CDOQ

Don't be so productive that you lose the joy of work. 

Both Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett have an extraordinary gift for simplifying the complicated. They taught me that the most powerful ideas are often the clearest. I have since carried that lesson into my own work. At Moki, a company that provides software for remotely managing hardware in retail environments, we faced a common challenge: overcoming CIOs' fear of losing control. Instead of delving into the technical depth and cybersecurity of our product, we focused on a single, compelling promise: " Total Control of their devices." This simple framing cut through the complexity and directly addressed their primary concern. It worked.   An often-cited (but unverified) framework, attributed to Einstein, outlines five levels of intellect: 1. Smart: Possesses vast knowledge (e.g., a McKinsey consultant; whatever you think of them, they do know a lot). 2. Intelligent: Applies existing knowledge effectively (e.g., Michael Dell, who adapted the direct-to-consumer model for...

Fears that GenAI (Generative AI like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) will make us dumber are greatly exaggerated. Did calculators make us dumber? Did computers? Sure, every new tool shifts what we practice, but history suggests we adapt, and often end up smarter in different ways. Brain damage? (image credit: Gemini) A commonly cited worry is that ChatGPT takes away independent thinking. Who has that anyway 😀? It’s true that you can lose elements of critical thinking if you hand over all the mental work to GenAI. Just as using a calculator without understanding math fundamentals can be a problem, using GenAI without grasping the basics of writing or coding could lead to skill loss. But for most adults, that’s not what’s happening. Those who outsource all their writing or coding to ChatGPT usually didn’t enjoy those tasks in the first place. Generally, repetition doesn’t magically make us love a task we dislike, nor does it guarantee we get much better at it. I’ve been cleaning for decades,...

Yesterday, I finished reading Barry Diller's autobiography - Who Knew Despite all the internal struggles and paramount success, Barry managed to carry his humility, integrity, and curiosity with him throughout his life. It is remarkable.  

Whenever you think that some situation or some person is ruining your life, it is actually everyone and everything except you, ruining your life. Feeling like a victim is a perfectly accountability-free way to go through life. If you just take this attitude that however bad it is in any way, it is always someone else's fault and you just complain to everyone as best as you can - the so called silver prescription. It never works.  Inspired by Charlie Munger's iron pill . 

“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” – Munger and Buffett at the 2015 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting Recently, I attended a talk by James Clear, author of Atomic Habits . Below is a summary of his framework for making and breaking habits—along with some of my reflections and questions. Chains of habit (image credit: Gemini) How Habits Are Formed According to Clear, habits form through the repeated execution of four steps: 1. Cue – A trigger or reminder (e.g., you see a cookie). 2. Craving – The cue leads to a desire (e.g., you want the cookie). 3. Response – The craving drives an action (e.g., you eat the cookie). 4. Reward – The action provides a reward (e.g., you feel good). Note: I like the simplicity of this framework, but it's not airtight. For instance, you can experience a craving without an external cue—sometimes I just feel like a cookie without seeing one. Also, some habits form through training rather ...

Lack of principles can make one succeed in a society bound by principles. 

No two people live the same life. 

If you get the 'what' wrong, it's hard to get the 'why' right.

Nature dominates nurture. 

Leaders who want to do more with less have been doing less with more. 

It's ironic how caring for our home—planet Earth—seems to drift in and out of fashion.

In some clocks, the pendulum swings only to deceive—it has nothing to do with keeping time.

A good product manager says 'no' a lot and can explain why, just like a good parent. Do disciplined parents make good product managers, or is it the other way around?

The mind can find connections where none exist. 

A hero needs a villain, but a villain can exist without a hero. 

My dear friend, Ralph Abraham , passed away on September 19th, 2024. He was 88. It is one of the greatest honors of my life that Ralph considered me his friend. In my entire life, I have never met anyone whose intellectual depth, openness, and kindness matched Ralph's. My family and my parents feel the same.  I met Ralph in November 2009 at Esalen where I attended a workshop he taught on Human Potential . Since then, I met him regularly every three to four months for lunch. I cherished my time with him. I often joked that I didn’t understand half the things Ralph said, and the half I did understand made me rethink everything I knew. There is some truth in that joke.  Ralph discussing Consciousness  Ralph profoundly influenced me. Here are some of the ways: 1. Consciousness: This was probably the most discussed topic between the two of us. He shared with me that there are three levels of consciousness :  (i) Individual (humans and other sentient beings)  (i...

Are the parents teaching the children, or are the children teaching the parents? My son teaches me many things effortlessly, while I strive to teach him a few things—with a lot of effort. It may take decades to see if I succeed. :) I asked my parents if they had a strategic plan to teach me values. Their response was that they demonstrated values through their actions, believing that children learn by observation. They didn’t worry too much about it. :) Perhaps I worry too much about making my son a good human being. While it’s not entirely in the parents’ hands, I still want to try. Observing my son, I’ve been focusing on teaching him the following: Joys of childhood 1. Actions have consequences.  Children often have no concept of this idea. They live in the moment, which may be why they’re so happy. For example, throwing a toy on the floor might break it, or not stopping at a red light could lead to an accident. These lessons might eventually be learned through experience, but I’...

New thinking requires new context.

It’s hard to have an independent mind when surrounded by many minds.