Mike's notes.
Supported by Greenhaven Road Capital, finding value off the beaten path. It’s Super Bowl week and what better way to celebrate that dig into the thinking behind one of the coaches (and general manager) at the game? The posts this week come from this short book. In my readings there were five big ideas that… Continue reading Belichick -Argue well
One trait of great business leaders (seems to be) a willingness to hear dissenting opinions. It takes a seed of humility that will sprout a culture where ‘arguing well’ can survive. Michigan Dean, Scott DeRue told Sam Zell: “I’ve met a number of your employees and one of the things that’s universal when they talk… Continue reading Argue Zell
Supported by Greenhaven Road Capital, finding value off the beaten path. This post is part of the TIL2017 Summary Series. As we saw in the Rory Week posts, presentation matters. Which is why we say to “argue well” rather than “avoid yes men.” Arguing well is doing, not avoiding. Here’s how people suggested it this… Continue reading TIL2017 – Argue
Decisions, writes Peter Drucker, are not made between right and wrong. They are choices between “almost right” and “probably wrong”. How then can someone choose? “Decisions of the kind the executive has to make are not made well by acclamation. They are made well only if based on the clash of conflicting views, the dialogue… Continue reading Drucker’s disagreements
Some subversive decision making influences, like a cross breeze in golf, are the unnoticed dynamics. Social pressures, human tendencies (status quo bias for example), status, ego, and so on. But like with a vegetarian diet, it is possible to design around them. One design choice is incentives. Incentives work as designed sometimes, but other times… Continue reading Obama and Eisenhower
Purchases are admissions of value. The buyer values the item more than the seller. For minor purchases we mostly go with ease (see Peloton). For larger purchases we quantify earnings per share or dollar per square foot or miles per gallon. In these big areas, the largest gains come with the largest differences in value,… Continue reading The person in your network you might not get along with…
Broadly there are 3 ways to spend a day online. – trends, the algorithm or human generated headlines – feeds, the self selected sources – search, the internet queries of Wikipedia articles, travel plans, and what-is-my-kid’s-teacher’s-email Articulating the ways helps distinguish when we are, or aren’t in a helpful place. On days when it’s time… Continue reading Curated Creativity
“Well, my advice to everyone that goes to a national park is to leave your selfie stick behind and leave your desire to get that perfect selfie behind and just soak in the beauty of the park itself because that will stay with you a lot longer than this selfie kind of mode will.” Tim… Continue reading Leave the selfie stick/mindset at home
It’s about halfway through the Cuban Missile Crisis anniversary and if you want to dip in, Dan Carlin did a great podcast about the event. I enjoy listening this time of year to ‘feel it’. Media transports us through time and space but to listen on anniversaries or read in places adds a something. Three… Continue reading Cuban Missile Crisis (58 years)
Supported by Greenhaven Road Capital, finding value off the beaten path. When addressing the social science replicability crisis, Rory Sutherland said something to the effect, for me it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t repeat in the lab, all that matters is that it might work on the street. In his Talk at Google, investor Chuck… Continue reading Akre’s Advantage
The Waiter's Pad 