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Last night, I was working late and watching the most recent episode of House, M.D. on Hulu Plus. There is a scene where an Amy Grant song plays and one of the doctors goes, “Amy Grant? Really?”. That response mirrored the response of some music critics when she burst onto the music scene decades ago,…
Mental Model: Addition Through Subtraction Sometimes, in order to make something better, or work more effectively, you must take something away. This principle is called addition through subtraction. The theory behind addition through subtraction is that reducing components and complexity can add value if you make something: Simpler Faster More reliable More profitable Less expensive…
There is a great story about legendary British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, that goes something like this: At a dinner party one night, a drunk Churchill asked an attractive woman whether she would sleep with him for five million pounds. “Oh my, Mr. Churchill … I suppose, but we would have to discuss the terms,”…
Of the many stupid things to do in life, one of the most foolish is to the fall for the “too nice to use” trap. The moment I hear anyone, whether friend or family member, business associate or stranger, talk about how they “never use” something, I want to grab them by the shoulders and explain the mental models behind their actions.
Steven Pinker makes a number of lucid, persuasive arguments about culture and its role in human development in his masterpiece The Blank Slate. He posits: The phenomena we call “culture” arises as people pool and accumulate their discoveries, and as they institute conventions to coordinate their labors and adjudicate their conflicts. When groups of people separated by…
I want you to take a moment and put yourself in a scenario that will tell you a lot about your thought processes and inner priorities regarding individual well being versus group well being. You are married with three children. Your family is your highest priority. Your life is comfortable. You earn more than $100,000…
A week ago, I decided to pack up all of the high-end coffee equipment temporarily, put it in the cabinets, and break out an old-school style percolator; the type that my grandparents used when they were first married in the 1950s and 1960s. There was something wonderfully imperfect about it. A few coffee grinds inevitably…
I spent years working out my thoughts on a wide range of topics only to discover that John Stuart Mill had come to many of the same conclusions long before I was even born. I wish I had found his writings as a teenager.
We’ve talked a lot about the importance of making sure your actions line up with the primary mission of your life. One way I am able to do that is constantly remember what that mission is by developing main life goals and lesser life goals.
Take a moment to think about your life. Picture your family. Think about your career. Now, ask yourself if the following phrase applies to you, right now, in this exact moment when discussing your life in general. There is no place in the world I would rather be and nothing in the world I would rather…
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