There are really only two ways to approach this: “We do not cheat.” “We cheat when we can get away with it.” The attitude of, “our side does not cheat,” is the belief in the validity of the game itself. It is a statement of moral authority, a promise of consistency and courage. It respects…

Assiduity means constant or close attention to what one is doing. I chuckled when I heard it is one of Charlie Munger’s favorite words thanks to his literal sounding interpretation of its meaning: “Sit down on your ass until you do it.” Here is wishing all of us some assiduity today. Image by ludi

Nobody knows who invented the button five thousand years ago. At first, buttons were simply used to make clothes beautiful. It was not until the invention of the buttonhole three thousand years later that buttons became functional. It took us two thousand years to reimagine what the button could do. And in that moment fashion…

When we are innovating a product or iterating a service, we tend to add value by introducing features and benefits. But more is not always better. Sometimes improvements and progress are made by removing things that people would not miss. The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. What could you subtract or…

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere…

An old hermit was once invited to visit the court of the most powerful king of those times. “I envy such a saintly man, who is content with so little,” said the King. “I envy Your Majesty, who is content with even less that I,” responded the hermit. “How can you say such a thing,…

A simple way to increase problem-solving velocity: disregard the instinct to assign blame.

There is a difference between entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking. John Spence once said: "Not every student will become an entrepreneur, but they will all someday need to think like one." What COVID-19 has proven is that if we are to survive today's world, we all need to think entrepreneurially, even as adults. The future of work brought by the…

“And then what happens?” Repeat the second question 100 times. Because after every good idea, there are at least 100 steps of iteration, learning, adjustment, innovation and effort. Starting with the wrong idea is a waste of energy and time. But not committing to the 100 steps is a waste of a good idea. We…

"If I am asking the wrong question, what is a better question?" Elon Musk questions his question to better the answer about COVID-19 tests. You want better answers? ask better questions. Everyone asks for the keys to success, but few realise one of them is in the question itself.  Asking better questions leads to better…

“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.” I came across this quote from Yuval Noah Harari in his book: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. It is a great articulation of the importance of cultures and belief systems that lend themselves to be open to curious inquiry.…

There is always a better person than you. There will always be. Yes, you are replaceable in the same way they are replaceable. The tricky thing though is that, in as much as there is a better person out there, there will always be another better person than the other better person. It is an…