Calibration errors are when people lack the genetic or cultural ability to calibrate communication based upon the situation, people involved, or other contextual clues.  To understand calibration errors as a mental model,  it might help to give you three real-world scenarios that would require the observer to calibrate the hyperbole. A group of frat boys lives together in a private fraternity.  On a Thursday night, one sent a text message to another that said, "I'm going to kill you."  … [Read more...]

Last month, I promised to pull more essays from my past out of the file cabinet.  This one dealt with motives and understanding how they influence human behavior.  This insight is one of the reasons I decided to avoid going to work on Wall Street after graduating from college and instead putting my higher goal - being near my family, setting up my own household with my spouse, and having large blocks of free time to pursue other passions no one knew about - ahead of my secondary goal - … [Read more...]

One of my mentors from early in my career shared a mental model that has been a fantastic guideline and framework through which I've conducted my life.  It involves determining the hierarchy between personal relationships and what you want to accomplish, and how to weigh the interaction between both for the most optimal outcome.  I'm going to be digging even more of these old essays of mine from out of the file cabinet in the coming weeks since they were so instrumental when I was younger and … [Read more...]

Many of the Problems In Your Life Are Due to Your Assumptions One of the biggest secrets to success in life and business is to always check your assumptions.  Whether you realize it or not, you are full of assumptions.  You walk around every day, all day, making assumptions about people, places, political parties, institutions, companies, books, music, and consumer products.  By identifying these assumptions you can examine whether or not they are rational and reasonable. To illustrate my … [Read more...]