Happy Saturday! Here is your weekly dose of learning, techno-optimism, startup thoughts and ways to improve the world.
Critical Chain. The final installment in my Theory of Constraints mini-series is on project management. Years ago I read The Goal. I got excited, yet struggled to apply it to project-based work. The book Critical Chain Project Management explains the theory. It makes so much sense. Now, if only I could talk to someone who has implemented it.
So Many People. So Much History. I’m listening to a lecture series on the empires of the Steppes. I’m having the same thought I did with the lectures on world languages. There are so many whole empires and whole languages that I’ve never heard of. Much less the vastness of individual people in those cultures. Sure, I knew this in a more abstract way but hearing name after name and then the details of them, it sinks in. What does it mean for how to live day to day?
The Art of Learning. A loyal reader suggested reading the Art of Learning on creativity. I’m not sure how much I learned about creativity but I found it fascinating. The author is a world-class competitor in chess and Tai Chi Push Hands. Themes of the book include: One, at the highest levels of competition, personal emotional regulation and understanding your opponent are universal skills. For example, he was homesick living away from New York and he believes that it drove him to play a more conservative style of chess until he realized it. Two, it is critical to be able to let go of the first mistake and not make another because you are frustrated. Three, what differentiates the champions from the other competitors? His take: “It is rarely a mysterious technique that drives us to the top but rather a profound mastery of what may well be a basic skill set. Depth beats breadth any day of the week, because it opens a channel for the intangible, unconscious, creative components of our hidden potential.”
Until next week,
Miles