"I begin to speak only when I'm certain what I'll say isn't better left unsaid." Cato
Elon Musk said that Twitter "fundamentally undermines democracy” because it does not protect freedom of speech.
He gets it. Our leaders don't.
Prof. Feynman@ProfFeynman
Be humble. Be teachable. The universe is bigger than your view of the universe. There's always room for a new idea. Humility is necessary for growth.
„The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.“
Albert Camus
Rob Schneider@RobSchneider
There was the Age of Enlightenment,
The Age of Reason…
We are all now living in
The Age of Emotion.
I read all 40,000 words from Jeff Bezos' Amazon shareholder letters.
Here are 9 lessons worth your time:
How to Make Decisions:
Is it a one-way or two-way door?
One-way = can't reverse so make them slowly and carefully
Two-way = reversible so make them fast
Most big companies die by using the slow one-way door process for a two-way decision.
(2015)
Wake Up Terrified
Don't be terrified of the competition.
Be terrified of customers.
You can expect customer loyalty right until the moment someone else offers a better service.
(1998)
How to Hire:
1) Will you admire this person?
2) Will this person raise the average level of effectiveness of the group they're entering?
3) Along what dimension might this person be a superstar?
(1998)
Failure is Not Optional
Failure comes with invention.
So it’s necessary.
"We understand that and believe in failing
early and iterating until we get it right."
Run experiments to fail small and double-down on what works.
(2013)
High Standards are Contagious
Bring a new person to a high standards team and they quickly adapt.
The opposite is also true.
The longer low standards survive, the deeper the infection.
(2017)
"How will you do electronic book signings?
We won't."
When Bezos starts selling books online he never tried to copy a physical bookstore.
He found what the new medium could do that the old couldn't.
Avoid copying the past when creating the future.
(2007)
Seek Debate
Most decisions are based on data.
They are easy.
But the most important decisions require judgment.
They are debated and controversial.
So any company that wants to innovate must embrace debate or die.
(2005)
Disagree and Commit
If you have conviction with no consensus:
"Look, I know we disagree on this but will you gamble with me on it? Disagree and commit?"
This gets you to Yes.
You now avoid decisions made by exhaustion.
And keep velocity high in a big company.
(2016)
Life's Universal Law
"If you want to be successful in business or life, you have to create more than you consume."
Your goal is to create value for anyone you interact with.
Let the universe do the rest.
(2020)
