Mental Pivot #63: Wealth, Measurement, Failure
Scott Galloway’s algebra of wealth, the McNamara fallacy of measurement, and a museum dedicated to failure.
Forgive the brief introduction to the newsletter this week. The unexpected one-two punch of COVID-19 and lower-back problems have left me bedridden the past few days. I hope to be back to normal for next week’s edition.
Now onto this week's recommendations…
Thinking Tools:
The Algebra of Wealth: Scott Galloway’s personal finance advice strikes me as more broadly applicable than just monetary matters. Wealth, he says, is not your income, but your income-to-expense ratio. Moreover, he identifies four key variables in his wealth equation: focus, stoicism, time, and diversification.
The McNamara Fallacy: Measurement Is Not Understanding: Metrics are powerful decision-making tools, but when we lose sight of their limitations and the bigger picture, they can lead us astray. Per statistician Edwards Deming: “Nothing becomes more important just because you can measure it. It becomes more measurable, that’s all.”
Most People Don’t Read Carefully or for Comprehension: Jake Seliger ponders the difference between close reading and personal responses to a text. The former involves understanding what the text explicitly conveys and drawing logical inferences. The latter involves an emotional response to a text—a kind of judgement. Ideally, we should strive for understanding before judgement, but all too often flip this equation.
What If My Note-Taking System Could Think for Me?: Robert Minto delivers a refreshingly honest assessment of digital note-taking after a decade long foray into obsessive annotation: “My attempts to disrupt thinking with a technology of note-taking had only resulted in an enormous accumulation of busywork.” Furthermore, he reminds us of the dangerous trap of mistaking our tools for the end itself.
Reading Enrichment:
Don’t Forget Microsoft: “Understanding the behemoth in Redmond teaches us valuable lessons in cloud infrastructure, startup strategy, and the future of software.”
He Divorced Me on Land—But I Left My Marriage on the River: An excerpt from Florence William's new book about the science of heartache (titled “Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey”) and her 120-mile solo-canoe trek down the Green River in Utah to rediscover her independence and find closure.
How to Excel in Tech Without Learning to Code: Justin Gage offers a framework for bolstering your technical literacy.
How to Roll Out Big Ideas and Avoid the Museum of Failure: Short piece on a new book, The Voltage Effect, that seeks to systematize and improve scaling products, services, and new ideas.
Most Valuable Role Player: Overshadowed by his superstar brother and overlooked by scouts and coaches, Seth Curry successfully carved out his own niche in the NBA by smartly playing to his strengths and managing expectations.
What Was the TED Talk?: Oscar Schwartz’s smart critique delves into the history and cultural impact of the popular conference. The formula of an effective TED talk is the combination of an interesting idea with an inspiring story. For example, robots (interesting) that are used to eat trash (inspiring). It’s a concept Schwartz coins “inspiresting.” Alas, for all TED’s bluster, the author wonders if the ideas promoted by the platform have had any meaningful impact. His conclusion:“TED is probably best understood as the propaganda arm of an ascendant technocracy.”
Odds & Ends:
Wired’s 5 Levels Series has an expert explain an interesting concept in an accessible way to five different people: a child, teenager, undergraduate (studying the subject), graduate student, and colleague. Topics covered in the first 16 episodes of the series include harmony, blockchain, CRISPR, and dimensions.
Longform DB is a new website featuring curated long-form articles (similar to Longreads). It’s a welcome resource in light of the recent demise of longtime favorite, Longform.org.
The Museum of Failure collects failed products and services from around the world. Just as innovation yields celebrated successes, so too does it yield just as many (if not more) failures. There’s plenty to be learned from the 150+ failures profiled in the museum’s digital catalog.
Cross-Promotions:
Refind is a content discovery tool that sends curated articles to your email inbox or via mobile app (iOS and Android). Focus your attention on what’s really relevant to you.
The Sample: A newsletter discovery tool. Based on your interests and feedback, The Sample sends a new newsletter recommendation to your inbox on a daily or weekly basis.
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