Doing the Right Thing
From an interview with Russell Ackoff, a pioneer in the field of systems thinking, on efficiency and effectiveness, Peter Drucker said ‘There’s a difference between doing things right and doing the right thing.’ Doing the right thing is wisdom, and effectiveness. Doing things right is efficiency. The curious thing is the righter you do the […]
Driven Away from a Simple Life in Nature
Sereno Sky writes in Lonely Traveller (2014,) Not only is the industrial revolution driving people away from a simple life in nature, it’s beginning to drive them crazy with more and more stress that continued economic growth requires. The worst thing is that people and governments have gotten addicted to this race for materialism, and […]
Assessing the Range of Outcomes
At the 2020 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Warren Buffett speaks about (transcript) range of outcomes and probability to help assess risk and reward. It’s a matter of figuring out what’s possible versus what’s likely to happen, But in any event, the range of probabilities on health narrowed down somewhat, I would say the range, the […]
Berkshire Hathaway Stays Cautious Amid Coronavirus Crisis
After the 2020 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times comments about Warren Buffet’s warnings not to be overconfident in predicting what the future might hold: What is driving Mr. Buffett’s caution? In truth, he has always been cautious. He has always been more willing to lose out on an […]
A Good Question Beats a Good Answer
Fast Company’s Alan Webber summarizes nuggets of wisdom from his Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self (2009.) Rule #10: “A good question beats a good answer.” You don’t have to have all the answers. But you can make an enormously valuable contribution by asking good questions. When others […]
Greenlight Capital’s Inflation Bet
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital has been positioning his portfolio in anticipation of rising inflation. CNBC notes that “the hedge fund has recently added to a number of large equity stakes poised to benefit from higher prices in different corners of the economy.” From Greenlight’s recent investor letter, We believe the market groupthink that profitless growth […]
Christopher Hitchens on Jerry Falwell’s Demise
On 15-May-2007, Christopher Hitchens on the Anderson Cooper 360 show talking about Reverend Jerry Falwell and his death: Cooper: Christopher, I’m not sure if you believe in heaven, but, if you do, do you think Jerry Falwell is in it? Hitchens: No. And I think it’s a pity there isn’t a hell for him to […]
Boy, Does Joe Biden Give Good Gaffe!
Black Entertainment Television (BET) co-founder Robert Johnson criticized presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden who recently claimed on The Breakfast Club podcast, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black”: VP Biden’s statement today represents the arrogant and out-of-touch attitude of a paternalistic white candidate who […]
Daily Meaning Along with Their Daily Bread
Dave Murphy of the Stanford Business School summarizes a keynote speech by Isadore Sharp, founder of Four Seasons Hotels, He said employers often believe that workers value job security and competitive pay the most, but the Fortune best-places-to-work companies understand that job security is tentative in this economy, and other items are more important to […]
Did Obama Deserve the Peace Prize?
A summary by The Week writers, The struggles Obama is working to resolve—nuclear disarmament, nuclear proliferation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—have no solution yet. In fact, they might never be resolved, because “they are part of a world in constant evolution.” Obama’s genius is that he understands this. Rather than attacking each world crisis “according to the […]