My Content List #10, Thurs 8/22
Opening Rant: On Diversity of Thought
This is perhaps too big/too fraught a topic to take on, even if I focus on but a bite-sized morsel; nonetheless I’ll give it a shot.
I recently came across an article about why Europeans are so much happier than Americans (linked below) that was a great peek into the contributory socioeconomic differences between us and those across the pond. I was struck, in particular, by the stark contrast in day-to-day human interaction customs:
“I’ve come to see that Europeans have much — much — more human contact than Americans do. They are much less isolated — but they are also able to be together not just more, but in better ways. The contact that they have with one another is fundamentally different, of a far richer and and more substantial and fundamental kind, too. Let me explain.
When I get on an elevator in Paris, with perfect strangers, everybody says hello and goodbye. It’d be rude not to. Americans stare blankly at the doors. It’d be rude not to. In Barcelona, when you’re introduced to someone, you greet them with hugs and kisses. Old friends embrace for a long moment — even if they’ve just seen another yesterday. In America, we give each other a polite handshake — if that. It’s not just “warm cultures”, as the sociologists say: even in staid Germany or fusty Holland or cold Scandinavia, the American stereotype is wrong: far from being unfeeling, long, passionate, sophisticated discussions and interactions will ensue at the drop of a hat.” [emph. added]
I think it’s clear that those are the type of customs that, on the margin (because — as I’ve said before — life’s made on the margin), can lead to (1) sweeping cultural differences in relative empathy on the national level and (2) an improvement in one’s ability to confront a problem from another’s viewpoint.
Separately, in a recent NPR podcast about how to break the rules, this kernel of an idea regarding diversity in thought again surfaced. Francesca Gino, a behavioral economics professor at HBS, discussed that those who are most likely to “disrupt” any given field in a positive, lasting way are neither total masters nor total amateurs in their given domain — rather, they’re likely somewhere “in between.” What this in-betweener phenomenon indicates (and I’m paraphrasing roughly) is that the individual — be it Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, etc. — isn’t deeply entrenched by the given field’s processes/protocols (a thought style that comes with years of same-domain experience, i.e. a proxy for mastery), nor are they such rookies that they’re entrenched in thought by their own inexperience. That happy medium — of a solidified understanding coupled with an un-entrenched sense of the exact process to achieve a desired goal — is the place where disruptive creativity can flourish. In this situation, I can’t help but think of my favorite schematic: the Venn diagram.
These interrelated tidbits have implications in organizational settings— be they political (i.e. congress), professional (i.e. an investment committee), or any setting where groupthink matters. Take an investment committee: if all ranks on the team can offer their perspectives about whether a deal is worth pursuing, the discussion will be far more comprehensive in scope (and thus more productive) than if discussed by just the senior partners who tend to be more formulaic — perhaps detrimentally so — in their assessments. Further, if a team is comprised homogeneously (i.e. all white males who have spent their careers in finance, which happens), even if they are different ages, the same formulaic(/detrimental) groupthink tends to occur.
So how does a firm (or group or team) ensure that they’re considering all factors in the infinite latticework of a critical decision? Import a bunch of Europeans who, by virtue of their daily collisions with others of different classes/mindsets/ambitions, are better able to empathize? Maybe… We’re approaching the real deep waters of this topic — whether diversity in socioeconomic background is truly a good proxy for diversity in thought. Ostensibly the answer is yes, but that approach (especially if “forced”) has its drawbacks. And I’ll leave it at that. Just some food for thought.
After all, there’s a reason why I call this an opening “rant”; it tends to be quite stream-of-consciousness.
Got something to contribute? Think my reasoning is flawed? Drop me a note; I’d love to hear from you!
Follow me @James R. Shecter. Or don’t.
My Content List #10, Thurs 8/22
Articles
Why Are Europeans (So Much) Happier Than Americans? | umair haque
- Another phenomenal quote from this piece:
- “What do we Americans do? We are always working. Working away in solitude. Not just on our jobs. But at our lives. We are always “working out.” We are always getting thinner, more ripped, prettier, richer, more popular, more famous. We’re always and forever working and working away, with a grim, determined grin. Our fun is work, our relationships our work, dating is work, friendship is “friending”…and then there’s “real work”. Life itself has become a kind of capitalist project for us, endless labour to produce the perfect self — and that way stand atop everyone else. But what’s the point? We’re not a nation of happy people. Happiness as a hyperindividualistic quest to become the perfect, prettiest, richest, uberperson hasn’t worked, self-evidently. Yet we are not content — ever — just to be. You probably read that and wondered what the hell I meant. “Just to be?”
Stop Being Positive and Just Cultivate Neutrality For Existential Cool | QZ
What’s the Deal With That Inverted Yield Curve? A Sports Analogy Might Help | NYTimes
- This is by far the best metaphor for understanding the importance of the yield curve; highly recommend if you’re perplexed by (1) what it is and (2) why the hell people care
What Does Willpower Look Like in the Brain? | Erman Misirlisoy, PhD / Elemental
Beware of Employees Who Are Very Engaged in Their Work | WS
When Lawmakers Try to Ban Assault Weapons, Gunmakers Adapt | NYTimes
- NYTimes’ 21st-century journalism at its finest; a intriguing (yet somewhat disturbing) series of schematics showing how certain firearm mechanics work and how manufacturers find ways to work around bans of particular components
How News About Crime Warps Your Brain | Angela Lashbrook / OneZero
How Phones Made the World Your Office, Like It or Not | NYTimes
A Brief History of Jack Ma’s Ant Financial — the $150B Unicorn | Hackernoon
On the Defensibility of Cannabis Retail | PotStockz
What Makes People Charismatic, and How You Can Be, Too | NYTimes
Recycling Is in Crisis. Could These Innovations Be the Answer? | NYTimes
What Do Rally Playlists Say About The Candidate? | NYTimes
How the Invention of Spreadsheet Software Unleashed Wall Street on the World | Gizmodo
- Yet as complicated as they can seem (especially as one ventures into all sorts of abstruse formulae, or worse, balance sheet modeling), my CS friends are quick to remind me that spreadsheets are child’s play compared to the programs in which they spend their days
GDPArrrrr: Using Privacy Laws to Steal Identities | James Pavur (Oxford University)
The CEOs Who Don’t Feel Successful | BBC
- Imposter syndrome is a real thing, and it appears the phenomenon can persist even if you’ve “faked it till you made it” to the c-suite
These companies are trying to predict what climate change will do to real estate investments | CNBC
AI Startup Boom Raises Questions of Exaggerated Tech Savvy | WSJ
Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech | Wired
Internship tips from an intern who became an owner and CEO | SFGate
- Shoutout to Kerem Ozmen and his father’s inspiring story
This Is the Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry | Outside
The WeWork IPO | Ben Thompson/Stratechery
Résumés Are Starting to Look Like Instagram — and Sometimes Even Tinder | WSJ
Why You Should Stop Trying to Be Happy at Work | HBR
There Is a Hit-by-Pitch Epidemic in Baseball | WSJ
Virtual reality ‘Star Wars’ experiences move into malls as clothing stores go dark | CNBC
Sports Cars, Psychopaths, and Testosterone: Inside the New Frontier of Fund Manager Research | Institutional Investor
The Rise of Hand-Me-Down Inc. | WSJ
‘Adult Recess’ Is Booming, Because Being a Grown-Up Is Hard | WSJ
- This makes me happy; I still yearn for sports and other games on a daily basis.
- In related news, a friend recently attended a wedding somewhere in upstate NY at a former overnight camp that has been converted into an event venue — full weekend affair with plenty of activities/sports(/drinking) etc; sounds so much more fun than a typical ceremony!
How Trump and Xi Can Make America and China Poor Again | Tom Friedman / NYTimes
To Change the Way You Think, Change the Way You See | HBR
To Cheat and Lie in L.A.: How the College-Admissions Scandal Ensnared the Richest Families in Southern California | VanityFair
Series A(ggregate) | TechCrunch
21 charts showing current trends in US venture capital | PitchBook
The Health Risks of Evening Stress | Markham Heid / Elemental
Unanswered Questions Leave Californians Worried About Fire Season | NPR
Podcasts
Josh Wolfe Discusses Innovative Investments | Bloomberg’s Masters in Business
- I’m awe-struck Josh Wolfe and his team at Lux Capital. They embody the most literal meaning of “investing in the future.” For reference, see:
- (Video) The Magic of Your Mind; CTRL-labs’ Neural Interface Unlocks Human Potential
What American CEOs are Worried About | The Daily by NYTimes
You 2.0: Rebel with a Cause | NPR’s Hidden Brain
You 2.0: Our Better Nature | NPR’s Hidden Brain
You 2.0: Tunnel Vision | NPR’s Hidden Brain
Joe McLean — How to Be a Pro’s Pro | Invest Like the Best
- Great philosophies from McLean, who manages investments for celebs and athletes. My favorite quote, when asked how he pitches prospective clients not with glitz and glam but with a simple thought experiment, is this: “Imagine, you’re two years into your career, and the rookies all walk into the locker room trying to figure out what t
How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War | Freakonomics
Jane McGonigal — How Games Make Life Better | Invest Like the Best
Shopify: Tobias Lutke | NPR’s How I Built This
Moonshot: How Apollo Launched the Digital Revolution | WSJ’s The Future of Everything
