Capitalogix

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!

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - May 24th, 2020

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• We are Doing in a Few Months What Would Normally Take a Drug Development Process Years to Do' with AI. (ZDNet)
• Findings From The AI Index Annual Report. (Stanford-AI)
• Terrifying Black Light Videos Show How Easy It Is to Catch Coronavirus. (BGR)
• Why Zoom Meetings are So Dissatisfying. (Economist)
• Travelers Now Scoring $700 Business Class Flights to Europe with Sneaky Loophole. (DMarge)

 

Trading Links:

• Hertz Files for Bankruptcy after 16,000 Employees Were Let Go. (Forbes)
• One Chart to Catch You up on 2020 ... And the Economy. (HowardLindzon)
• Second Stimulus Check Proposes $1,200 Extra with Round 2. Here's the Situation. (CNet)
• The World's 25 Richest Billionaires Have Gained Nearly $255 Billion in Just Two Months. (Forbes)
• What History Tells Us about the Accelerating AI Revolution. (Wall Street Journal)

Working From Home... Forever?

Almost everyone - barring essential workers - has been working from home for over two months at this point. 

So, on some level, we all have a pretty good understanding of the pros and cons of the work-from-home lifestyle. Despite some of the potential detriments, many companies are realizing that productivity hasn't dropped the way they expected. 

In fact, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, just announced that henceforth his employees won't have the obligation of coming into the office. They can work from home forever if that's what they choose. 

via Dilbert (September 1995)

It's interesting to see how fast this pandemic changed "normal" in regard to business operations, shopping, etc. It is another reminder of how adaptable humans and society are – and how that has helped us survive and thrive throughout time. 

My team has been working remotely since the beginning of March, and so far they've stepped up to the challenge. I've been impressed with the productivity, the hours they've worked, and the connection and collaboration achieved despite the loss of physical proximity.  I've heard similar stories from friends around the globe, in many industries.

Nonetheless, I don't believe that the level of remote work and productivity we've experienced will continue.  Several things contributed to this level of productivity and output.  First, the world shut down and people had little else to do.  Second, during scary times, doing something productive and feeling like you are contributing are both comforting and therapeutic.   Third, I feel like people felt that it was an "all hands on deck" emergency, where many companies or industries were fighting for survival. 

Time kills all things ... and part of adapting is to make the "New", well, "Normal".

That doesn't mean that remote work is bad.  Nor does it mean that we can't learn from the experience.  It is just that the shiny newness will fade and human nature will kick back in as we settle into the new normal.

Texas is supposedly "Open for Business" – but our office will remain mostly unused.  A survey of our team found that 75% didn't believe it was smart or safe to return to the office yet. 

Our next target date is June 15th.  In the meantime, the office is open for people who want or need it.  We just don't expect many to be there.

We are better at the skills, tools, and mindsets that make remote work possible or profitable.  Still, I'm curious how time and human nature will affect the level of work done in the next month (compared to what was done or achieved in the prior month).  What we do now really does have the power to change the future.

Personally, to keep productivity up while at home, I've dedicated a certain space - and time - to work. That routine, combined with not muddying the space with other activities, has been helpful. A side benefit is that I've also made time for mindfulness and exercise.  Combine that with healthier food (meaning way fewer restaurant meals or entertainment calories) and the health benefits are obvious.

What habits do you want to bring back to your world when it re-opens?

I'm also curious to hear about the methods and tools you're using to stay productive.   

Onwards.

Selective Attention: What Are You Missing?

Sticking with the philosophy theme, I encourage you to watch this video below on selective attention. 

Daniel Simons' experiments on visual awareness have become famous.  The primary conclusion drawn from his research is that we can miss incredibly obvious things, right in front of us, if our attention is focused elsewhere.

While watching the video, count how many passes the team in white makes. 

This is worth doing so you experience it yourself.

OK, click the video to do it now.

via Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris (Click Here To Read The Full Paper)

First, did you get the number of passes correct? Second, did you see the gorilla?

If you have already seen this video or heard of the study, it's much easier, but most people absolutely miss the Gorilla, despite it not being hidden. 

Think about how often your focus blinds you to the obvious.

This next video demonstrates "change blindness".  In an experiment, 75% of the participants didn't notice that the experimenter was replaced by a different person.

 

via Derren Brown

Warning: Objects In Your Attention Span Are Fewer Than You Perceive.

It's well known that we often miss objects in our field of view due to limited attention and change blindness, but, it's true with more than just sight. Moment by moment, the brain selectively processes information it deems most relevant. Experiments, like these, show the limits of our capacity to encode, retain, and compare visual information from one glance to the next. 

More importantly, this suggests that our awareness of our visual surroundings is far more sparse than most people intuitively believe.  Consequently, our intuition can deceive us far more often than we perceive.

 

via Pickles

As an entrepreneur, when I focus fully on something, it's as if everything else goes away. That level of focus can be a gift - but it can also be a curse. In Genius Network, we have a form we fill out at the beginning of each meeting. In it is a diagram where you rate your score on 8 factors: physical environment, career, money, health, friends & family, significant other, personal & intellectual growth, and fun & recreation

It's rare that I'm fully succeeding in all 8 ... we only have so much focus and bandwidth, it's inevitable I'll miss things. Clearly, in an information-rich environment, attention is a scarce and essential resource. So, pay attention (or automate the things you know need to be done right, every time).

What are you currently prioritizing, and what's falling to the side due to that focus? What are you missing?

Hope this was a helpful reminder. Let me know what you think about posts like this.  Thanks.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - May 3rd, 2020

 

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

Lighter Links:

• China Has Started a Grand Experiment in AI Education. It Could Reshape How the World Learns. (TechReview)
• I Have Seen the Future And It's Not the Life We Knew. (The Atlantic)
• Army Ranger School is a Laboratory of Human Endurance. (Outside)
• Watch Picasso Make a Masterpiece. (YouTube)
• Michael Jordan Reportedly Once Turned down a $100 Million Appearance Fee. (FTW)

 

Trading Links:

• Buffett's Berkshire Posts Nearly $50 Billion Loss as Coronavirus Causes Pain. (Reuters)
• Bets against the Stock Market Rise to Highest Level in Years. (Wall Street Journal)
• NYSE Research Shows Humans on Exchange Floor Limit Volatility, COO Says. (Cheddar)
• Nasdaq, Cboe Fix Feeds Facing Options Overload. (WatersTechnology)
• China's National Blockchain Will Change the World. (CoinDesk)

 

Beyond The Snap: Business Lessons From Football

The NFL draft happened this week, despite the Quarantine.

I was happy to distract myself from the economy and news cycles.

Football is something I used to love to play. And it is still something that informs my thoughts and actions.

Some lessons relate to being part of a team, while others relate to the coaching or management side of things.

Some of these lessons stem back to youth football ... but I still learn things watching games – and even more from watching Dallas Cowboys practices at The Star. 

Think about it, even in middle school, the coaches have a game plan. There are team practices and individual drills. They have a depth chart, which lists the first, second, and third choice to fill certain roles.  In short, they focus on the fundamentals in a way that most businesses don't.

The picture, below, is of my brother's high school team way back in 1989.

To re-state, most businesses are less prepared for their problems than an 8th-grade football team. Now, that sounds offensive to some of you, but if you think about it ... it's pretty true. 

Losing to An 8th Grade Team

I shot this video right before the COVID-19 shutdown.  I encourage you to watch it.  I think it's 3 minutes well spent.

 

Teams think about how to improve each player, how to beat this week's problem, and then how to string together wins to achieve a higher goal. 

Contrast that with many businesses. Entrepreneurs often get myopic ... they get focused on today, focused on survival, and they lose sight of the bigger picture and how all the pieces fit together. 

The amount of thought that goes into football - which is ultimately a game - is a valuable lesson for business. 

What about when you get to the highest level? If an 8th-grade football team is equivalent to a normal business, what about businesses that are killing it? That would be similar to an NFL team. 

Let's look at the Cowboys. 

Practice Makes Perfect

How you do one thing is how you do everything. So, they try to do everything right. 

Each time I've watched a practice session I've come away impressed by the amount of preparation, effort, and skill displayed.

During practice, there's a scheduled agenda. The practice is broken into chunks, and each chunk has a designed purpose and a desired intensity. There's a rhythm, even to the breaks.

Every minute is scripted. There's a long-term plan to handle the season ... but, there was also a focus on the short-term details and their current opponent.

They alternate between individual and group drills. Moreover, the drills run fast ... but for shorter time periods than you'd guess. It is bang-bang-bang – never longer than a millennial's attention span. And they move from drill to drill – working not just on plays, but the skillsets as well (where are you looking, which foot do you plant, how do you best use your hands, etc.).

They use advanced technology (including advanced player monitoring, biometric tracking, and medical recovery devices ... but also things like robotic tackling dummies and virtual reality headsets). 

They don't just film games, they film the practices ... and each individual drill. Coaches and players get a cut of the film on their tablets as soon as they leave. It is a process of constant feedback, constant improvement, or constant renewal. Everything has the potential to be a lesson. 

Beyond The Snap

The focus is not just internal, on the team. They focus on the competition as well. Before a game, the coaches prepare a game plan and have the team watch tape of their opponent in order to understand the tendencies and mentally prepare for what's going to happen.

During the game, changes in personnel groups and schemes keep competitors on their toes and allow the team to identify coverages and predict plays. If the offense realizes a play has been predicted, they call an audible based on what they see in front of them. Coaches from different hierarchies work in tandem to respond faster to new problems. 

After the game, the film is reviewed in detail. Each person gets a grade on each play, and the coaches make notes for each person about what they did well and what they could do better.

Think about it ... everyone knows what game they are playing ... and for the most part, everybody understands the rules, and how to keep score (and even where they are in the standings). Even the coaches get feedback based on performance, and they look to others for guidance. 

Imagine how easy that would be to do in business. Imagine how much better things could be if you did those things.

Challenge accepted.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - April 26th, 2020

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

Lighter Links:

• Harvard Professor Wants to Ban Homeschooling Because It's Authoritarian'. (NYPost)
• Amazon Asks Workers to Request Leave If They Continue Staying at Home. (EnGadget)
• You Can Now Download the Government's Controversial Contact Tracing App. (Timeout)
• A Startup is Pitching a Mind-Uploading Service that is 100 Percent Fatal. (TechReview)
• Burning Man is Going Virtual, and So are the Orgies. (Vice)

 

Trading Links:

• This Pandemic is Over. Let's Stop the Economic Suicide, and Get Back to Work. (RealClearMarkets)
• Negative Oil Prices Were a Warning, Not an Anomaly. (Bloomberg)
• Ken Fisher on Nixing the VIX. (RCM)
• Hedge Funds are on Defense and Testing the Stamina of a $5 Trillion Stock Rally. (Bloomberg)
• Who's On Top in the S&P 500 Before and After the Coronavirus?(SeekingAlpha)

Killing Time: COVID-19 and Media Consumption

For most, being quarantined means significantly more screen-time.

Whether you're using it productively or unproductively, you're likely consuming much more media than before. 

That can be a double-edged sword. It has the potential to increase your understanding of events – but also increases the likelihood of echo chambers and the intake of misinformation (aka fake news). 

So, in this quarantine, what exactly are people looking at, and how are they staying informed?

VisualCapitalist put together various infographics on how different generations are consuming content.

via visualcapitalist

Unsurprisingly, younger generations are playing games, and millennials are focusing on food (cooking recipes and staying healthy while quarantined).  Meanwhile, the older generations are still sticking primarily to broadcast TV. 

(To View Other Generations Click Here) via visualcapitalist

Regardless of where you're consuming, it's important to manage what you're consuming, and how much you're consuming. You need to make sure you're using reliable resources and managing your time and energy. Too much can leave you worse off. 

Sometimes, less is more.

 

Some Much Needed Coronavirus Levity

 People are going a little stir crazy – and tensions are running a little bit higher than normal. 

I saw this video and I chuckled (although the agitated in me recognized the agited in him ... Namaste).

 

For some much-needed levity, here's a cover of Adele's "Hello (From The Outside)" called "Hello (From The Inside)". 

 

via Chris Mann

If you want more COVID music: 

• Ballad of A Hand - Jon Lajoie
• Coronavirus Rhapsody - Adrian Grimes
• My Corona - ZDoggMD

Hope you enjoyed. Stay safe (and try to stay sane). 

Here's to Rebirth and Spring Cleaning

Happy Holidays!  I hope you had a great weekend.

For Christians, today is Easter Sunday - the holiday celebrating the Resurrection. 

For Jews, it's still  Passover - the holiday recounting the Exodus from Egypt. 

The overlap can be seen in DaVinci's Last Supper, a Passover Seder, and last meal Jesus ate before his crucifixion.  

For both, it's a holy and family-centric time. A reminder to appreciate what we have, and how we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. 

One of the memorable phrases from Exodus is when Moses says "Let my people go!"  For generations, people assumed he was talking to the Pharoh about his people's freedom. After a week of eating clogging matzoh, matzoh balls, and even fried matzoh ... for many Jews "Let my people go" takes on a different meaning.

For Jews, a notable part of the ritual Seder dinner is naming each of the 10 plagues that rained over Egypt and saying "never again".

Perhaps, this year, COVID-19 gets added the list? 

Yet, just like the Jews making it through slavery, the plagues, and 40 years wandering through the wilderness and desert before entering the Promised Land ... we too will make it through this. 

With that said, some of what happened is good.  Mine your experience for the things you want to keep doing (or continue not doing) once things go back to "normal".  In addition, some of those close to me continue to remind me that being sheltered-in-place is a great excuse to do both a physical and mental spring cleaning. 

Hope you had a great weekend. 

Onwards!