Leadership – misterfergusson

Can You Trust Your Gut Feeling?

In life, we sometimes make critical and trivial decisions based on our intuition. But how can we be sure our lack of deliberation serves our interests? Are we better off without a lengthy thought-process? Shoot from the hip more often? In ‘Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,’ Malcolm Gladwell explores these and other questions, providing insights on the quality, or lack thereof, of these brief yet critical and often trivial decisions.

At its core, Blink is about intuitive decision-making. Gladwell explores a plethora of situations where we have limited information yet our decisions formed based on those thin slices of data will often lead to accurate or beneficial outcomes. Therefore, decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and after long deliberation.

To illustrate his concept, he tells the story of Paul Van Riper, a retired Marine Corps general known for his unconventional strategies. Van Riper became the leading figure during the Millennium Challenge 2002 military exercise, which was designed to explore critical warfighting challenges at the operational level of war that will confront United States joint military forces after 2010. Van Riper oversaw the hostile forces during the exercise. Instead of following established military protocol, he deliberately chose to rely on his intuition, experience, and simple but effective strategies. In contrast, his opponent chose to follow established military strategies, data-heavy analytics, and to rely on technology. Van Riper communicated with his team using basic methods like motorcycle couriers and coded signals, bypassing his opponent’s forces’ sophisticated surveillance tools. His quick, decisive actions—guided by gut instincts rather than exhaustive deliberation—allowed him to exploit his opponent’s forces’ rigidity and outmaneuver them, achieving unexpected victories in the early stages of the exercise. Gladwell highlights the paralyzing effects of over-analyzing, deliberation, and adherence to military hierarchy. Van Riper leveraged a decentralized command structure allowing his forces to act autonomously when his opponent expected coordination. However, Gladwell also cautions the reader to exclusively rely on intuition, but rather make context and skill-based decisions. Van Riper leveraged a combination of experience, skill and bravado to achieve his results. Therefore, context and skill-set of the decision-maker determine the speed at which a decision can be made.

And this contradiction is my main problem with Blink. By and large, it’s a book that builds a case for trusting your gut and making rapid decisions. On the other hand, Gladwell cautions against making rapid decisions depending on the context and the decision-maker. But, how can we refine our intuition to mitigate possible failure? How can we better identify context when thin-slicing advocates against analysis? And, when can we be sure we are sufficiently competent to be the decision-maker for the situation-at-hand rather than merely supremely confident? Blink leaves these questions largely unanswered. Gladwell oversimplifies the complexity around our cognitive abilities and the psychological depths of our biases to an extent that it contradicts him. Personally, I would have preferred fewer stories with more depth and explanation. In addition, I would have preferred a clearer structure outlining intuitive decision-making, long deliberation, and an overview of potential biases that prevent or support either.

I read Blink in parallel to Talking To Strangers, which helped to see the broader context of Gladwell’s thinking when he wrote these books. The latter struck me as more developed, thought-out, and polished. The former reads more like a raw compendium of psychological theories applied to real life stories. This density of everything makes it a formidable base for further idea exploration, but altogether it seemed capricious to ask the reader to switch context time and again. For example on the importance of contempt, he introduces the concept of the Four Horsemen of Marriage as theorized by American psychologist John M. Gottman. In other publications, Gladwell would offer a basic understanding of the concept of discussion before diving into a specific element of it, but in Blink, he rarely brings along the reader before moving on to the next concept. Gottman’s theory embraced criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling as the most destructive and biggest predictors of divorce and separation.

Would I recommend it? If you can get a copy for under $10, I’d recommend it. Any other price exposes Blink to other publications, e.g. Think Again by Adam Grant, which is more recent, clear and more comprehensive.

The Lean Startup

An evergreen almanac for the aspiring entrepreneur. Yet the always up-to-date builder in founder mode won’t learn much.

Eric Ries bestseller The Lean Startup was first published in 2011. It is still a valuable read 14 years later. To start out with a definition of the term ‘startup’, Ries defines it as:

A startup is a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.

I found this an important differentiator from contemporary methods that tend to downplay the human element faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. James Clear wrote in his book Atomic Habits that

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Understanding our human fallibility encourages the creation of systems that are capable of withstanding conditions of extreme uncertainty. I remember this quote often for it is hard to be disciplined and easy to quit. Ries main argument in The Lean Startup centers around mitigating the emotional element by building a product with a mindset that is obsessed with rapid iterations and experiments, validated learning, and not falling in love with the product but the problem.

The Lean Startup method is designed to teach you how to drive a startup. Instead of making complex plans that are based on a lot of assumptions, you can make constant adjustments with a steering wheel called ‘Build-Measure-Learn’ feedback loop. Through this process of steering, we can learn when and if it’s time to make a sharp turn called a ‘pivot’ or whether we should ‘persevere’ along our current path.

Ries describes the ‘Build-Measure-Learn’ feedback loop. It’s a method used by most contemporary startups: create a dirty product (the so-called minimum viable product) that can be built fast, share it with your ideal target customer, track and measure how and whether they use the product, and learn from the customer feedback to inform your product roadmap. In the example of the shoe e-commerce store Zappos, its founder assumed people would want to buy shoes online. To validate his hypothesis he went to visit physical shoe stores, ask for permission to take pictures of shoes, and post those pictures online. When a user would want to order a pair, he would go back to the store, buy the pair, package and ship it. Today Zappos is owned by Amazon and valued at more than a billion dollars.

Only 5% of entrepreneurship is the big idea, the business model, the whiteboard strategizing […]. The other 95% is the gritty work that is measured by product prioritization decisions, which customers to target and listen to, and having the courage to subject a grand vision to constant testing and feedback.

Grit is one thing. Grit informed by validated customer feedback and directed towards the problem the product is trying to solve is everything. This idea of falling in love with the customer’s problem is so obvious and known all-around that most founders will fall prey to their shiny product with curated color theme, intricate feature functionality, and the hours spent on building it when later on nobody wants (to pay for) it. Y Combinator’s slogan is ‘Make something people want’, not what you think they would want.

A startup’s job is to (1) rigorously measure where it is right now, confronting the hard truths that assessment reveals, and then (2) devise experiments to learn how to move the real numbers closer to the ideal reflected in the business plan.

To conclude, The Lean Startup remains a powerful reminder that entrepreneurship is a journey of disciplined exploration rather than blind ambition. By focusing on validated learning, Ries provides a roadmap that urges founders to confront reality and make informed adjustments along the way. It is hard to build a great product or service. While seasoned entrepreneurs may already recognize the importance of rapid iterations and customer obsession, The Lean Startup presents these concepts in a way that’s both actionable and refreshingly human-centered. I omitted the treasure trove of stories Ries included, but it’s an invaluable guide for anyone willing to approach innovation with humility, resilience, and a willingness to embrace failure as a step toward lasting success. Similar, more modern, methods to build a startup are distilled under the regime of Founder Mode or Netflix’s Culture Memo.

The Ride Of A Lifetime

Robert Alan Iger chronicles his ascend to power from his beginnings in television to running the Disney entertainment conglomerate.

The Ride of a Lifetime is partitioned into ‘Learning’ and ‘Leading’. Each part contains seven chapters. While the subtitle implies an autobiography or account of leadership, it is written as a collection of stories that nearly all center around mergers and acquisitions. The historical order is somewhat chronological, but Iger often jumps ahead in time and references the outcome as he builds his storyline. Iger heavily relies on the interactions with Steve Jobs to capture the reader’s interest, but it frequently feels like a detractor from his own story. The detractions persist throughout the book. How did Disney Animations lose its creative edge? What management decisions attempted to prop up Disney Animations, but failed? Why was buying Pixar preferable over buying other (smaller) studios or making investments into proprietary creative labs?

To my surprise, very few sections in this book deal with personal crisis management, managing reports, and details about the grand strategy behind his actions. This conveys the notion that Iger and Iger alone created Disney as we know it today. Buying Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Fox must have come with complex problems, power struggles, or setbacks. Yet, Iger presents a colorless, passionless account with few details on stalemate negotiations, stubborn opposition, and how the leadership team solved these situations. When he does mention a tricky situation (take the failed purchase of Twitter), he often resolves it by compromise or quitting. This might be the one, great lesson of Iger’s career as depicted in this book: his true career was not in leadership but in closing deals. Like a shark, Iger kept pushing forward, expanding, and growing Disney. The few leadership lessons he did outline are found in the appendix; they are often repetitive and to an extent obvious, which in summary leaves the reader a bit unsatisfied. To some readers, this book will feel like an insightful account of corporate consolidation; to other readers, this book will feel like a bland account of someone who is driven by ulterior motives with a lack of humility and integrity. To me, it felt like an interesting story that could have been great if it included more personal reflection, struggle, and failure. To anyone reading this book, it will show the power of corporate consolidation and the importance of quality connections to make deals happen.

Embrace The Joy Of Being Wrong

Questioning our beliefs and value systems is hard, but regularly revisiting, reimagining, and reconsidering our established patterns, protocols, and perspectives may help us understand why we do what we do and why it is so important to us that we do it. To think again means to retain an open mind and invite opportunities to grow.

Think Again surprised me with an incredibly clean writing style. With it, Adam Grant truly demonstrates rethinking in practice and how it makes the reading experience so much more captivating. Think Again is partitioned into individual, interpersonal, and collective rethinking. Among the many intriguing ideas in this book, his ideas around “modes” stand out. In essence, the author believes, we are all subject to four modes that govern or at least influence our actions. We are either preachers, politicians, prosecutors, or scientists. Sometimes we will find ourselves channeling a combination of different modes for no good reason other than to make a point. In the view of the author, however, we have an opportunity to grow if we keep the preacher, politician, and prosecutor in us at bay and leverage our inner scientists to test hypotheses, seek evidence, and revise our convictions.

On its face, Think Again states the obvious. But I can’t remember a recent book that had a greater impact on my own modus operandi. As I write these lines, I can’t help but think about my protocol or approach to book reviews, social media, and blogging. How do I read books? What are my lessons? And am I carrying each lesson forward? What happens to my notes? Is this blog an excuse for taking fewer notes? Or engage in less reflection of the content? Grant acknowledges a state of paralysis or feelings of discomfort may be a side-effect of rethinking and unlearning. These feelings can quickly become unsettling and depressing. While he advocates for a metrics-based method to mitigate paralysis, basically measuring everything like a scientist would and comparing the before and after, we are not scientists in our daily, real lives – at least most of us. Moreover, we are fallible humans. Therefore his advice to simply break down processes, measure their components, and embrace the uncertainty that arises from rethinking isn’t convincing enough because it places us at the hands of discipline, for those of us who can summon it, or the subject of our whims, for those who can’t.

This book will find a permanent home on my desk within reach. Even if it only serves as a reminder that our established protocols and patterns sometimes need adjustment or justification.

Be Useful

If you are going to do, do it. Recounting a life of pursuit, drive, and relentless optimism.

To categorize this book under self-help would infuriate Arnold. He views the label of a self-made man as a charming myth. In reality, he got a lot of help from hundreds of people. This is especially true for his parents raising him right despite their flaws. Arnold found support in Munich, not far from Austria, where he was able to pump iron and get his first experience with running a fitness business. Joe Weider, a bodybuilding entrepreneur before bodybuilding was an industry, invested in Arnold by facilitating opportunities that would allow Arnold to prove his drive, realize his dreams, and demonstrate his astute business acumen. He admits he would have never made it if it wasn’t for the kind help and support from others. Perhaps, this philosophical viewpoint lays the foundation for the book “Be Useful” – to others and the world at large.

I have not read any other Schwarzenegger books, but I have seen plenty of his movies. Ironically, it was a stand-up comedy special that put Arnold’s life story on my radar. In “Be Useful” he chronicles aspects of his journey without too much detail on the actual history, but with in-depth access to his mindset at the time. It is no surprise that Arnold’s foundation for all of his success is a simple and clear vision. In German, you can describe this as “Fernweh”, a deep convulsing desire for experiences never had, sensations never felt. Arnold describes his childhood as filled with dreams of America. This faraway land of the free, home of the brave where nothing is impossible. His advice on this is simple: don’t be afraid to look yourself in the eyes and really see. The idea of starting with a broad vision, zooming in, and making space for deep reflection isn’t inherently new. David Goggins is known for his Accountability Mirror. Steve Jobs stated

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? ‘ And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

Deep, critical reflection and introspective moments have become a rare form of leisure experience in our modern world full of instant gratification and consumerism. If I lose my mind tomorrow, I hope to retain (or relearn) the idea of facing myself and envision what could be.

A cultural phenomenon I seem to share with Arnold is a healthy ignorance of naysayers. He describes this attitude as a need for doubt and laughter of others because his upbringing in Austria involved plenty of negative reinforcement. Germans and Austrians are often viewed as harsh and mean characters with little patience for tomfoolery and lollygagging. Embracing opposition and adversity with a smile allowed him to reinforce his vision and confidence so that he could throw all his drive behind it. He writes

“If millions of European immigrants can come to America with nothing but a suitcase and a dream and make life for themselves, why couldn’t I?”

The most intriguing part of “Be Useful” is the glimpse into his finances at the time of his arrival in the United States. The entire sequence is closely tied to actual historical events playing out in his favor. Arnold already had earned some income in Europe as a fitness instructor and from competition rewards when he moved to the United States. While living on the couches of friends in Venice, he would sell bodybuilding booklets. The distribution deal was a cleverly constructed advertising agreement where he would volunteer for photo shoots in exchange for ad space. At the same time, he enrolled in business, language, and acting classes knowing each of these studies would expand his horizon and field of opportunities in America. When he wasn’t lifting weights, selling his booklet, or studying, he would work as a bricklayer. Arnold had no background or experience in masonry but thought laying bricks would be a good workout in between workouts. To his luck, his business catered to Americans interested in European-style houses at an economic time when the housing market was in a bubble.

Undoubtedly, the man found himself in an opportune time. But more importantly, he had the wits to recognize the times and the drive to take advantage of it. In his words, those days felt so full and rich because he was always switched on. He was energized and excited because he just spent two hours moving closer to achieving his vision. Isn’t this experience, the near flow state something we as a people call “a perfect life ” and we all aspire to experience?

While reading Arnold’s guidance on life, I couldn’t help myself but hear his iconic accent ring through my head as I thought through each sentence. It was a unique, fun reading experience. Arnold Schwarzenegger has attracted many critics, but whatever one might think of him, his unwavering drive in pursuit of his goals is inspiring. Should you pay $28 for it? No.

Reading a book takes time, immersion, and reflection. For anyone interested in learning more about “Be Useful” without investing this much money, I can recommend the Jocko Podcast episode with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As a little “Schmankerl”, I mentioned a stand-up comedy special earlier. Comedian Bill Burr created “You People Are All The Same” in which he describes the stupendous odds a person needed to overcome to achieve what Arnold has achieved in his lifetime. Viewer discretion is advised.