CDOQ

People who don't understand systems, usually have an inflated sense of self-worth (as it relates to their contribution to the system).

Human ability to listen and observe declines as the personal excitement level rises.

The most talked about subject in social conversations is human relationships.

Why is it that most songs in all cultures are about Love or God? What is about Love and God that makes people sing? And, why is there not much else that makes people sing?

An American friend of mine has an interesting response to the Duality in America post. See the response below: "I take exception with your assessment of people’s reaction to the tee shirt. Her pose is making a statement of what she thinks of the observer (me) as an individual (I’m meaningless or worthless to her). By wearing that tee shirt you are saying that you share her opinion of the observer (me). America respects and encourages individualism up to the point where one’s individualism impedes on another. This is where friction develops between individuals and groups of people when one’s thoughts, actions or rights differ with or impede another’s thoughts rights or action. That’s where the civil and judicial systems need to determine if a person 1) has a right, 2) if that right was violated and 3) if there is a conflict of rights who’s right takes precedent. You could argue that the tee shirt is art whose purpose is to evoke an emotion. Offended individuals could arg...

I think Leonardo da Vinci is the smartest man who ever lived. Most famous brilliant people are master of one subject, Vinci was master of various subjects. I live my life by Vinci's seven principles which are: 1. An insatiably curious approach to life 2. A commitment to test knowledge through experience 3. The refinement of the senses to clarify experience 4. A willingness to embrace uncertainty 5. Balancing science and art, logic and imagination to achieve whole brain thinking 6. The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise 7. A recognition of the interconnectedness of all things However, I am still not a master of any subject:-) What life principles do you live by?

It is also highly important for us to realize that we do not as a matter of fact lead our lives, make our decisions, and reach our goals in everyday life either statistically or scientifically. We live by inference . I am, let us say, your guest. You do not know, you cannot determine scientifically, that I will not steal your money or your spoons. But inferentially I will not, and inferentially you have me as a guest. - William Thomas

When I am reading at a cafe, people around me speaking in a foreign language that I don't understand is significantly more distracting than people speaking in English. The question is why. Logically, if people are saying things that I understand then I should be able to focus less on what I am reading because the brain has to process two unrelated inputs simultaneously- reading and hearing. On the other hand, if I am hearing things in another language that I don't understand then my brain should be able to ignore this as noise and focus more on reading. Does the brain have to work really hard to understand the foreign language even though it knows that it will not understand what is being said? Is that what causes the increased distraction? Do you know why?

Recently, I was in south of France where people live more of a Bohemian lifestyle and I saw a few people wearing t-shirts with a picture of Kate Moss showing her middle finger. There is a context behind the picture with Kate Moss drugs scandal and revival of her career after that. I wondered how people would react if I wore the T-Shirt back home in a suburb of San Francisco. So, I bought the T-Shirt. Last week, I wore it and sat outside a cafe where a lot of people walking by could see the shirt. The reactions were quite amusing. Some people were shocked. Some could not believe and they had to look again. Some were visibly angry others looked away after a glance. The people I know told me that I was wearing a radical shirt. However, they could not explain to me what was so radical about the shirt. In business, technology, entertainment, and Science, the US leads the world in openness to new ideas, new people, and risks. However, the social life is still dominated by traditional Chri...

How do thoughts gets generated? Why is it easier to think about something you want to think about vs forgetting something? Is the explanation as simple as weight management - gaining weight is easy and losing weight is difficult? Thoughts have physical affect on one's body. I can close by eyes and depending on what I am thinking, my heart rate goes up or down, tears come out of my eyes or I smile, I feel sensation in every part of my body or complete calmness. Unbelievable! The environment triggers some thoughts and the body reacts automatically, at least for me. However bad I am feeling, I see a child playing and I can't help but smile. There is no conscious thinking that occurs in my head, my smile is an automatic reaction to seeing children. Lately, when I see old homeless people, my heart rate goes up. I feel helpless. There is no conscious thinking involved here either. Imagine what one can achieve when one learns to control one's thoughts. What are your thoughts?:-)

In my never-ending pursuit to better understand human behavior, I recently attended a workshop by Dr. Warren Farrell to learn how women think. Dr. Farrell has done a remarkable job of combining Psychology, Sociology, and Biology to create pragmatic insights on Romantic Relationships between Men & Women in the US. Following are my random notes from the workshop: The more creative a thought is the faster you will forget it because creative thoughts by nature are out of context and the brain does not retain thoughts which are out of context. So, when you get a creative idea, write it down immediately. The secret to happy marriage is mutual respect between husband and wife and a happy wife. There is truth in the saying, "Happy wife = Happy life". In their pursuit to find a man, women exercise "veto power" i.e. they wait for the men to approach them and then decide, after sizing up the men, if they want to go out with the men who approached them. Most women don'...

Why is that celebration requires spending money in all cultures? How did we celebrate before there was money?

If you seek happiness then achieve balance and if you seek success then achieve focus.

Humans share 99% of DNA with rats. The Syrah grape grown in France compared to the same grape grown in Australia, where it is called Shiraz, has 12% difference in DNA. Wine is one of the most complex things around.

How is it that different languages were created in different parts of the world during human evolution? Does geography play a role in language creation and evolution? What role does the society structure and culture play? Was there a generally accepted sign language in specific geographies before we had a language?

In today's Wall Street Journal (US print edition), the top most news is regarding a phone not working properly when held in a certain way. Less than 1% of the US population has this phone. And, people who have this device do not seem to care much about the problem. Bizarre!

How was imagination like when there were no movies, no fiction reading, no performing arts? Has the entertainment industry help us become more imaginative and hence more innovative?

Having a history with someone does not necessarily mean that you will have a future with that person.

Compete with what is possible and not with what is available!

The problem with future is that it is not constant and eventually it arrives.

I just finished reading The Ten Commandments for Business Failure . It is a book recommended by Warren Buffett and written by Don Keough who is a former President of the Coca Cola company and currently a Berkshire Hathaway board member. While most business books focus on what to do to be successful in business, Don's book focuses on what not to do. The book offers common sense packaged with straight talk and interesting stories. Here are the ten commandments which guarantee business failure: 1. Quit Taking Risks 2. Be Inflexible 3. Isolate Yourself 4. Assume Infallibility 5. Play the Game Close to the Foul Line 6. Don't take time to Think 7. Put All Your Faith in Experts and Outside Consultants 8. Love Your Bureaucracy 9. Send Mixed Messages 10. Be Afraid of the Future There is an eleventh one: 11. Lose Your passion for Work-for Life I think these lessons are applicable to big and old companies and not to start-ups. A start-up by its nature does not have the problems Don high...

Your intentions influence your destiny. - Ralph Abraham

My friend, Arun Chaba, recently gave a brilliant speech on Evolution & Human Behavior. The speech was titled, "All is Well". Following is the transcript: A friend of mine was about to become a daddy. For whatever reasons, his wife insisted that she wanted to have the baby born in her home town, where her mother would be around. My friend didn't want so. This was the cause of a serious conflict between them. A few months later, I read somewhere that humans are one of the few mammals who cannot have babies throughout their lives. About one third of their lives, human female cannot produce babies. During this time, because a woman doesn’t have to worry about producing and taking care of her own babies, she can concentrate on the well being of babies of her daughter and the chances of survival of new born babies multiply. This has given humans an evolutionary advantage. This phenomenon is called grandmother hypothesis and was first given by GC Williams in 1960s...

A man who understands yoga and practices it everyday, is never unhappy.

There are two big events I look forward to every year- Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting -Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger talk- and Wesco Financial shareholder meeting- Charlie Munger talk. This year, I could only attend the Berkshire Hathaway event . However, thanks to The Motley Fool & my friend Shrinivas, the notes from the Wesco meeting are available online. See http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2010/05/07/charlie-mungers-thoughts-on-just-about-everything.aspx Enjoy.

Among 40,000 people, I paid homage to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska last weekend at the Berkshire Hathaway 2010 shareholder meeting. Imagine 40,000 people traveling from all over the world to attend a shareholder meeting. Unbelievable! Just like previous meetings , this one was a lot of fun. See the notes below: 1. Warren Buffett's message to all Berkshire Hathaway (BH) employees, " Lose money for the the firm and I'll be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation and I'll be ruthless." 2. Make Decisions based on the opportunity cost. Applying this lesson to finding a life partner, "marry the best who will have you." 3. The secret of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger brilliance is avoiding stupidity. 4. Comcast executive, Steve Burke, has joined the board of BH [think about the diversity on BH board] 5. BH doesn't care about EPS (Earnings Per Share). It is focused on building value. 6. Measuring EBIDTA Quarter over Quarter...

Is it possible for the medium not to influence the message?

One finds out the true nature of a man when he is drunk or when he is under very high stress. -Learned from an old man in New Zealand.

Everything is temporary.

People tend to choose known misery over a possibility of bliss that requires change.

We live in a world of illusions. Clothes create an illusion of beauty. Walls create an illusion of security. Interdependence creates an illusion of love. And, so on... Can a society survive without illusions?

Why is it that only human brain evolved over millions of years and no other brain did? Are cows smarter now than they were when they came about? We evolved from monkeys. Is there any other species which changed its form?

Many think about trying. Some try. A few get lucky & succeed.

Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I recently attended a weekend workshop on Neuroscience with David Presti who is a professor at UC Berkley . Although Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system, the workshop was focused on Neuroscience of the mind. David Presti is wonderful man. Talking to him is like talking to a monk. I hope to connect him with Ralph Abraham who is another wonderful and brilliant man. David and Ralph talking to each other may solve a few problems of the world. Following are my random notes from the workshop: The Human Brain is considered to be the most complex structure in the Universe. More complex than then the Universe itself. The reason being interconnectedness of 1 trillion cells inside the brain. So far, what we know of the Universe, this level of interconnectedness does not exist among diverse entities in the Universe. The Human Brain weighs between 2 and 3 pounds. The basic structure of the brain is same in all human beings. However, why all human beings think/behave differe...

One of my heroes, Charlie Munger , recently wrote about the future of the US. See the educating article at http://www.slate.com/id/ 2245328/

What does it mean to be yourself? What is self? How you grew up? What you like and what you don't like? Aren't we always learning and evolving? So, are you ever yourself?

Is entertainment a basic human need? People in all cultures and socioeconomic classes find ways to entertain themselves.

After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true. -Spock from the Star Trek episode Amok Time

To change something one must understand it first. Otherwise, the change would be very temporary.

Charlie Munger, one of my heroes, says that smart people are are often wrong because they don't use checklists for decision making. Here is Munger's checklist for problem solving: 1. Decide the "no-brainer" questions first 2. Apply Numerical fluency 3. Invert (think the problem in reverse) 4. Apply elementary multidisciplinary wisdom, never relying entirely upon others 5. Watch for combination of factors- the Lollapalooza effect Munger defines Lollapalooza as the critical mass obtained via a combination of concentration, curiosity, perseverance, and self-criticism, applied through a prism of multidisciplinary mental models.

Last week, I attended a workshop on Global Human Potential at Esalen . It was an educating workshop taught by three distinguished people: 1) Ralph Abraham : Chaos theory pioneer and mathematician 2) Mary Catherine Bateson : Cultural anthropologist and Margaret Mead's daughter 3) Jean Houston : Philosopher The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know. Following are a few interesting things I learned during the workshop: The teachers are worried about the cultural crises we are in. Humans are facing multiple crises- Identity, Intimacy, Generative, etc. If we don't take an initiative to change things today, the civilization may end in 150 years. Fractals , which are a fascinating phenomenon in nature i.e. a self repeating pattern which creates a shape that is like the self-repeating part, has a philosophical definition as well. In philosophy, fractal is a boundary between two regions. Humans repeat same patterns over and over and these patterns come to define ...

People say that their wedding day is the happiest day of their lives. Aren't they implying that it is all downhill after the wedding?

You can not improve something which you can not measure.

In most corporations, markets are segmented based on available data and not on buying behavior of consumers.

A man's needs should not be sacred. Many people go into bankruptcy because they think that their needs are sacred and they maintain their lifestyles even when their incomes significantly decline.

Charlie Munger, one of my heroes, recently gave an interview on the BBC re why the current financial crises occurred. See the entertaining video at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8326369.stm

Why do the life spans of species vary drastically- from a few seconds to thousands of years?

Tragedy is the monumental collision of will and destiny. Adapted from writings of Roger Osborne.

One of my heroes- Russ Ackoff -passed away last week on October 29th, 2009. He was a brilliant man who I learned Systems Thinking from and his pioneering work in this area did make the world a better place. Dr. Ackoff's ideas are integral in policy making and management and will be with us forever. My condolences to his family and friends.

Everyone has problems.

A man with no desires and no fears is a very luck man. Joseph Campbell said that all worry is result of fear and desire.

Calligraphy is considered the highest art form in China. Process is emphasized in Calligraphy, unlike most other art forms. Furthermore, Calligraphy became popular in China after the arrival of Buddhism which helped the Chinese learn about individualism for the very first time. Hence, Calligraphy became a form of self-expression.

Winning an argument or being proven right at the loss of goodwill is usually not a victory.

Homeless people do not celebrate Halloween.

Last month, I attended Shop.org annual summit which is the biggest gathering of prominent online retailers in the country. Since the event was in Las Vegas, I took the opportunity to visit Zappos headquarters in Henderson, NV for a company tour. Zappos is a fascinating company. It was started in 1999 and booked $1B+ in sales last year. A few months ago, it was acquired by Amazon for ~$940M. The company mainly sells shoes with laser sharp focus on customer service. The company tag line is "Powered by Service". The story is that the Zappos founder, Nick Swinmurn , could not find a pair of shoes he was looking for and there was no online retailer which specialized in wide selection of shoes. So, he started Zappos . Today, Zappos has 4M+ items in its warehouse in Kentucky, 1200 brands and 200,000 styles, and 900,000 UPCs . Zappos is known for wide selection, fast and free delivery, free return shipments, and 365 day return policy. Behind the scenes, there are three m...

Anything that can be done, will be done eventually.

Do not act on advice from experts or from your friends if it does not make sense to you. People give advice based on their past experiences and their view of the world. No one knows your circumstances better than you do. There is an old saying in India, "listen to everyone and do what makes sense to you".

People tend to misjudge when to think in relative terms and when to think in absolute terms.

~93% of US population has a cellphone. The US wireless market is getting saturated (in terms of new subscribers). To continue the revenue growth, the Wireless Carriers (WC) have seen in the last few years, the WC will have to find new ways since what was a growth driver-new subscribers- in the past is no longer there. Let's look at a few other reasons and understand why I think that the WC may have tough times ahead of them. 1. Decline in Voice Revenue: WC make most of their money from voice calls. The revenue from voice (per user) has declined in the last few quarters and will continue to decline in the coming years. The product is mature and there are not many ways to differentiate it. There is increased pricing pressure from low-cost carriers like Metro PCS and MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) like Tracfone. A customer can easily get an unlimited voice minutes (and SMS, and some amount of data) service plan from these low cost carriers for $50 or less with no contract. ...

People tend to do what they like rather than what is necessary.

I attended Mobilize 2009 yesterday. It was an interesting conference and many of the big names in the wireless industry were present. The main trends highlighted at the conference were: Mobile broadband and Smart Phones represent a big opportunity Wireless carriers are updating their networks to handle the mobile data demand which was jump-started with iPhone More Android phones will be launched in the coming months The Mobile Application market will continue to grow Companies are trying to figure out how to make Mobile Advertising work Following are a few stats which were mentioned during the presentations: There will be 1 Billion mobile broadband subscribers by 2013 100k websites are created every 24 hours There are 5 Billion websites today There are 1.6B Internet users today and 98% primarily access it via the PC There are 1.3B fixed/wireline phone lines in the world 210B emails are sent every 24 hours 1B searches are done on Google every day 1B pictures are ...

Complex Systems consist of diverse, interdependent, connected, adapting entities. For example, financial markets have diverse banks which are connected and interdependent and they adapt to risk and to each other. Complex Systems (CX) are: 1. Unpredictable 2. Produce large events (wars) 3. Robust (how ecosystems withstand loss of species) 4. Produce bottom-up emergent phenomenon (how a city operates) 5. Produce Novelty/Innovation CX are not Normal i.e. they don't follow the Normal Distribution bell curve . However, they do follow the Power Law . CX exist between order and chaos. It is important to understand CX because the world is becoming more and more complex. It is : 1. More diverse because of more people and species 2. More interdependent because of trade 3. More Connected because of transportation and the Internet 4. More Adapt because of frequent changes in technologies There is a difference in Complex and Complicated. Complicated Systems don't adapt. Emergence happens w...

I just finished reading OPEN brand which is a book on branding in the age of the Internet. The book offers a lot of common sense using uncommon words. OPEN is an acronym for On-demand, Personal, Engaging, and Networked. The other meaning of OPEN is that companies should open their brands to customers and make them part of the brands. The basic idea of the book is that companies should listen to the customers and use the web and the mobile phones to engage the customers with the brand i.e. focus on Pull Marketing . The companies will have to change how they market to customers now that the customers are connected to each other and can make their voices heard on the web. For a more detailed summary of the book see http://www.amazon.com/review/R131RGK09KXHZ3/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

The book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell proves with various interesting stories that people become successful by working hard and by being at the right place at the right time. One can increase ones chances of being at the right place at the right time by never stop trying. Your family, society, culture, the time and place of your birth, etc. are all part of being at the right place at the right time.

I just finished listening to an audio book - The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life . It is a biography of Warren Buffet who is one of my heroes . The audio book is 37 hour long and is very addictive. I could not stop listening to the audio book until it was finished. Buffett is an extraordinary human being. One learns a lot from his biography. However, since I usually don't listen to audio books, I don't remember most of what I heard:-) after being in awe for 37 hours. Following are a few random things I remember: 1. Buffett never acquired a company with a hostile takeover. 2. One should always have "margin of safety" when making investments. What that means is that one should not make investments where there is a risk of losing money if things don't go according to the plan. 3. It is not a good idea to be on company boards where one doesn't have any influence on the CEO. 4. Praise the individual and criticize the category. Buffett followed Da...

Most humans are slaves to their senses.

I have written about Netflix before. They are an admirable organization and one of the few which understand Complex Systems . The presentation below describes the Netflix culture. The concepts which are highlighted in the presentation are well-studied in the field of Complex Systems. However, I see them applied in a big public company for the first time at Netflix. It is very exciting! In coming years, we may see more organizations moving to "freedom and responsibility" culture. Culture View more presentations from reed2001 .