"The larger lesson is that our thoughts are shackled by the familiar. The brain is a neural tangle of near-infinite possibility, which means that it spends a lot of time and energy choosing what not to notice. As a result, creativity is traded away for efficiency; we think in literal prose, not symbolist poetry. A bit of distance, however, helps loosen the chains of cognition, making it easier to see something new in the old. … The experience of another culture endows us with a valuable open-mindedness, making it easier to realise that a single thing can have multiple meanings. Consider the act of leaving food on the plate: in China this is often seen as a compliment, a signal that the host has provided enough to eat. But in America the same act is a subtle insult, an indication that the food wasn’t good enough to finish. … So let’s not pretend that travel is always fun. We don’t spend 10 hours lost in the Louvre because we like it, and the view from the top of Machu Picchu probably doesn’t make up for the hassle of lost luggage. (More often than not, I need a holiday after my holiday.) We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything."
"Think of the mind as a river: the faster it flows, the better it keeps up with the present and responds to change. The faster it flows, also the more it refreshes itself and the greater its energy. Obsessional thoughts, past experiences (whether traumas or successes), and preconceived notions are like boulders or mud in this river, settling and hardening there and damming it up. The river stops moving; stagnation sets in. You must wage constant war on this tendency in the mind."
Robert Greene, 33 Strategies of War
"If you’re not sure what to do, make something."
"You are what you do all day."
Eric Barker
"Studies show that commuters are on average much less satisfied with their lives than noncommuters. A commuter who travels one hour, one way, would have to make 40% more than his current salary to be as fully satisfied with his life as a noncommuter, say economists Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer of the University of Zurich’s Institute for Empirical Research in Economics. People usually overestimate the value of the things they’ll obtain by commuting – more money, more material goods, more prestige – and underestimate the benefit of what they are losing: social connections, hobbies, and health."
"The real lesson for me is this: People want the basics done well. Does it look good, does it feel good, is it comfortable, is it clear, is it easy? No matter what you’re selling, those seem to be the things that really matter. Get those right and you’ve got a great shot at building a successful product and business."
"Failure is thinking you’ve failed."
Meredith Myers LeBlanc
"Easier isn’t always better. Sometimes the best thing since a loaf of sliced bread is a loaf of unsliced bread."
Thesis-driven investment is the process of making investments based on theories about the future. Having a better understanding of the future than everyone else is a great reason to invest. It’s also a really lousy reason to start a company.
Compare this to actually solving problems. You don’t get to choose your solution from a list. You need to solve it yourself.
All too often people start businesses after finding a cool new problem. Bad idea, because being the first to find a problem confers zero advantage. None.
Think about it. Now you have two problems instead of one. First you have to convince others that there is a problem. Then you have to solve it. In practice so much of your time is spent on the former that you’re lucky if you even get to the latter. And even if you do, you’re just as unlikely to be successful as everyone else.
But what do you do if you REALLY REALLY know what the future is going to look like. If you’ve found all the cool new problems. The ways to create value. The areas for innovation. What then?
Go have a beer and let someone else work on it.
Much better to wait until you’ve discovered something new about human nature. Something that makes your assumptions more accurate for more people, more of the time, in more places. Something more useful. Something more actionable.
Call it assumption-driven entrepreneurship.
The best part is that theories are invisible so they can’t easily be found and copied. Your theory of human nature is your hidden sustainable competitive advantage. Make sure you have one. And use it wisely.
[source]
- What do I KNOW?
- What do I WANT to know?
- What did I LEARN?
Whenever you’re thinking about a big problem, write down all your questions and background knowledge in advance. Don’t just write down your main question, write down every question whose answer could conceivably be insightful or useful to your intended audience. Then write down all your background knowledge. Not just a paragraph or two, but write down all your subject knowledge and all your theories of how you think things are working. (Preferably in a mindmap.) Don’t do any research until this is done. Not even a Google search.
What ends up happening is that when you have both your questions and your background knowledge written down, it becomes ten times easier to think clearly about whether your reading is truly answering your questions. It’s infinitely easier to come up with and recognize new ideas. And what’s more, you still have your original questions written down so you have a clear framework for expressing your ideas to others.
The takeaway is this. You don’t need a new method for coming up with brilliant ideas. You already have them. But sadly as you continue to learn these brilliant ideas are often lost. By using the KWL method you not only preserve your original insights, but you can use your research to expand upon them as well. By setting up a purposeful system that allows us to diff our background knowledge against existing models we can generate far bigger insights than would otherwise be possible.
[Source]
From Alex Krupp’s essay:
- Define a phenomenon
- Create a hypothesis
- Split one schema into two
- Combine two schema into one
- Think on a higher order
- Think on a lower order
- X and Y are both instances of Z
- Simplify a more complicated model
- X is not mutually exclusive with Y
"The problem with assumptions is that they’re usually correct. For certain people, at a certain times, in certain places. The danger isn’t that you’ll sometimes be wrong. The danger is that you’ll always be right."
Alex Krupp
Personal highlights:
- Pushups are the best upper body workout designed.
- It’s never too late to build muscle and is more important as we grow older.
- If I had to pick one sport for a child to start with it would be gymnastics, the strength/speed/balance/body control they will learn can be applied to any sport down the road.
- To build muscle, throw away your Whey protein and eat more steak and eggs.
- Squatting to parallel will only give you weak hamstrings and lead to more knee issues. You should be able to go down like you were going to pick something off the ground. As that is the reason our bodies were designed to squat.
- There should be a law against selling any dumbbells less than 5lbs … or ones in neon colors.
"You’ve seen what happens when an energetic person enters a room. It raises everyone’s energy level, and a boost of energy always feels good. Humans are imitators. When someone yawns, we yawn. When someone laughs, it puts us in a good mood. When someone is a downer, we feel down. A leader probably does little more than convey a sense that he has a lot of energy himself, which boosts the energy levels of everyone who gets that message. We like the feeling of energy, so we keep the leader in power so we’ll see more of him. We’re all energy junkies, and our leaders are pushers."
"By thinking of ourselves as a child, we end up thinking in more child-like ways. The end result is that we regain the creativity lost with time."
