In physics, a two-body problem is how we understand what happens when two objects interact with each other in space. Two-body problems are predictable. They’re like cause and effect, or the things in our professional work where we say, “If this happens, then we’ll do that.” Three-body problems, on the other hand, are not possible … Continue reading It Takes Chaos And Confidence
Tag: physics
Setting And Keeping Pace
You operate at a certain speed. The people you work with operate at their own speeds too. The speeds can change over time for a variety of reason. Projects have speeds and sometimes it's hard to jump on and off. Sometimes it's hard to pull people in and out. Again, there are factors at play … Continue reading Setting And Keeping Pace
Thank You Stephen Hawking
In my late 1980s / early 1990s elementary school, we had Mr. Wizard. In middle school and then high school there were teachers who regularly took us back to Carl Sagan. The theories were spelling binding, but once I found out you needed some math chops to get past the theory, my pursuit became “for … Continue reading Thank You Stephen Hawking
The Games Visionaries Play
You can’t use results alone to tell you about a process. The best meal you’ve ever had can’t be recreated without the recipe, the ingredients, and a talented chef. That brings us to a somewhat uncomfortable conclusion: we know what the results have been when we compare Jeff Bezos to Bernie Madoff, but at their … Continue reading The Games Visionaries Play
Teaching Birds To Fly
Imagine a leader that you would label a “visionary.” Think about Sara Blakey, or Jeff Bezos, or Steve Jobs, or ______ (your pick). All of them seemed to have the ability to see the future. Now remember what we said yesterday: over the short term, stories beat smarts, but over the long term, cautious beats … Continue reading Teaching Birds To Fly
You’ve Got Your Seinfeld MBA, So What’s Next?
Confession: I have a fear of numbers. It stems back to a bad experience with fractions in the 4th grade. If there’s a reason I’m surviving at all in the finance industry, you can probably find it somewhere between my instant empathy for any other person’s numerophobia, and my assumption that everyone else knows more … Continue reading You’ve Got Your Seinfeld MBA, So What’s Next?