nicksykes

[nicksykes]

Artist Colony principles: Obligation to possibility- We feel an obligation to possibility in terms of what we can do for the world (our work) and ourselves (our development). We want to look for new solutions, make use of applicable known solutions, prevent any potential solutions from getting squashed, and be held accountable for delivering against the autonomy we are entrusted with. Key behaviors: Openly seeking context- To learn what is and what could be true. We are biased to transparency in all our work. Yet, if we encounter a situation where we don't have informstion needed to do our job better, we go get it! We are each obligated to seek the context and information we need to make the right decisions and to contribute context for others to benefit, directly and indirectly. Always we seek in a way that leaves room for honest discussion and in appropriate forms/forums! Stay tuned for more lessons from superstar teams and organizations. #performance #business #innovation #engineering #imagineering #team #teaming #mba #leadership #culture #creativityatwork https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzx3vb1F_xJ/?igshid=18bhib90di7rb

[nicksykes]

Complexity workers are artists. Whether working in code, aesthetics, construction, or negotiations; we are navigating uncertainty, generating possibilities, and striving to create outcomes that add to the richness of the future. We crave flow the same way traditional execs crave power. New-age leaders must possess a more nuanced grasp of creativity contexts and how to enable the conditions for exponential outcomes. Being principled trumps having position when working in intangibles. We have created a comprehensive primer for evolving any organization to be more Artist Colony-like and to unlock team performance. We fear that some advise could prove counterproductive if not grounded in real lessons from top performing engineers, investors, animators, athletes, etc. So we have synthesized notes from interviews conducted with imagineers in many fields, combined with science research, to come up with the top practices driving workplace creativity. Stay tuned. Also see our AlgoMBA Glossary term: Artist-Leader #leadership #engineering #creativityatwork #performance #artbusiness #mba #manandmachine #innovation #culture #business https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzv12cplRxb/?igshid=ugeu7sgtj0n0

[nicksykes]

Exponential returns, simple rules, and complexity workers: Our understanding of "superstar" effects is shifting management theory and talent-practices at leading companies. Research confirms that individual and team performance follow power law distributions, not normal distributions. This means that top performers are no longer 2-3x more productive. Google has estimated their top performers are 300x vs the average. AI and digital tech are pushing these trends further. Also, leading companies are reducing constraints, removing barriers, and increasing empowerment levels of their top talent. They are being more agile in teaming diverse employees. "Superstar" companies are becoming more like artist colonies! They are realizing that freeing their highly skilled, creative workers to navigate complex, challenging contexts with appropriate supports, internal & external networks, and timely feedback loops produces exponential returns for the org, team, and individual! Hybrid and complexity skills are increasingly required to realize maximum outcomes!!! #palantir #google #complexity #futureofwork #hybridskills #tech #superstar #raydalio #management #digitaltalent https://www.instagram.com/p/BzpBv_Gljys/?igshid=xug1tnd3iw0q

[nicksykes]

"As companies redesign workflows in consideration of digital and automation technologies, the resulting roles have accelerating job complexity. Frequently, multifaceted combinations of knowledge, skills, and competencies are necessary for the highest value opportunities. Terms such as ‘hybrid jobs’ and ‘superjobs’ are used to reference these fluid, compound positions. We believe less attention has been given to the worker and employee-centric considerations versus to job and organization re-designs. We believe both are important to achieve the talent revolutions necessary in the 21st-century. Thus, The New Every Worker is a concept which approaches these shifts from a people-first, talent-centric point of view." Check out our recent post on LinkedIn describing the changing requirements for high performing roles. Consider as you prepare for your individual development plans and think about career pathways. #upskilling #superjob #hybridskills #complexity #complexityskills #leadership #leadershiptraining #humanresources https://www.instagram.com/p/BzG9dPFFytj/?igshid=8lll0oor3lx0

[nicksykes]

Knowledge graphs are gaining importance in Artificial Intelligence and increasingly are a driver of business outcomes + customer experiences. As such we want to draw attention to the technology and provide a short glossary description for business leaders. Knowledge graphs are scalable data structures (ontologies) which enable a business to make more connections between information to improve the personalization of responses. Consider AirBnB; they want to answer your questions about 'mountains' in ways that anticipate whether you are interested in places, experiences, views, theater shows, etc. Knowledge graphs are essentially multi-dimensional databases that can draw inferences (new knowledge) from data to understand context, meaning, and linkages; enabling AirBnB (as an example) to more easily transverse its inventory, ratings, descriptions information to recommend a sushi restaurant in Soho when you search New York and a Theater when you search Japan. #learningnuggets #businesstechnology #hybridskills #stem #leadershiptraining #algorithmicthinking https://www.instagram.com/p/By25FLcFwtN/?igshid=1jc7c14joormz

[nicksykes]

As you start summer internships, AlgoMBA wants to bring your attention to organizational practices of top companies from Palo Alto to NYC to Austin to Shanghai. We explore ideas globally for optimal experiences locally. Deliberately Developmental Organizations (DDOs) are businesses which intentionally investment in employee growth, team community engagement, and a learning/problem solving culture. Its leaders recognize that focusing on these elements will ensure business performance. We call it a 'Practice over Performance' approach. Where individual development and team learning/discovery are the only sustainable competitive advantage. Leaders focus on the Who, Why, and How over the What. We will report the top practices of DDOs. Consider your summer as a two-way dialogue. By week 4 or 5, you should be able to articulate the learning, teaming, and discovery culture of the organization. Make sure it matches your ideal. And if not, challenge yourself to articulate & explore any "gaps" you sense. Have a continuous, lifelong learning bias! Enjoy the summer. #mba #internship #careers #culture #learning #growthmindset #becoming #competitiveadvantage #business #lifelonglearning https://www.instagram.com/p/ByC0CsYlb1f/?igshid=cn0afhxxvcta

[nicksykes]

The rise of thinking schools (cont) Within our academic and profession lives we have cycled through 3 generations of ideal thinkers. Unquestionably more are on the horizon. Sadly most schools, hiring processes, and career tracks don't reflect these migrations... Generation 1: [I-shaped profiles] This is the traditional deep specialist. Many people arguing against liberal arts education are proponents of technical specialization. Risks rearview mirror syndrome. Generation 2: [H-shaped profiles] This is the progression to being at the intersection of two specializations. Many of Steve Jobs innovations came from sitting at the intersection of historically separate traditions. Generations 3: [M-shaped profiles] This is a further progression to being a lifelong learner. With deep knowledge in multiple areas and many unique ways of integrating + applying your collage of insights. Which are you? More importantly, what resources and habits will enable you to continuously level up?! We hope to be one such resource along the way! #lifelonglearning #learningagility #criticalthinking #innovation #mba #futureofwork #andre3000 #agile https://www.instagram.com/p/BxxAWvUl3Kf/?igshid=10215k47hrrzj

[nicksykes]

Bridgewater Associates: Leadership Lessons and Super-mind Organizations

“Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Leaders should love organizations. I’m excited that more business dialogue acknowledges this point for reasons other than positional power or economic gain. An increased appreciation for the value that intentionally-designed, well-administered organizations bring to team member’s lives and personal development, to customer’s well-being and satisfaction, and to local stakeholder’s enablement; is evident and exciting.

I have been fortunate to be a part of organizations at the forefront of this mindset shift with leaders that are true originals. Leaders who have clearly given deep thought to the organizations they are building and to the internalized values they are embedding within their workplace communities. Below I attempt to unpack some of the practices that have enabled one such organization and its leaders to deliver both outstanding business and individual growth outcomes.

Of focus is Bridgewater Associates and Ray Dalio. While some engaged discussions have occurred, given the publication of multiple books and various media appearances, I question whether some of the magic gets lost via media translation. Personally, I found Bridgewater to be a uniquely high-performing learning organization at scale. Most importantly, they achieved this status via rigorous, intentional, and continuous designs by its leadership team. Bridgewater devised innovative ways to integrate their values, ideas, and actions within a dynamic, growing community.

First, some trends that materially impact our business world today and that particularly manifest at Bridgewater within the hyper-competitive alternative investment industry:

(a)  Insight is an increasing component of business outcomes – see Capitalism without Capital. As stated by Dalio, “in order to be successful you are betting against the consensus”. With increasing customer choice, higher stakeholder expectations, and blurred barriers between traditional industries - this is becoming true whether your product is investment returns, iPhones, or children’s movies. In addition, the dimensions of this "insight" continue to expand: cognitives, aesthetics, embodiments, purpose...; we are witnessing additional commercialization of human intangles;

(b)  Collaborative genius and collective Super-minds are recognized as the compounding competitive advantage. Leading to many observed “superstar effects” in our global economy;

(c) Communities and affective incentives (“new alphas”) are key to engagement and to accreting discretionary efforts from highly skilled, highly motivated knowledge workers. New alphas, along with technological enablement, are the ingredients to Super-minds.

These trends require a different type of organization and a different type of leader. I believe Ray Dalio is a demonstrated member of this new class. Below are 7 brief descriptions of habits and practices that I witnessed Dalio intentionally displaying and embedding within Bridgewater’s leadership DNA. Resulting in an interesting case study of an innovation machine at scale.

1.    A Cognitive Apprenticeship:

“Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling from others.” ― Albert Bandura

Somewhat akin to a traditional apprenticeship of observing a master demonstrate, coach, and provide scaffolding for the acquisition of new skills and talents; Dalio, and Bridgewater, through the application of radical transparency unlock hidden accelerants for adult learning and higher-order skills attainment. At Bridgewater, you are asked to ‘expose your thinking.’ Importantly, you are surrounded by others who are doing the same, including the highest-level leaders. Through the communal practices of articulation, reflection, and exploration of abstract, complex, integrative knowledge spaces; you essentially get a masterclass from one of the best. This drives personal growth and real-time, on-the-job leadership development.

In some ways, Bridgewater is one big cognitive apprenticeship across investment, technology, and management thinking. You are learning these domains while being exposed to methods of innovation, discovery, and knowledge creation which are not covered in any textbook or classroom. You can turn on your TV screen (or iPad) and see multidimensional thinking in practice which awakens you to new and different modes of processing experience.

2.    Reflections-in-Action:

“We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience.” ― John Dewey

Reflections-in-action continues the theme of enabling adult learning and development, which is a core feature of organizations that intentionally align business, team, and community goals. At Bridgewater, the daily log is essentially an institutionalized work journaling exercise. As acknowledged by many studies of top performers, journaling is one key to compounding 10 years of experiences versus experiencing 1 year, 10 times.

Journaling and real-time reflections (both individual and collective) enable deeper work and deeper learning. These practices serve as internalization tools which transform Bridgewater’s ideas into our ideas; then into my ideas. The degrees of understanding, ownership, and expansion of insights, via continuous ‘ah-ha’ moments, are unmatched. You essentially have an entire organization applying action-inquiry methods to daily interactions. 

3.    Analogies and Near/Far Transfers:

“Because our educational system is hung up on precision, the art of being good at approximations is insufficiently valued. This impedes conceptual thinking.” ― Ray Dalio, Principles: Life and Work

“Since my world picture approximates reality only crudely, I cannot aspire to optimize anything; at most, I can aim at satisficing. Searching for the best can only dissipate scarce cognitive resources; the best is the enemy of the good.” – Herbert Simon

“Intuition is nothing more and nothing less than recognition.” ― Herbert Simon

The first two practices touch on deepening learning and development. This practice continues that focus while introducing an increased emphasis on collaboration across silos by achieving near-far transfers. By studying polymaths, cognitive scientists have proven that the use of analogies and metaphors enable their ability to understand and integrate content across multiple knowledge domains. They navigate between the precision within a domain and the fuzziness across domains to construct knowledge schemas which allow them to recognize patterns and similarities where others do not.

How does this relate to high-performing organizations?

It has been acknowledged by business leaders that the major impediments to artificial intelligence transformation are internal inertia and team/culture impediments. Barriers of understanding create barriers to collaboration. AI transformation is a collective exercise requiring new thinking from each participant and their respective functions.

Through the meticulous and intentional use of abstractions, objects, scaffoldings, and principles; Dalio enables an expanding group of individuals with different backgrounds and specialized knowledge to see similar constructs and to speak with common terms. By navigating communication between the precise and the fuzzy, Bridgewater has teams of scientists, technologists, investors, strategists, and designers problem solving together. Enabling team members to transfer knowledge from one area to a totally different area (a ‘far’ transfer) which fills in a critical missing piece to integrative excellence.

Not surprisingly, Bridgewater is at the frontier of using AI to transform investment, business, and organizational processes; expanding its collective Super-mind advantages.

4.    Developing Bilinguals and Richer Possibilities:

“If you can define the problem differently than everybody else in the industry, you can generate alternatives that others aren’t thinking about.” ― Roger Martin ― Opposable Mind

By embracing cognitive diversity and enabling groups to coalesce into Super-minds with common symbols and constructs; Bridgewater generates not only more ideas but different ideas. A transformation occurs. Science and business discussions become scientific commercial discussions with all participants on equal footing. This integration or higher order meshing increases the possibility space. This enables increasing insights as components of output. In Bridgewater’s case, this manifests via superior investment returns and differentiated organizational design concepts (including their recent Operations co-development arrangement with Genpact).

The benefits to Bridgewater team members are at least twofold. First, by understanding thinking differences, Bridgewater can find ideal roles for team members to exercise their superpowers. Too frequently other organizations take the path of firing or not hiring someone because they do not fit a traditional template. It has been shown that the right job fit has huge impacts on happiness, well-being, and performance. Second, by valuing interdisciplinary integration, Bridgewater offers developmental and learning opportunities to grow in knowledge and functional areas that would be more difficult in other organizations.

The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing was created as “the world needs more Bilinguals”. Bridgewater illustrates the potential that is latent and available to be unlocked. 

5.    Experimentation and Generativeness:

“the single most powerful pattern I have noticed is that successful people find value in unexpected places, and they do this by thinking about business from first principles instead of formulas.” ― Peter Thiel, Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future

I hope these are starting to blend together. As seamless integration may be the major idea at play. Next, are practices that enhance execution, experimentation, and innovation. The appreciation of difference, along with the creation of shared understanding, enables what is called “psychological safety”. Team members become more comfortable disagreeing or exposing original thoughts. Dalio, as a leader, further contributes to this by openly talking about his personal failures and limitations. Many of the principles are related to this objective.

Yet, I believe the true synergy comes when you combine safety and vulnerability, plus common language and collective engagement, along with an unmatched curiosity and commitment to generativeness (trying new things and being willing to fail). For example, Bridgewater has developed terms like “shaper” and “idea generator” to emphasize that they are in an innovation and insights creation business. Their leadership team has created an environment and the infrastructure for experimentation and rapid prototyping. Their discovery-driven operating models always capture learning from failures and keep moving forward. Leading from the top, senior executives conduct pre- and post-mortems that team members can access, learn from, and be encouraged by. 

6.    Holisms and Wisdom:

“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.” ― Peter Drucker

Leadership development practitioners created the term ‘vertical development’ to reference an expanding category of capacities and competencies needed for 21st-century leadership. Business schools are using the framework 'Be-Know-Do' to re-design curriculum. Vertical development focuses on the ‘Be’ part. As Dalio would say in management meetings, “…it all comes from a place…”.

By putting unusual emphasis on ‘being’ or the essence from which machines, practices, and outcomes manifest; Dalio has demystified and invited Bridgewater leadership to think more about purpose and creating meaningful experiences with others.

Tactically, this is supported by offering transcendental meditation sessions for team members and by encouraging mindfulness practices (among other things). More important, is on a daily basis seeing wisdom-in-practice and the willingness to make principled, long-term oriented decisions over short-term opportunism.

In some ways, this is related to the Level 5 leader from Jim Collins. The meta-thinking and being exhibited by Dalio can relate to several observations made by adult development researcher Aliki Nicolaides. She has illustrated that cultivating a relationship with ambiguity (or “not knowing”) is a key differentiator of transformational leaders. Engaging ambiguity, not as something to avoid, but as a constant companion, a teacher, and a coach; is a way to expand your capacity to influence others and to transform societal institutions. At Bridgewater, via Dalio, this is modeled and encouraged both explicitly and implicitly.

Though all are related, what separates this one from "bilinguals" is a healthy dose of affective thinking. This is about becoming, as much as problem-solving, by being willing to look deep within.

7.    Thinking across Time:

“Facts are rarely self-explanatory; their significance, analysis, and interpretation—depend on context and relevance.” – Dr. Henry Kissinger

“No two men living in the same time live in the same time.” ― Dr. Elliott Jaques

At Bridgewater, you see frontier ideas both conceived and put into practice. As the original quote from Goethe references, this is incredibly difficult to achieve. It requires a high degree of complexity. Thinking across time is another practice exhibited by Dalio which encourages the development of more nuanced understanding and more robust judgment.

Harvard Business School (via Harvard Law School) is recognized as a first-mover in the use of case studies for leadership education. Education for Judgment is a book where HBS professors talk about the strategies, approaches, and challenges of creating real-world contexts for teaching leadership agility. Foundational is openness to reality and acknowledgment of your limitations. By thinking across time, you realize you are one small iota and remain open to learning from the lived experiences of others, including those from other ages and spheres.

In some ways, this brings the practices full circle, as the idea of standing on the shoulders of giants is clear in Bridgewater’s history, methods, and successes.

One of Dalio's stated goals of publishing The Principles was to pass on observations so that others could benefit. My hope is that by contributing to this discussion we can lead to a wider awareness and a larger uptake of these win/win/win practices across organizations.

The practices are consistent with and integrated across knowledge domains including cognitive psychology, adult development, neuroscience, social psychology, sociology, anthropology, and others. The whole-brained individual wants to work in whole-brained organizations. Dalio and Bridgewater recognized this and implemented related practices at scale. To capitalize on similar opportunities, we need to develop leaders who can facilitate and enable these shifts across our organizations. When we look closely similar stories are told at places like Pixar, Apple, Spotify, and Salesforce. Ed Catmull openly expresses his love for Pixar, the organization, and the intentional designs he brought to its development. Not surprising, Pixar would appear on any shortlist of Super-mind enterprises and has the consistent, long-term results to support its case. Future-forward roadmaps are emerging, the challenge is ours to capitalize on them!

Regards,

Nick Sykes

[nicksykes]

Your Life Partner (continued w/ a snippet)

First, lets take a step back and consider what composes an enterprise. The terms I use are physical capital, financial capital and human capital. One obvious path is to argue that in the knowledge economy, physical and financial capital are decreasing in relevance (it costs much less to start a company, seed capital is abundant (interest rates are 0%), and working with bits is much easier than working with potash deposits). I somewhat agree with that path. Yet, it is much more interesting to zero in on the initial spark that manifests an enterprise and to isolate that case from others. In the spark phase, perception, imagination and risk awareness rule supreme. And until Big Blue starts a company, these are all activities that only humans can do. 

So the question becomes have these skills/abilities increased in value versus history? The answer is an obvious yes, and I would argue that the increase in value is exponential. The reason why is that the world is operating in a heightened state of uncertainty. I started this post mentioning the tectonic shifts that are taking place. In this state, more activities become 0-1 versus 1-N (stealing Peter Thiel's terms). The spoils go to those who can navigate the fog of uncertainty.

[You may argue that this has always been the environment that startups operate in; and you would be right. Yet, the degree of this environment and the fact that all enterprises are now in this environment and are fighting for the limited supply of employees who can cut through the fog, changes the dynamic even for startup companies.]

Thus for an enterprise, we have to consider how to get more of these skills/abilities from our human capital to enable our companies to effectively navigate uncertainty. "Getting more" meaning both at a higher level and for a longer duration. Both of these are important as the nature of the problems we face has changed. This is illustrated by the age and composition of Nobel Prize winners. The days of a single scientist in a single discipline winning this award from a flash insight are over. Now it takes committees of cross-functional specialists working through much more complexity over longer periods of time to break new intellectual ground. If you note, much more of your efforts at the office are cross-function and free flowing (pop-up team and project based). 

If all of these new realities are digested in parallel, the need for better ways of identifying and engaging our human capital becomes apparent. So now, the question becomes how to do that...

(to be continued) 

[nicksykes]

Your Life Partner

I recently got married so I figured this was a fitting title to this post.

This post will be materially shorter than my first (this is what I thought before I sat down and started typing), as I am finding the actual typing portion of keeping a blog the least enjoyable. I will experiment with different types of entries. Rhetorical questions or a brief Q&A session (with myself). The Twitter-world really does make the long-form world feel obsolete (from the production side more than the consumption side). Does it make sustained, deep thought harder to come by?

Actually, as I am typing this, I have decided to change this to a Q&A session. I will probably post portions of this Q&A discussion over the next couple days/weeks.

Q- Are there new and interesting trends in the world?

A- Countless! What I have noticed is that its much more fun to find an underlying thread across multiple themes, then try to turn that thread into something practical.

For example, I believe we have unleashed forces that are rippling through society (and will continue for the duration of our lifetimes) in interesting ways. Tectonic shifts have happened over the last generation and the full impact of those changes will only come into view over time. The fall of the Berlin Wall, The opening of China, The fall of the Soviet Union, The Internet/communication revolution, The end of lifetime employment (and defined benefit pensions), The possible transition from American Supremacy to a new Multi-Polar world, The aging of the baby boomers, The Genome project, countless, countless things. 

Say what you like about American politics (developed world socialism) or the Communist State in China, there is an unmistakable, accelerating transition of power/influence to the individual (see the Arab Spring). In a capitalist society (which is also a trend that continues irrespective of the current day news headlines), this manifests in more efficient markets. This is arguable but increased individual choice will lead to more winners/losers, euphoria, accelerating changes/whipsaws, etc. We are witnessing this today in the global labor markets. (related to more market phenomena across the world is the question of the invisible hand; this question increases in importance in the future and explains much of the debate you will witness during the coming election season)

So this finally gets me to the question I am toying with. Given the changes in our society, many of which we are not fully prepared for, what is the role of business in helping digest these shifts? More narrowly, what responsibilities do businesses have to employees? More specifically, what kind of culture (social contract) should businesses offer employees to attract and retain real stars? Finally, do startups put enough emphasis on this question; does it move the needle in determining startup company success/failure (focusing in on Millennials/Gen Y)?

Q- Just so I understand, you are picking sides between the Milton Friedman's of the world and the Corporate Social Responsibility advocates?

A- At some level that could possibly be true (though less black and white), but not necessarily my primary aim. 

I think it is really interesting to watch where private enterprise is taking a more prominent role in our lives. In some places it may be concerning like United Citizens and campaign finances. In others it is deeply needed like managing municipalities and infrastructure investments (see California municipal bankruptcies; and The Bloomberg Foundation). Its an interesting thought exercise to compare the impact of the Gates Foundation versus the World Health Organization (outside the scope here). 

The question becomes are we in a post-nation state world and what should that world look like? Compare the reach and influence of Exxon Mobil, Wal Mart, Apple (silicon valley in general) to governments. An innovation in northern California may influence education practices more than any policy in Washington (see Khan Academy). (additionally, Mickey Mouse recently performed in North Korea; who has more influence on Western perception, Disney or Hillary Clinton... I'm being a little extreme, I know...)

But again, this is not the aim of my post. I am interested in the more specific topic of exploring startup values and cultures. I believe the general attitude is too hands off on this topic, while this topic plays a meaningful role in the ultimate success/failure of the enterprise (even at the startup stage). For today's rockstar Millennials, how much weight do company values receive versus company mission or a specific job function or compensation?

What would a company as life partner look like? Employees no longer stay at a firm for life, so how much should a company invest in developing employees? If the state provides universal health care, what responsibility do businesses have to encourage healthy lifestyles? How far to go in encouraging work/life balance or encouraging moonlighting projects or personal interests? There are endless questions. Consider that +100 years ago, the apprenticeship model existed, where companies invested heavily in the education and growth of new employees.

I think one outcome of a more efficient labor market (mentioned above) is that there is/will continue to be a war for the top 1% of talent. So the answers to these questions increase in importance for companies chasing those individuals. 

I obviously take the long route to arrive at these narrower questions. That is to fully explore the issues before reaching a conclusion or recommending course of action. Just think if the news did this? Or Twitter feeds...

Q- Got it. So how would a company that operates as a life partner actually function? And what would be the incremental gain over current practices?

A- Happy you asked...

(to be continued...)

[nicksykes]

Authenticity

I started this blog to capture my thoughts on various topics in real time. An overemphasis on wanting to write extended entries defeated my interest in getting my thoughts out there (in real time). I guess Eric Ries would say, “release early and often.” Free life lesson, output manifests more growth than contemplation alone. Yet, output followed by contemplation increases that amount exponentially. This is the first of a series of short essays. As noted, your feedback is always welcome. Authenticity: Currently living in Silicon Valley, I repetitively find elements of appreciation for the genius of Steve Jobs. The list of imitable attributes (virtues) of Steve jobs is endless. His biography is a bestseller. When I see things like this, I always wonder whether the right message is being taken away. What would a large gap between the intended takeaways (What Would Jobs Do) and the actual takeaways say about us? In my opinion, Steve Jobs greatest attribute was his authenticity. He didn’t just do a thing, it came from a place. And across all of his activities (Apple, Next, Pixar, etc.), that place stayed consistent (though the depth of that place evolved as his own experience and wisdom increased). His biography illustrates the depth of his convictions and the sacrifices they inflicted. Yet, I question whether the consensus takeaway is that the essence of you should determine your ultimate path. That authenticity actually manifests the extraordinary outcomes that we all desire (if you need more convincing on this read the stories of Ray Dalio, Jack Dorsey, Ali – oddly all of them were students of Eastern Philosophies). I fear that an overemphasis on chronicling the specific events of his life or the sensationalized circumstances of specific encounters or a focus on specific skills and decisions made, blinds many to the most powerful message.

[

Passage from Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement speech;

Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

]

Work to understand your essence more than the new design fad. I believe there are macro trends that will make this more important in the future. It is no coincidence that design, behavioral finance, insights in brain functions, etc. are occurring around the same time. This will probably be discussed in another blog post. The increased prominence of women in leadership ranks couldn't come at a better time. 

In this day and age, people love to follow directions/formulas. This may sound odd in a world that repetitively applauds the ingenuity of innovators in Silicon Valley and as individual self-expression becomes more mainstream and visible. But contrast that with the ascendance of conceptual frameworks like the Lean Startup. It’s most marketable attribute is that it offers tangible instructions on immediate next steps. It doesn’t require mental heavy lifting to digest. Telling someone What to think versus How to think is short-term beneficial while being long-term harmful. Yet, thinking for yourself can be pretty tiring. Yet, thinking for yourself is required to be fully authentic. How do you feel or notice authenticity? I use three characteristics to measure: Degree - Consistency (integrity) - Natural-ness (smell test) of the action(s) in question. When an activity is aligned with your “true north” you do it to the Nth degree (the level of insight acquired is beyond what others could imagine), you squeeze out all inconsistencies and fully explore all paradoxes, and you do all of this without the need of external reinforcements as it is natural.

[Side thought (to be explored in a subsequent post; sorry for the tangential thought but I have to note ideas as they come to me) - The march towards authenticity is done quicker in external markets (companies/products) versus internal markets (companies/employees & cultures). The forces of competition push to the right place faster. Yet, noticing this distinction and direction, foreshadows what is coming (thus, see my next posts on company cultures to follow up on this thought). Older books always talk about the absolutes and truths versus newer books talk about narrow details and steps. I believe Focus as a mental skill (sitting with ambiguity and intellectual tension yields deeper insights than skimming the surface) has decreased with immediate access to tips and fads. Yet, knowing when and where such deep contemplation (truths) is appropriate is the difference between geniuses like Jobs and others like Bobby FIscher. ] What should be taken from the great innovations coming out of Silicon Valley today? What is the great promise of the spread of the Silicon Valley ethos across the world? My hope is that it is illustrative of a way of being. Authenticity, independent thinking, not entertaining dogma, etc. Versus it being another formula to follow (somewhat relates to Peter Thiel’s thoughts on the slowdown in innovation). Following formulas can get you to the wrong place. When people stop thinking for themselves ((which is so easy to do)) bad things happen. (**I think this fact can be lost because of macro trends. When the trend is your friend, independent thinking may pay little, and could cost you. The herd wins in the short term. But watch when the next inflection point comes. Does the emperor have clothes on?**) This all leads me to my major conceptual conflict. Will the internet and the wide and efficient flow of information defeat or perpetuate this trend (follow the leader versus authentic, independent thinking)? The internet offers the greatest opportunity for authentic self expression. Yet it also offers easy access to tips, tricks and static formulas. As someone who has worked on Wall Street, I know that through human history nothing persists like mindless tip following (read Jesse Livermore). Forcing a man to think for himself is no easy thing to do.  My hope is that via seamless access to others (and diverse opinions) and generational demographic changes the world will move to one where we strive to stand for something versus to follow instructures. At some level, this is the story of the founding of the United States. Have the essence of these lessons been forgotten? Replaced by detailed tidbits of facts? Am I overreacting to what will allows be natural human tendencies to copycat versus think independently, deeply and with great self-awareness? How can we work to minimize this habit/trend (by exposing it, if it exists, and exploring it)? The internet offers the gift and the curse– a double edged sword ((sound bites, narrow) versus (transparency, authentic expression)). PS - One of my favorite times in history are the 50 years plus and minus surrounding the American Revolution. Given the magnitude of change taking place in the minds of the people, public debates (usually in the form of eloquent debates and dialectic arguments - for example Alexander Hamilton published numerous installments, sometimes anonymously) increased in frequency. Some say that these debates serve to chronicle the discussions of the day. I think that is a materially incomplete thought. I believe these debates are actually the reason for the eventual course of the changes. As we are in the midst of great changes (political, geopolitical, economic, technological, cultural, even Mother Nature!, etc.), I believe the internet and increased transparency offers the chance to recreate that medium of quality discourse. My fear is that it is not happening. While I have opinions that may explain this, my open question to you is why? Also, I have views about the implications of this gap, if it exists, but would be much more interested in yours. **As this is my first installment the form and structure of my writing will improve with practice. I only recently started back reading the New Yorker, too many years of Sports Illustrated “rust” that I must shake off. Yet, some shortcomings are purposeful. I didn’t fully explore the other side of the argument, primarily for length/time considerations. I will better balance my interest in doing this, with the myriad other considerations that you unearth, going forward. And sorry for typos, they are the result of rushing through.

[nicksykes]

Still gathering my thoughts...

but here's an interesting quote in the meantime

       THE MAN IN THE ARENA                                           Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic"                                           delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910                                            download PDF of complete speech 

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html 

[nicksykes]

This blog is going to be my exploration of how the world works and particular subjects that interest me through time. I am starting with this picture as this is the guy who showed me that it is possible to achieve a degree of understanding that most believe is fantasy.