around for a very long time. We don't understand their logic. Don't pollute the planet. Leave it the way we found it, regardless of scientific 'evidence'.
- Learn to fail with pride -- and do so fast and cleanly. Maximize trial and error -- by mastering the error part.
- Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words 'impossible', 'never', 'too difficult' too often, drop him or her from your social network. Never take 'no' for an answer (conversely, take most 'yeses' as 'most probably').
- Don't read newspapers for the news (just for the gossip and, of course, profiles of authors). The best filter to know if the news matters is if you hear it in cafes, restaurants... or (again) parties.
- Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.
- Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them.
Showing posts with label Zeitgeist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zeitgeist. Show all posts
Friday, January 30, 2009
Zeitgeist: Nassim Taleb's Tips for Living
I got this list from Andrew Taylor's Artful Manager blog. Tips for living by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (author of The Black Swan):
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
On the Road in India: Niraj Seth's WSJ blog
A great travel blog by WSJ journalist Niraj Seth about his travel through the south of India in an auto-rickshaw - On the Road in India
Excerpt about using a horn while driving :-)
"The horn is your friend. Use it often, use it well. Unlike in the US, where a honk usually signals an imminent emergency (or unpardonable rudeness) honking is a way of life in India. Anything can cross your path at any time — people walking down the middle of the highway in the dark, motorcycles traveling the wrong way, a tire rolling across a street — so it’s wise to keep one hand on or near the horn. Drivers here blow the horn when they’re passing pedestrians, presumably to alert them to an approaching vehicle. They honk to rouse the cars placidly drifting into the oncoming lane. Sometimes they even honk on completely empty streets — out of habit, perhaps."
Excerpt about using a horn while driving :-)
"The horn is your friend. Use it often, use it well. Unlike in the US, where a honk usually signals an imminent emergency (or unpardonable rudeness) honking is a way of life in India. Anything can cross your path at any time — people walking down the middle of the highway in the dark, motorcycles traveling the wrong way, a tire rolling across a street — so it’s wise to keep one hand on or near the horn. Drivers here blow the horn when they’re passing pedestrians, presumably to alert them to an approaching vehicle. They honk to rouse the cars placidly drifting into the oncoming lane. Sometimes they even honk on completely empty streets — out of habit, perhaps."
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Zeitgeist: Why Experience Matters (David Brooks)
An insightful column by David Brooks: Why Experience Matters
Excerpt:
"What is prudence? It is the ability to grasp the unique pattern of a specific situation. It is the ability to absorb the vast flow of information and still discern the essential current of events — the things that go together and the things that will never go together. It is the ability to engage in complex deliberations and feel which arguments have the most weight.
How is prudence acquired? Through experience. The prudent leader possesses a repertoire of events, through personal involvement or the study of history, and can apply those models to current circumstances to judge what is important and what is not, who can be persuaded and who can’t, what has worked and what hasn’t.
Experienced leaders can certainly blunder if their minds have rigidified (see: Rumsfeld, Donald), but the records of leaders without long experience and prudence is not good. As George Will pointed out, the founders used the word “experience” 91 times in the Federalist Papers. Democracy is not average people selecting average leaders. It is average people with the wisdom to select the best prepared. "
Excerpt:
"What is prudence? It is the ability to grasp the unique pattern of a specific situation. It is the ability to absorb the vast flow of information and still discern the essential current of events — the things that go together and the things that will never go together. It is the ability to engage in complex deliberations and feel which arguments have the most weight.
How is prudence acquired? Through experience. The prudent leader possesses a repertoire of events, through personal involvement or the study of history, and can apply those models to current circumstances to judge what is important and what is not, who can be persuaded and who can’t, what has worked and what hasn’t.
Experienced leaders can certainly blunder if their minds have rigidified (see: Rumsfeld, Donald), but the records of leaders without long experience and prudence is not good. As George Will pointed out, the founders used the word “experience” 91 times in the Federalist Papers. Democracy is not average people selecting average leaders. It is average people with the wisdom to select the best prepared. "
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Zeitgeist: Mental discipline
This op-ed column by David Brooks about Tiger Woods' mental discipline has stuck in my mind after reading it a week ago.
The Frozen Gaze
Excerpt:
"In a period that has brought us instant messaging, multitasking, wireless distractions and attention deficit disorder, Woods has become the exemplar of mental discipline. After watching Woods walk stone-faced through a roaring crowd, the science writer Steven Johnson, in a typical comment, wrote: “I have never in my life seen a wider chasm between the look in someone’s eye and the surrounding environment."
The ancients were familiar with physical courage and the priests with moral courage, but in this over-communicated age when mortals feel perpetually addled, Woods is the symbol of mental willpower. He is, in addition, competitive, ruthless, unsatisfied by success and honest about his own failings. (Twice, he risked his career to retool his swing"
The Frozen Gaze
Excerpt:
"In a period that has brought us instant messaging, multitasking, wireless distractions and attention deficit disorder, Woods has become the exemplar of mental discipline. After watching Woods walk stone-faced through a roaring crowd, the science writer Steven Johnson, in a typical comment, wrote: “I have never in my life seen a wider chasm between the look in someone’s eye and the surrounding environment."
The ancients were familiar with physical courage and the priests with moral courage, but in this over-communicated age when mortals feel perpetually addled, Woods is the symbol of mental willpower. He is, in addition, competitive, ruthless, unsatisfied by success and honest about his own failings. (Twice, he risked his career to retool his swing"
Zeitgeist: Fuel efficiency m.p.g. vs. gallons/100 miles
From the NYT Science Times: M.P.G. Can Mislead When Searching for Fuel Efficiency
Excerpt:
"...the researchers say, the relationship between consumption and m.p.g. is curvilinear, and there is a greater savings at lower m.p.g.’s. Over 10,000 miles, the 28 m.p.g. car uses 198 fewer gallons than the 18 m.p.g., more than double the savings of the 50 m.p.g. car compared with the 34 m.p.g. one.
With this new measure, the researchers suggest, consumers would more easily see the value of swapping an inefficient car for one that is even just modestly more efficient."
With this new measure, the researchers suggest, consumers would more easily see the value of swapping an inefficient car for one that is even just modestly more efficient."
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Zeitgeist: New Habits
Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?
Excerpts:
"Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try — the more we step outside our comfort zone — the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives."
"Ms. Ryan and Ms. Markova have found what they call three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs.
She recommends practicing a Japanese technique called kaizen, which calls for tiny, continuous improvements.
“Whenever we initiate change, even a positive one, we activate fear in our emotional brain,” Ms. Ryan notes in her book. “If the fear is big enough, the fight-or-flight response will go off and we’ll run from what we’re trying to do. The small steps in kaizen don’t set off fight or flight, but rather keep us in the thinking brain, where we have access to our creativity and playfulness.”
Excerpts:
"Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try — the more we step outside our comfort zone — the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives."
"Ms. Ryan and Ms. Markova have found what they call three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs.
She recommends practicing a Japanese technique called kaizen, which calls for tiny, continuous improvements.
“Whenever we initiate change, even a positive one, we activate fear in our emotional brain,” Ms. Ryan notes in her book. “If the fear is big enough, the fight-or-flight response will go off and we’ll run from what we’re trying to do. The small steps in kaizen don’t set off fight or flight, but rather keep us in the thinking brain, where we have access to our creativity and playfulness.”
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Zeitgeist: Daniel Gilbert on happiness
After having read a book on happiness (The Geography of Bliss) recently for book club, it was interesting to read this interview in the NY Times: The Smiling Professor.
Excerpt of three questions from the interview:
"Q. AS THE AUTHOR OF A BEST SELLER ABOUT HAPPINESS, DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE ON HOW PEOPLE CAN ACHIEVE IT?
A. I’m not Dr. Phil.
We know that the best predictor of human happiness is human relationships and the amount of time that people spend with family and friends.
We know that it’s significantly more important than money and somewhat more important than health. That’s what the data shows. The interesting thing is that people will sacrifice social relationships to get other things that won’t make them as happy — money. That’s what I mean when I say people should do “wise shopping” for happiness.
Another thing we know from studies is that people tend to take more pleasure in experiences than in things. So if you have “x” amount of dollars to spend on a vacation or a good meal or movies, it will get you more happiness than a durable good or an object. One reason for this is that experiences tend to be shared with other people and objects usually aren’t.
Q. HAVE YOU JUST EXPRESSED A VERY ANTI-AMERICAN IDEA?
A. Oh, you can spend lots of money on experiences. People think a car will last and that’s why it will bring you happiness. But it doesn’t. It gets old and decays. But experiences don’t. You’ll “always have Paris” — and that’s exactly what Bogart meant when he said it to Ingrid Bergman. But will you always have a washing machine? No.
Today, I’m going to Dallas to meet my wife and I’m flying first class, which is ridiculously expensive. But the experience will be far more delightful than a new suit. Another way I follow what I’ve learned from data is that I don’t chase dollars now that I have enough of them, because I know that it will take a very large amount of money to increase my happiness by a small amount.
You couldn’t pay me $100,000 to miss a play date with my granddaughters.
And that’s not because I’m rich. That’s because I know that a hundred grand won’t make me as happy as nurturing my relationship with my granddaughters will.
Q. SO YOU HOLD WITH THE NOTION THAT “MONEY CAN’T BUY YOU HAPPINESS”?
A. I wouldn’t say that. The data says that with the poor, a little money can buy a lot of happiness. If you’re rich, a lot of money can buy you a little more happiness. But in both cases, money does it."
Excerpt of three questions from the interview:
"Q. AS THE AUTHOR OF A BEST SELLER ABOUT HAPPINESS, DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE ON HOW PEOPLE CAN ACHIEVE IT?
A. I’m not Dr. Phil.
We know that the best predictor of human happiness is human relationships and the amount of time that people spend with family and friends.
We know that it’s significantly more important than money and somewhat more important than health. That’s what the data shows. The interesting thing is that people will sacrifice social relationships to get other things that won’t make them as happy — money. That’s what I mean when I say people should do “wise shopping” for happiness.
Another thing we know from studies is that people tend to take more pleasure in experiences than in things. So if you have “x” amount of dollars to spend on a vacation or a good meal or movies, it will get you more happiness than a durable good or an object. One reason for this is that experiences tend to be shared with other people and objects usually aren’t.
Q. HAVE YOU JUST EXPRESSED A VERY ANTI-AMERICAN IDEA?
A. Oh, you can spend lots of money on experiences. People think a car will last and that’s why it will bring you happiness. But it doesn’t. It gets old and decays. But experiences don’t. You’ll “always have Paris” — and that’s exactly what Bogart meant when he said it to Ingrid Bergman. But will you always have a washing machine? No.
Today, I’m going to Dallas to meet my wife and I’m flying first class, which is ridiculously expensive. But the experience will be far more delightful than a new suit. Another way I follow what I’ve learned from data is that I don’t chase dollars now that I have enough of them, because I know that it will take a very large amount of money to increase my happiness by a small amount.
You couldn’t pay me $100,000 to miss a play date with my granddaughters.
And that’s not because I’m rich. That’s because I know that a hundred grand won’t make me as happy as nurturing my relationship with my granddaughters will.
Q. SO YOU HOLD WITH THE NOTION THAT “MONEY CAN’T BUY YOU HAPPINESS”?
A. I wouldn’t say that. The data says that with the poor, a little money can buy a lot of happiness. If you’re rich, a lot of money can buy you a little more happiness. But in both cases, money does it."
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Zeitgeist: Tighten Your Belt, Strengthen Your Mind
A good article from yesterday's NY Times: Tighten Your Belt, Strengthen Your Mind
Excerpts:
"Focusing on success is important because willpower can grow in the long term. Like a muscle, willpower seems to become stronger with use."
...
"Whatever the explanation, consistently doing any activity that requires self-control seems to increase willpower — and the ability to resist impulses and delay gratification is highly associated with success in life."
Excerpts:
"Focusing on success is important because willpower can grow in the long term. Like a muscle, willpower seems to become stronger with use."
...
"Whatever the explanation, consistently doing any activity that requires self-control seems to increase willpower — and the ability to resist impulses and delay gratification is highly associated with success in life."
Friday, March 14, 2008
Zeitgeist: Kids and Playing
Two good stories from NPR about kids and playing:
Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills
"Researchers say imaginative play allows children to make their own rules and practice self-control. "
Creative Play Makes For Kids In Control
"Organizing play for kids has never seemed like more work. But researchers Adele Diamond and Deborah Leong have good news: The best kind of play costs nothing and really only has one main requirement — imagination. "
Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills
"Researchers say imaginative play allows children to make their own rules and practice self-control. "
Creative Play Makes For Kids In Control
"Organizing play for kids has never seemed like more work. But researchers Adele Diamond and Deborah Leong have good news: The best kind of play costs nothing and really only has one main requirement — imagination. "
Zeitgeist: Why Office Design Matters
I came across this article on Artful Manager: Why Office Design Matters
"You want to concentrate and collaborate, but how can you get the best of both worlds in your current office set-up? An excerpt from Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performance and Results from Knowledge Workers."
"You want to concentrate and collaborate, but how can you get the best of both worlds in your current office set-up? An excerpt from Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performance and Results from Knowledge Workers."
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Zeitgeist: A Zagat-Style Approach to Your Career
A good post from the Shifting Careers column/blog in the NY Times.
Excerpt:
"When it comes to career and life change, thinking is overrated. What you need is a way to get beyond your own subjectivity, without simply adopting another person’s subjectivity. One method is to create a right-brain file. Another is to interview five to 10 people who know you in a structured way.
To set up the interviews, create a short questionnaire (six to eight questions) with questions like:
* What are three things I do really well?
* What are three things I don’t do so well?
* Based on what you know about me, what job or experience have I liked the best in the past?
* Based on what you know about me, what job or experience have I liked the least?
* What are three things you can imagine me doing?
* What’s something you can’t really imagine me doing?
* How do I get in my own way?
Pick a variety of people who know different facets of you. You can ask friends, family members, colleagues, and people whose views you respect but whom you rarely speak to. Ask open-ended questions that encourage people to expound; avoid questions that can be answered yes or no."
Excerpt:
"When it comes to career and life change, thinking is overrated. What you need is a way to get beyond your own subjectivity, without simply adopting another person’s subjectivity. One method is to create a right-brain file. Another is to interview five to 10 people who know you in a structured way.
To set up the interviews, create a short questionnaire (six to eight questions) with questions like:
* What are three things I do really well?
* What are three things I don’t do so well?
* Based on what you know about me, what job or experience have I liked the best in the past?
* Based on what you know about me, what job or experience have I liked the least?
* What are three things you can imagine me doing?
* What’s something you can’t really imagine me doing?
* How do I get in my own way?
Pick a variety of people who know different facets of you. You can ask friends, family members, colleagues, and people whose views you respect but whom you rarely speak to. Ask open-ended questions that encourage people to expound; avoid questions that can be answered yes or no."
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Zeitgeist: In the Statesman Out & About blog
I was in the paper today - a photo with Lee Thompson and another Leadership Austin grad - at Lee's retirement party.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Zeitgeist: Personal MBA
I came across Personal MBA on an Artful Manager blog post.
"Business schools don’t have a monopoly on worldly wisdom. If you're serious about learning advanced business principles, the Personal MBA can help. The Personal MBA recommended reading list is the tangible result of hundreds of hours of reading and research, and features only the very best books the business press has to offer. So skip the fancy diploma and $150,000 loan - you can get a world-class business education simply by reading these books."
"Business schools don’t have a monopoly on worldly wisdom. If you're serious about learning advanced business principles, the Personal MBA can help. The Personal MBA recommended reading list is the tangible result of hundreds of hours of reading and research, and features only the very best books the business press has to offer. So skip the fancy diploma and $150,000 loan - you can get a world-class business education simply by reading these books."
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Zeitgeist: Catalog Choice
Want to reduce the number of catalogs you get in the mail? Head on over to Catalog Choice.
"Catalog Choice is a free service that allows you to decide what gets in your mailbox. Use it to reduce your mailbox clutter, while helping save natural resources."
"Catalog Choice is a free service that allows you to decide what gets in your mailbox. Use it to reduce your mailbox clutter, while helping save natural resources."
Friday, May 04, 2007
Zeitgeist: Scale for Non-profits
From a post on the Artful Manager Blog about scale and non-profits.
Excerpt:
"With all the obstacles preventing precise measurements of effectiveness and program quality in the nonprofit sector, it is very easy to use size as a proxy for impact and to embrace the idea that programs serving large numbers of people are contributing more to public welfare than those targeting smaller populations. In this sense, scale is much easier to measure than effectiveness and it represents an appealing way to change the conversation.
But the danger of such a move lies, of course, in the fact that scale is not a particularly good proxy for effectiveness and that many large programs do not deserve the support they receive, while many smaller programs deserve greater acclaim. Scale is not the problem in the nonprofit sector, nor is it the answer."
An article linked from this post: How Nonprofits Get Really Big
Excerpt:
"Further, the way funding flows to organizations this large is neither completely random nor illogical. On the contrary, we identified three important practices common among nonprofits that succeeded in building large-scale funding models: (1) They developed funding in one concentrated source rather than across diverse sources; (2) they found a funding source that was a natural match to their mission and beneficiaries; and (3) they built a professional organization and structure around this funding model."
Excerpt:
"With all the obstacles preventing precise measurements of effectiveness and program quality in the nonprofit sector, it is very easy to use size as a proxy for impact and to embrace the idea that programs serving large numbers of people are contributing more to public welfare than those targeting smaller populations. In this sense, scale is much easier to measure than effectiveness and it represents an appealing way to change the conversation.
But the danger of such a move lies, of course, in the fact that scale is not a particularly good proxy for effectiveness and that many large programs do not deserve the support they receive, while many smaller programs deserve greater acclaim. Scale is not the problem in the nonprofit sector, nor is it the answer."
An article linked from this post: How Nonprofits Get Really Big
Excerpt:
"Further, the way funding flows to organizations this large is neither completely random nor illogical. On the contrary, we identified three important practices common among nonprofits that succeeded in building large-scale funding models: (1) They developed funding in one concentrated source rather than across diverse sources; (2) they found a funding source that was a natural match to their mission and beneficiaries; and (3) they built a professional organization and structure around this funding model."
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Useful Travel Sites
A good article from the NY Times about travel webistes: If It Is Good, Is It Too Good To Be True? The four websites mentioned:
Farecast.com
FareCompare.com
Kayak
Airfarewatchdog.com
Farecast.com
FareCompare.com
Kayak
Airfarewatchdog.com
Friday, January 26, 2007
Zeitgeist: Smartest .orgs online
Good things to learn from these 59 .org sites.
"These charities were chosen for their excellence in online storytelling and collaboration with their donors."
"These charities were chosen for their excellence in online storytelling and collaboration with their donors."
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