Sloppy Yeses, the Value of Endurance, and Other Highlights From Reading in 2022 (Pt 1)
Some of what I've learned from the books I've read thus far this year
Happy Sunday, friends š³
Last week, I mentioned our family was in Breckenridge hunting a troll. Iām excited to say we were successful (proof!). In other news, we recently kicked off a kitchen remodel so Iām perfecting my Instapot-in-the-garage cooking skills. Recipe recommendations welcome!
Over at Ness, weāre curious - what you would buy if you had $1,000 to spend on your health? We kicked off a new series this week with some answers to that very question, but weād love to know what you think.
In the newsletter, weāre taking a detour this week. Instead of talking about customers directly, Iām going to share some of my main lessons learned from reading thus far this year. I was planning to share a major recap at the end of the year, but Iāve realized it would be infinitely more digestible (and easier to curate) broken out in chunks.
Let me know what you think and enjoy the week ahead. Next week, Iāll be back to talk about quality in Support.
Cheers,
Jeremey
Thanks for being a part of this newsletter. Every Sunday evening, I send a note about solving problems and helping customers. Please say hi - jeremeylduvall@gmail.com.
What Iāve Learned From Books in 2022 (Pt 1)
Endurance is underrated.
My favorite read of the year thus far has been The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. Amidst many highlights, this is perhaps my favorite:
The ability to stick around for a long time, without wiping out or being forced to give up, is what makes the biggest difference.
We celebrate the flashy actions, the heroic moments, but endurance, the ability to survive for a long time and hold true to values, is severely underrated. Housel quotes Jeff Bezos in relation to this concept. Amazon is constantly making bets and experimenting, but they never make ābet-the-company bets.ā
Antifragility and cushion in areas of your business allow you to constantly experiment over the long term.
Behavior is often a symptom of incentives.
In American Sickness, Elisabeth Rosenthal details how the US healthcare system evolved to where it is today with all of its triumphs and pitfalls. One easy explanation for the latter is to imagine a system full of greedy cronies hellbent on wreaking havoc. There might be many of those, but reading through the history, it seems misaligned incentives are a critical piece.
From the book:
In fact, history shows that once a procedure is covered by insurance, its sticker price generally goes up because patients are largely insulated from the cost.
I, as a patient with no real bargaining power, have no clear incentive or avenue to demand a lower cost when my insurance is footing the bill. On the insurance side, pieces of the Affordable Care Act required health insurance companies to spend 80%-85% of Premiums on patient care. So, these companies have a āperverse incentiveā to tolerate and pay for these higher prices.
It should be no real surprise that procedures in the US rarely have a true āsticker price.ā Incentives across the board broadly enable this behavior despite best intentions.
(This is an area Iām still learning about heavily! If you have thoughts on the specifics, hit reply. I want to hear them! Please tell me where Iām wrong.)
Donāt give āSloppy Yesesā.
I had a surprising amount of highlights from a book with such a clickbait title - The Art of Being Indispensable at Work. Bruce Tulgan described the idea of āsloppy yesesā - loose commitments to an undefined task with no date, deadlines, or accountability.
A great yes, on the other hand includes āa clear sequence, timing, and ownership of all the next steps.ā A key to avoid overcommitment is to be judicious with your yeses.
Saying ānoā is also a skill. You can give a great ānoā or ānot yetā without ruining a relationship at work. Great noes include things like a clear rational and alternative options.
If the next steps are unclear, just try to avoid āstupidityā.
In The Great Mental Models Vol 1, Shane Parrish describes the idea of inversion:
Instead of aiming directly for your goal, think deeply about what you want to avoid and then see what options are left over.
Itās a mental model popularized by Charlie Munger - itās often easiest to solve problems by working backwards.
For example, letās say youāre a first-time manager, and you have no idea how to lead a team. Well, you could start by listing all of the things you donāt want to happen. You donāt want team members to go a week without meeting you 1:1. You donāt want team members in the dark about how the company is performing. You donāt your team being surprised in performance reviews.
Instead of daydreaming about what the best managers do, take tiny steps backwards from what the worst ones do.
It takes courage to pursue new ideas, regardless of how just and noble the pursuit.
I first was reminded of this idea when reading First Principles. The initial signing of the Declaration of Independence - the founding document of our country - was described as a moment of āSilence and Gloom.ā Not excitement. Not elation. Not celebration. The signers truly believed in the ideas they were putting forth, but these ideas also represented a stark departure from the old and into the new. Thatās not easy.
I was subsequently reminded of this many times in Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday. Pat Tillman leaving the NFL to join the Army Rangers. Florence Nightingale becoming a nurse against the wishes of everyone around her. Charles de Gaulle choosing to rally his country of France instead of succumbing to Hitler. Countless examples from Martin Luther King Jr. in his fight for civil rights.
Ideas - no matter how noble and great - need courage to drive execution.
āYou know sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.ā