Business

  • Generations of Fathers

    Happy Father's Day!

    Both of my children are adults now. It's strange to consider them fully-functioning autonomous adults – because I remember their childhood like it was yesterday (like worrying whether the soft spot on their heads would ever fill in and harden up, or if they'd ever stop sleeping with a nightlight). 

    Today, they're men doing great things,  and I get to be proud of them.  I also get to be proud of my role in their growth and proud of passing down the wisdom of my dad, and his father, and the rest who came before me. 

    It has been 20 years since my father died … Crazy how time flies! He was my best friend and an amazing mentor. His vision for what I could become helped shape and inform my goals, my accomplishments, and yes, me.

    For example, after winning the State Championship in the shot put, my dad came down from the stands onto the field.  He hugged me and told me that he knew I could do it. Then, he looked deeply into my eyes and asked whether I was a little disappointed?  "Disappointed?" I asked. "But, Dad, I won."  He looked at me and said, "Winning is great … but you didn't throw a personal best."   He was proud, and he loved me.   He recognized that winning was important … but he wanted to remind me that the other throwers weren't my real competition.  

    In life, to be and do your best, the competition is really with yourself; and we both knew I could do better.

    My Dad believed in setting high standards.  He taught me that most people's lives are defined by their minimum standards.  Why?  Because once those standards get met, it is easy to get distracted and complacent.

    One of his favorite sayings was, "The difference between good and great is infinitesimal."  This applies to many things. For example, people who are good take advantage of opportunities; people who are great create them. 

    As time goes on, I recognize how much of my Dad is in me. And, likewise, how much his father was a part of him … and how parts of all of us have somehow become a part of my children. 

     

    83079882-e8c3-4f1b-899c-ad8551cf90fc

    Me, my dad, and grandfather

    My Impact on My Children

    I hope I've imparted many important lessons to my children – but one of the most impactful lessons was teaching them to enjoy reading. 

    Some parents try to limit the amount of time their kids spend watching TV or playing video games. I tried something different.  Instead, my kids earned their games by reading books. And, they also received more books in the process. 

    Here's how it worked. 

    When they finished a book, it was their right, and my obligation, to take them to the bookstore for us to pick up the next book together. Likewise, when they finished ten books, it was their right, and my obligation, to take them to the computer store or game store for them to choose any game they wanted.

    When they finished a hundred books, they earned a game system. 

    There came a point when I wanted one of my sons to start reading grown-up books. He was comfortably reading a particular genre (teen fiction) and didn't want to read the kind of books that I thought he was ready to read (and might enjoy more).  So, I created a bonus system that counted a specific book (it might have been a Tom Clancy novel) as three books.  I didn't force him; I just let the easier path to a reward "whisper" in his ear what to read. Once he finished that, he never went back to teen fiction.

    As they started to get into their teenage years, I needed to up the ante a little. So, 500 books meant they got a laptop of their choice. Both boys cashed in and probably felt like they were taking advantage of their dad.

    So, Who Got the Better Bargain?

    IMG_8265

    Three generations of Getsons

    Fortunately, in child-rearing, everyone can win. My sons love reading to this day – and have learned that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to… one step at a time. 

    My sons weren't ever forced to stop watching TV, or read a certain type of book, and always had endless things to keep them entertained. 

    Win-win. 

    I like to think each generation becomes better (as people and parents) due to the cumulative experience of the generations that came before them. 

    We stand on the shoulders of giants. 

    I look forward to seeing how my (eventual) grandchildren turn out, and how little pieces of me and their great-grandfather show up. 

    Hope you had a great weekend.

  • Sometimes, Less Is More

    The idea of “less is more” was popularized in 1947 as an argument for minimalism. But today, more than ever, minimalism is important in all aspects of life. You can see it in the resurgence of simplistic design, or Marie Kondo, or in the re-popularization of stoicism. 

    There’s too much competition for our attention. We can’t buy everything we see on TV, deep-dive into every interesting topic we learn about on the internet, or track everything that’s happening in the world.

    Instead, we tend to focus on what is relevant or interesting to us.

    In business, there are Specialists and Generalists.  It isn’t hard to imagine that their reading lists, habits, and sources of happiness or fulfillment are probably quite different.

    The same is true for  Simplifiers and Multipliers (which is a concept that Dan Sullivan at Strategic Coach has written a book about).

    In your business career, to get to where you are, you’ve been successful at two things. You’ve simplified things, which gave you an advantage. And you multiplied things, which gave you an advantage.  Said a different way, as a simplifier, you took something that was complex for everybody else, and you made it simple. And as a multiplier, you took something that was a new solution, and you had successes multiplying it out in the world so that a lot of people could get the advantage of your simplifications.

    But the truth is most people are either primarily simplifiers or multipliers.  The best partnerships happen when you pair the two.  Amazing conversations happen when a simplifier says to a multiplier, “I’ve got this really neat solution … What would you do with it?” Each has something the other doesn’t; and the combination is often exponential.

    I am primarily a simplifier.  So, I tend to look for people or technologies to multiply what I produce.

    I shot a video on the topic. Click here to watch.

     

    The internet and global digital economy enable you to find an audience for almost anything. 

    No matter how far you niche down to find your true calling, there are likely people who are just as excited about what you do as you. 

    So, sometimes less is more.

    Are you a simplifier or a multiplier?

  • Lessons From 2020’s Markets

    The idea that the market is not the economy has been made very clear over these past months. While businesses continue to shutter or (if they're lucky) slowly re-open, the stock market has rallied immensely since the initial crash – in large part due to governmental efforts. The markets are so confusing right now that CNBC has given up and created a new type of market – the kangaroo market … I assume implying "jumpy" volatility. 

    IMG_3657

    The rally has only served to increase the uncertainty as people hold their breath waiting for the drop… For all that waiting, "dumb money" has been beating a lot of "intelligent" investors.

    I found an interesting visualization that shows the performance of the S&P through the performance of its underlying stocks. 

     

    via Chartfleau

    As you watch the video you can see that most of these underlying stocks are struggling – but they're being propped up by a relatively small number of stocks, including the likes of tech giants, the gold mining company Newmont Corporation and the HVAC company Carrier Global. 

    While many funds still struggle, novice investors and day traders listening to the advice of "buy low, sell high" have made staggering gains. 

    I'm not encouraging a back-to-basics approach to trading, but I think it is a good reminder that sometimes, as Da Vinci said, "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." 

    Being in Fintech, I'm always paying attention to the newest "sophisticated" technologies, looking for a new edge – and that's valuable – but you can't throw out the baby with the bathwater. 

    So, I find myself looking for what's timeless (instead of timely) in what others are doing. 

    At a Genius Network meeting recently, Brian Tracy mentioned two key questions he asks himself (before writing a book) that I think are very insightful. 

    Would this work 20 years from now? Would this have worked 20 years ago?

    Tools and techniques change… why often doesn't matter.

    The truth is, if you don't know what your edge is … then you don't have one.  

    On a related note, if nothing is working … doing nothing is an option!

    Hope that helped. 

  • Talking AI, Analytics, and Trading With IBM

    I'll be speaking at an IBM Webinar on June 18th. The focus is on using AI, analytics, and advanced computing to improve trading research. Click here to sign-up. 

    IBM_BSFS_Webinar_SpeakerSocialTiles_LinkedIn_1200x628_Howard Getson

  • Solid Advice from MMA fighter Chael Sonnen

    Chael Sonnen is a famous retired mixed martial artist. He was also a coach on the show The Ultimate Fighter. 

    The advice in the video is fantastic – whether you're fighting in the ring or your own personal battles. 

     

    via UFC

    Silencing the voice in your head that says "you can't" is impossible, but ignoring the voice, and learning to compete with it is entirely possible. 

    Failure is an option, but it's the only option available if you don't try. Motion begets motion. And, with persistence, failure can be a stone on the path to eventual success. 

    Onwards! 

  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – June 7th, 2020

    240020

     

    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

    Lighter Links:

    Trading Links:

  • Are You A Maverick Or A Heretic?

    I have a tents problem. I keep buying tents, but I never go camping. Just kidding – I don’t own a tent. I have a tense problem – because I’m so excited about the future and what’s possible that I sometimes lose track of what’s been actualized "in real life" already.

    FutureFocus2

    Once I’ve thought it, it becomes real for me. Once I’ve figured it out and told it to someone … on some level, it's already done. And, I’m probably moving on to the next idea or challenge in my head (like: And what would that make possible?).

    I think this is common among (to use a Kolbe term) Quick Starts. I love being around entrepreneurs because a lot of them are Quick Starts, and they share this future-focused perspective. The problem, however, is that when you say something’s possible that hasn’t been proven yet, the average person responds with “no it’s not.”

    I’ve seen the pattern over and over, both in my own company and in my friend’s companies. At my company, we have a lot of data scientists – and they’re almost all naturally pessimistic. Which makes sense; if you were going to hire a personality type to be a scientist, you’d want someone who didn’t believe their hypothesis until they’ve proven it. It’s the right personality for the job, but it doesn’t mean they’re right, and it certainly doesn’t mean that approach is right for the visionaries.

    I’m not telling everyone to be visionaries. What I am saying is, if you’re naturally a visionary, feel free to embrace it, but surround yourself with people who keep you grounded in reality. We’d never have innovation if it wasn’t for you, and innovators wouldn’t ever get anything done if it wasn’t for other personality types.

    Information Is Beautiful put together an interactive list of famous ideas rejected that were later proven correct. You can filter by industry – Astronomy, Biology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Physical Sciences – and by other factors like how long the originator was a pariah, how they were treated due to their idea, and when the idea was formally adopted. Click to see the interactive version. 

    Screen Shot 2020-04-12 at 10.25.14 AMvia Information Is Beautiful

    In 895, Al-Razi believing a fever was a natural defense mechanism got him beaten.

    In 1592, Giordano Bruno believing the Sun was one of many stars got him killed. Shortly after, Galileo Galilei was imprisoned for believing the earth wasn’t the center of the solar system.

    Losing some of the stakes, in 1884 and 1903 respectively, Nikola Tesla and the Wright Brothers were ignored and rejected for their technological innovations.

    Even today you can see the initial response to visionaries like Peter Diamandis or Elon Musk.

    The status quo is comfortable, but if you’re standing still you’re moving backward.

    Are you a maverick or a heretic? You won’t know until you see it to the end. You may experience failures, but that’s the experience for your next endeavor.

    "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." – Thomas Edison

    Onwards!

  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – May 31st, 2020

    239700

    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

    Lighter Links:

    Trading Links:

  • Here’s How Time Works Now…

    At this point, time feels like an illusion. My son, Zach, was recently musing on how nebulous time has felt during quarantine … ebbing and flowing between passing too fast and lasting an eternity. 

    But, what does he know?! At 50+ years in age, time flows much differently than it did in my youth…

    Right? It's not just me?

    Eli Grober wrote a piece for McSweeney's titled "Here's How Time Works Now". It is conspicuously fitting. 

    Here at Time, we’ve made a few changes you may already be experiencing that we think you should know about. Please see below.

    A Minute

    A minute used to be sixty seconds long. We thought this could be spiced up. A minute can now either be one hour, or it can take 3.5 seconds. We hope you enjoy this new feature.

    A Day

    You may remember that a day used to take place over the course of 24 hours. We felt this was too much. A day is now over the moment you first ask yourself, “What time is it?”

    It does not matter what time it actually is when you do this. As soon as you ask or think, “What time is it” for the first time that day, even if it is still ten in the morning, it will suddenly be eight at night. Does that make sense?

    A Week

    A week was once measured over the course of seven days. Our testing showed that this has been way too short, for way too long. So we made a big adjustment: a workweek now takes an entire year. From Monday to Friday, you will feel like it’s been (and you will actually age) an entire year. This is non-negotiable. This brings us to…

    A Weekend

    A weekend doesn’t exist anymore. You will go to sleep on Friday and you will wake up on Monday with a vague memory that you may have watched an entire TV show (every episode, every season) sometime in the last 48 hours.

    Read the Full Article via McSweeney's

    What year is it?

  • The Power of Asking The Right Questions

    There's immense power in asking the right questions. 

    Finding the right answers can be valuable too – but I'd argue finding the right questions is more important than finding the right answers. 

    To some extent, if you ask the right questions, the answers don't matter as much as how easy it was to find appropriate answers, proof of progress, or meaningful momentum.

    I shot this short video on the power of asking the right questions. Check it out. 

     

    The exercise of asking the right questions is really an exercise in the power of framing – of digesting or accessing information differently. There's power even in the reframing of the same question:  "How do I survive the pandemic shelter-in-place quarantine?" vs. "In what ways has the pandemic shelter-in-place quarantine improved my relationships (or productivity, or health)?" 

    In my experience, asking someone what they want often results in a response about what they don't want.  Yet, when the obstacle becomes the path forward it becomes easier to find the "hidden" gift.

    You control what you make things mean and how things make you feel. In many respects, this is the difference between feeling sad or happy or feeling like a victim versus someone in control of their destiny.  Your ability to control your perception is the difference between feeling like life happens to you or for you. 

    It's the same when tackling a research problem. When I hear "it can't be done" my first thought is usually "It can be done … just not the way you were thinking about it."

    The most important advances in society were impossible until they weren't.  The examples are too numerous to list.  But imagine telling someone in the middle ages that you could communicate with people around the globe in real-time, while seeing their faces, and sharing documents.  They'd try you as a witch faster than you could say "Zoom!" 

    The term Moonshot, in a technology context, is an ambitious, exploratory, and ground-breaking project that was considered to be impossible (like going to the Moon).

    Success is often a function of using Moonshots to set direction, then asking the right questions, being willing to see things differently, and finding a way to move in the right direction while gaining capabilities and confidence.  As long as you are doing those things, the trick is to keep going until you get there.  The result is inevitable if you do those things and don't give up.

    Onwards!