Reading Time: 2 minI work hard to accrue knowledge. I think that’s a lot of my Enneagram 5-ness coming out, as I shared a few years ago when I unpacked the various Enneagram numbers: “Fives collect knowledge. Knowledge and information of almost any kind (even the strangest information) provide Fives with a sense of control and a defense […]
Learning
When is it for you, and when is it for someone else?
Reading Time: < 1 minLately, I’ve been trying to pay more attention to who a creation is for. In the case of this blog, as I’ve said for years, I’m writing primarily for myself as a way to get thoughts out of my head and organized a bit better. If you’re reading this I hope you find value in […]
Getting more out of the books I read
Reading Time: 2 minI read a lot of books, but I’ve noticed that I’m not retaining what I read particularly well. That’s frustrating, and this blog is intended to help with that. I think it does a little bit, and my retention would be even lower without it, but more needs to be done. I shared a few […]
What matters is doing the right thing
Reading Time: < 1 minThere are two kinds of people in the world: There is certainly some crossover there, but if your focus is always trying to “be right” you might miss opportunities to shift gears and do the right thing. In Kim Scott’s book “Radical Candor“, she shares this thought from Steve Jobs about being right. I don’t […]
Writing the report is the important part
Reading Time: < 1 minWhen we’re preparing for our quarterly meetings with our clients, we spend a lot of time digging into their analytics from the previous quarter. We want to understand what worked, what didn’t, what’s growing, what’s fading, and anything that could be of value to them. While the output of that research is certainly important to […]
The ownership of immaterial things
Reading Time: 2 minOwnership of physical objects is easy to understand, but taking ownership of an idea can lead to problems. This doesn’t mean “taking ownership” of a situation at work; it’s always good to stand up and own your work. It’s when you take ownership of a certain idea and refuse to let it go that it […]
Confident answers can be problematic
Reading Time: < 1 minConfidence is a good thing. If you can be confident in what you believe, what you know, and who you trust, that’s fantastic. However, if you have to project fake confidence as a way to avoid being seen as vulnerable, that quickly becomes a big problem. In David Clark’s excellent book “Tao of Charlie Munger“, […]
Multitasking makes learning difficult
Reading Time: 2 minI have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the idea of multitasking. I know that it’s mostly a myth (you don’t really “multitask”, you just “switch between different tasks quickly”), but I also have three monitors on my desk. That said, this is a reason why I enjoy devices like the reMarkable tablet and […]
Learning from the news
Reading Time: 2 minWhen a news story starts taking attention of a large part of the country, like the recent implosion of the Titan sub or as COVID was sweeping the world, many people become “experts”, as shown in memes like this one: It’s a tricky place to be. Most people indeed learned more about COVID as it […]
Creativity comes from connected thoughts
Reading Time: 2 minIt’s hard to come up with any truly new ideas today, as most of the best new ideas are merely the combination of existing ideas — but that’s a good thing. In a recent podcast with Adam Grant, author James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) summarized his work in that way: I haven’t had someone […]