Will Storr made an appearance on Making Sense with Sam Harris to discuss his book, The Status Game. I already riffed about this episode here, but I really do believe understanding status in interactions is one of the most critical elements in understanding any business. Any. Business. How they work with customers, why customers work … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Will Storr On Status Games
Category: books
How To Use Status To Create (Or Destroy!) Value
First, as a rule, if you tell people “look how organized I am,” the universe will then throw a proverbial wrench into your gearbox and howl with a laughter only the cruelest of taskmasters can howl. Last night, after a marathon of calls and busyness, I was making dinner and remembering I still didn’t write … Continue reading How To Use Status To Create (Or Destroy!) Value
Dostoyevsky On The Habits We Accumulate
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (h/t James Clear) said, “It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a person’s life is made up of nothing but the habits they accumulated during the first half.” This is only partly true. I know for me, and I’m sure for many of you reading this note, you figured out … Continue reading Dostoyevsky On The Habits We Accumulate
Valuation Keeps Storytellers Honest And Number Crunchers Relevant
I keep coming back to this Aswath Damodaran idea lately. Valuation is the bridge that keeps storytellers honest and number crunchers relevant. If you live in a spreadsheet you’ve got data but no stories. Nobody is going to care what your numbers are. If you can tell a good story but have no data to … Continue reading Valuation Keeps Storytellers Honest And Number Crunchers Relevant
I’ma I’ma (Fruit) Hustla
This book made me feel like I was hearing Pusha-T reimagine Warren Buffett’s letters. If you need a late-summer beach read, or just love a good (re: insane) biography, don’t leave The Fish That Ate The Whale in your to-read list or audible queue for as long as I did. I tore through this book. … Continue reading I’ma I’ma (Fruit) Hustla
Meta-Phantom Limb Syndrome
Ever cut something out of your life because you just didn’t have time for it anymore? I barely read for almost 10 years. I would do, maybe 2 or 3 books a year because I was busy. I read a lot for work, but it was all surface-level. I was miserable and I didn’t even … Continue reading Meta-Phantom Limb Syndrome
Subjectivity Is Just Objectivity Waiting For Data
David Egger’s book, The Every, has this gem of a sentence: Subjectivity is just objectivity waiting for data. While there’s some truth here, Eggers wants us to be careful about taking all subjectivity to a data-dependent end state. Because if all we do is quantify rather than qualify, we might suck all the fun out … Continue reading Subjectivity Is Just Objectivity Waiting For Data
There Is No Teacher But The Enemy (Ender’s Lesson)
I finally got around to Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game (and so far, 4 other books in the series). This quote is as much life philosophy as it is science fiction (emphasis added), There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. … Continue reading There Is No Teacher But The Enemy (Ender’s Lesson)
Podcast Of The Week: Godin And Koppelman (The Marketing Of Climate Change)
Seth Godin is back on Brian Koppelman’s The Moment podcast. I love that they’re friends and record these conversations for us to hear. While some of you will get very hyped up about what Godin’s latest book is about, some others amongst you will probably be hyped up against it. Listen with the intent of … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Godin And Koppelman (The Marketing Of Climate Change)
Regret, Shame, And Morris Day (And Shakespeare)
I didn’t expect Morris Day to stop me in my tracks with a Shakespeare sonnet. He said he felt like he was “40 going on 4.” Curled up in the fetal position, feeling sorry for himself, full of shame, guilt, and regret. And Shakespeare finally was the one who got through to him. If you’ve … Continue reading Regret, Shame, And Morris Day (And Shakespeare)