READ
WHAT WE'VE WRITTEN
Topics
In 2009, Amazon acquired Zappos for roughly $1.2 billion. The story of Zappos’ success is full of hilarity and wonder, but one factor in particular stands out: inversion. Inversion gave Zappos an edge against other retailers by focusing on—and succeeding at—what others weren’t.
Being scared and being fearful sounds like the same thing, but they might have more differences than first meets the eye. One is experienced quickly—we acquired it through countless iterations of evolution. The other is slow and purposeful, even though we oftentimes don't view it that way. But the linguistic distinction isn't important. The phenomena are. We can be excused for a reactionary response outside of our control. But much resides within our area of control. It may not always be easy; nevertheless, the choice to surmount our fears is ours.
Organizations of all types use the term “family” to describe themselves. In a time when loneliness is pervasive, this can be a heartfelt sentiment. It plays into our inherent need to belong to a group, our tribalism. But it’s misleading and produces a false sense of security. It often does more harm than good.
There’s a common misperception that wanting more is bad. We are told to be happy with what we have and to realize all the blessings in our lives. While it’s good to practice gratitude, simply being content is not the answer. If we don’t want more, we lack ambition and stagnate. Stagnation, whether personal, professional, or other forms, is bad too. Like most things in life, we have to balance the dichotomy of wanting more and being thankful for what we have.
There’s an asymmetry when it comes to creating versus critiquing. That’s to say critiquing is more prevalent than creating. Because we can play both roles, we need to be aware of the power and tendencies of each one.
Beware your beliefs: they have the power to influence others. Both positively and negatively. That's the power of the Pygmalion Effect.
We live in a complex world full of extraordinary detail and interconnections. It is easy for us to get overwhelmed in an environment like this. But Occam's Razor is the antidote. The brilliance of Occam’s Razor lies within its simplicity and efficiency. In a world full of noise, Occam’s Razor helps us make good decisions quickly.
First principles thinking is a methodology for removing assumptions from foundational factual knowledge. Cutting through the noise to the underlying truth allows us to build off a sturdy foundation. Failure to do so leaves us on shaky ground.
The quality of our decisions significantly impacts our lives. Good decisions keep us out of trouble while bad decisions mire us in misery. Or at least that’s the common perception. Like most things in life, it’s more complicated than that. Judging the quality of a decision requires more effort than just observing the outcome. Good decisions can yield undesirable outcomes and bad decisions can produce desirable ones. Some factors that we must consider when judging a decision are the amount of information we had at the time of the decision, the quality of that information, the decision making process, likelihoods of certain outcomes, and, of course, luck.
Using role models effectively can fast-track our personal growth. We are social creatures who learn from our tribe members; when we see others who are successful, we strive to emulate them in the hopes that we too can experience success. Conversely, we shy away from what the troubled members do for fear of falling into their same misfortunes. But like anything, we can take this practice too far.
