Tag: Mentor

Judgment Matters, Not Memory

Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld stated, “Everyone complains of his memory, and no one complains of his judgment.” We focus on the wrong thing.

Memory is easy; write it down. Facts are free and fast. Every byte of humanity has been indexed and is searchable. Let the silicon handle recall. Focus your matter on higher-order tasks.

Judgment is what you get paid for. It’s how we value people. Jobs, Musk, and Bezos assessed situations, made predictions and took action. Each had limitless opportunities, but judgment narrowed their vision.

Memory is not a skill worth improving. The world’s collective knowledge sits just beneath your fingertips. Making your dent in the universe requires creativity and discernment.

Improve your judgment, increase your value, enjoy your life.

Everything Seems Stupid When It Fails

Fyodor Dostoevsky said it and he’s right. Decisions are made in the context of their time. Decisions and context cannot be uncoupled. I can’t point to a single decision I ever made with the intention of failing, yet in hindsight, I look back on hundreds of blunders and wonder how it could have gone any other way.

Was I in a hurry? Had I fallen for the sunk cost fallacy and doubled down? Was I biased by consistency syndrome? Was I hungry? Was I tired? All of the above?

Decisions make sense at the time, otherwise, it would have been done differently. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Reflect. Learn. Move on. And hopefully, we don’t repeat the same mistakes. But God willing, you will make more mistakes. Else you’re dead.

Make bets. Better yet, make predictions. Rather than money, stake reputation by putting it in writing. We are horrible predictors, but it is a skill worth developing because it hones our analysis skills and forces accountability. Build a public track record and learn from errors in judgment.

Don’t hedge. I have a bad habit of saying things like, “Mahomes and the Chiefs are a better team, but Brady’s track record speaks for itself.” I can’t lose. Either way, I look like a genius.

That’s weak sauce. Instead, be bold. Make predictions. Grade your homework. Rinse, repeat.

No Wasted Footsteps-Nick Grossman

Originally posted by Nick Grossman on his blog

All highlighting is my own.

This summer, we moved into a new house. Moving is a lot of work. As part of moving out of our old house, we got rid of a lot of junk that we had accumulated over the years. We ended up working with the amazing Dave O’Rourke of Spaceback. As Dave and I were loading a huge junk pile into his truck, he said something that really stuck with me — he said: “in this business, you can’t waste any footsteps”. Meaning, there’s a lot to do, lots of things to lift and move, and you need to be smart and efficient with your energy.

As I am now moving items around our house, and carting empty moving boxes and miscellaneous trash out, Dave’s words have been sticking with me. If I’m going to the basement, grab a box to take to the trash. If I’m going up to the second floor, grab a bag or a box or an item that needs to go there. Going back to the first floor? Grab something that needs to go there. No wasted footsteps.

This is good advice for moving a bunch of stuff around, but it’s also good advice in general. And it’s been on my mind, as of course moving to a new house means that you tend to fall behind on other things (like work and email). So the same approach of no wasted footsteps could (and should) be applied to digital life. Get the thing done that you need to get done right then and there, don’t waste any footsteps walking around empty handed. The folks that I work with that seem to be most productive and efficient seem to take this approach, and I’m going to try to keep it front and center myself.

Heroes are near future versions of you

Getting older and Googling your hero’s age let’s you in on a dirty little secret. Most aren’t much older than you. This became tragically evident this week with the passing of Kobe Bryant. I grew up idolizing his work ethic and mamba mentality, yet we were only six years apart.

Why is that? Because if they were any older their message wouldn’t resonate. The distance would be too great.

Our favorite artists conveyed their experience and hard fought lessons learned in ways we could relate to. Our parents and teachers were trying to teach us those same lessons, but the generational divide got in the way.

Why does this matter? Because you are someone’s hero. You just don’t know it. A near-peer or subordinate is looking up to you right now. Your message resonates, because you have been where they are and made it through. You survived and that gives them hope.

Real heroes don’t wear capes. They work in cubicles, wear uniforms and make PBJs before school.

Someone is watching you. What are they seeing?