The Handwriting on the Wall
Mistrust is everywhere in the business world. Thanks to a real-time news cycle and (ahem) bloggers galore, our mind share is dominated by an outsized proportion of negative content (or at least lots of hot-takes). This newfound low-barrier-to-demagoguery leads us to caricature other people. The headlines read: “greedy shareholders are strangling companies as they gasp for air beneath the weight of massive loans, while middle class employees impoverished by cost of living and student debt work two jobs to make ends meet.”
Sure, there are impurities in the beautiful mess we call the economy, but are bad actors lurking behind every Allen Edmonds ad in the Wall Street journal? Are we just doing the best we can to make a living and balance our lives, or are we swindling each other?
Is this permanent? It’s scary. What if stakeholders in companies can’t trust each other anymore? If customers can’t trust suppliers and laborers their employers, how can we do business? In Trust in the Age of the Shareholder, we discuss possible ways to view the construct of corporate responsibility and trust.
Reading Thoughtfully
Ideas are like wild horses. You can observe their majestic physiques and flowing manes, but your gaze is not enough to bring them into submission. As with taming a horse, a process of understanding and respect must be undertaken to tame an idea.
In 2014, I decided I needed to be smarter. “Well we know that didn’t work,” you rightly quip. I set out to read one book about philosophy, theology, or classical literature every week. I succeeded in reading 48 books. Unfortunately, I can only call to memory maybe 5% of the ideas and I mastered none. I failed because I made it about quantity. I thought that by going out into the pasture to gaze at horses I would become a cowboy. It doesn’t work that way.
By examining a short story by one of my favorite writers, Jorge Luis Borgés, I discuss Taming Ideas as a Thoughtful and Independent Reader.
Writing Thoughtfully
Ever seen a bad stand-up comic? Nothing is more cringe-worthy in the moment. Your emotions bubble over in a swirl of pity and embarrassment as you eagerly await the end of the show. Bad writing isn’t that bad for the reader, since you can close the book any time. For the writer, however, it’s permanent proof of being a total dope and posterity is a perpetual booing audience. Remember that before the you send the email you hastily typed in a belch of rage.
The demons that haunt my writing include verbosity, excess use of the passive voice, and failure to establish a coherent narrative. Since starting Idea Gallery, I’ve become self consciously hungry for ways to improve. Here are three resources that have deeply inspired and assisted me, even though I still suck (you should h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶n̶ see my first draft of this email):
Memos & Emails: Creating a Writing Culture: Why Amazon Ditched PowerPoint by Tech Learnings
Blogging & Essays: Writing, Briefly by Paul Graham
Overall: On Writing Better: Sharpening Your Tools by Jason Zweig
Wisdom
Investing
Cool Chart
Romance
Thanks.