We are always judged on 2 broad dimensions – our ability and our willingness.
We naturally focus on our ability since it takes time to develop it and hone it. In fact, we’re normally in danger of focusing so much on our ability that we get caught up in it. If we’re really skilled, we drink ability kool aid. And if we’re not, we feel we’re worthless.
Willingness involves the “soft stuff.” But, here’s the amazing part – while willingness seems less important ability, it is more important than ever before. In a round world, ability mattered a lot more. If you were the best thinker in your village, you were bound to be sought after even if you were an asshole.
Now, however, the likelihood that your village council will find a thinker who is better than you and cheaper than you from elsewhere is really high. Even if they can’t fly the person in to the job, they can always engage him on Skype. Ability can no longer be your only differentiator.
That’s a huge shift – no matter what skills you posses, what you offer is probably not unique.
But your attitude or willingness? Just being the most enthusiastic, tenacious, and positive version of “you” can make all the difference in the world.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this mistake.
There is no excuse to not performing your best in practice. If you haven’t done consistently well in practice, the chances aren’t high that you will do better in the game.
You plan to win, practice to win, prepare to win, expect to win, and only then win.
And, let’s not forget, if you don’t do well in practice, it’s not very likely you’ll get a game in the first place.
There are tons of improvements planned but we finally have a starting place. We intend to keep Skilldom.org free and open source and to get us started on the path to improvement, we look forward to your feedback.
This week’s learning is part 10 of a 12 part series on The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson. (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
The origins of hedging are agricultural. A farmer enters into a “futures” contract with a merchant promising to sell his crop at $5/kg. If the price goes down, the farmer is protected as he still receives $5/kg. However, if the price is $6/kg then the merchant makes $1 for every kg he bought.
This futures market created a home for hedging in Chicago. Partly because of unease at futures being like gambling, the futures market led to the birth of derivatives.
Derivatives are the financial equivalent of “options.” Instead of signing a “futures” contract, the same merchant can sign a “buy option” giving him the right (not obligation) to buy an agreed quantity of the crop at $5/kg (the “strike price“) within a specific time after harvest, at an agreed quantity before a certain time at a certain price known as strike price. The merchant buys options because he expects the price of the crop to rise.
If, instead, the farmer had signed a “put option,” he would now have the right to sell the crop at $5/kg to the merchant at a particular time. He would do this if he felt the crop price is going down. If it’s heading up, he would keep it and sell at a higher price.
Finally, we have a “swap” or an exchange of a bet between parties. Let’s assume the farmer wanted to raise money and issued farm “bonds” that assured 5% interest for 10 years to investors (the farmer assumes he’ll be rich enough in 10 years to pay everyone). Since the investors take a risk on the farmer’s success, they can pay a portion of the interest they receive into a “credit default swap“/CDS to an insurance company who will pay the investors the original amount they paid in case the farmer “defaults.” In essence, a CDS is a bet on whether the farmer will go bankrupt.
In 2007, there were many trillion of credit default swaps betting on households being able to pay for their home loans. When these bets failed altogether, the global economic crisis was triggered..
As much as derivatives are despised by investors like Buffett (who has nevertheless made money from them), they are a key part of the finance system and have divided the world into those who can and can’t be hedged. For example, weather derivatives are sold by insurance companies to hedge funds. This means that hedge funds will pay the insurance amount should bad weather/catastrophes happen. And until then, they get an attractive rate of interest on their principle amount from insurance companies.
While companies and large organizations can hedge to protect their assets, individuals can’t do any hedging and have to rely on insurance. Many go for saving for a rainy day and betting on houses.. More on that in the next 2 editions.
When you watch Ben, it feels like he putting all of himself in front of you – his love for classical music, his passion, excitement. He’s out there for you to see and critique. He isn’t guarded, diplomatic and definitely not polished. You can see and feel his rough edges. You might not like him.. but you can’t help feeling you know the guy.
Polish and perfection don’t create connection. Being human does. Vulnerability does. And blemishes are the surest sign of being human.
Polish those edges.. But not too much. It’s those rough edges that are lovable.
I’ve been helped a lot – definitely more than I really deserve. I’ve done my best over the years to pay it forward and help people where possible. This has been in the form of advice, resume reviews, connecting people, helping with job searches and the like. The small things are always easy e.g. making a quick email connection but the bigger things like helping someone improve their resume or improve an application to university or graduate school take a lot of investment.
I have learnt a couple of things over the years –
– More people say they want to learn and grow than they really do. Learning is one of those things that receives a lot of lip service. Very few truly care and make the effort.. – Very few are truly willing to help themselves/work hard for it. They are often reaching out in desperation looking for a silver bullet. And you know what they say about silver bullets..
Since I feel taken advantage of every time I help someone who either doesn’t care about learning or isn’t truly looking to help himself/herself, I work to figure this out early. While there are a few signs, my limited experience has shown me that the best approach is to give them some home work to test their intent. This home work could be absolutely anything – e.g. you want help with your job search? Go read “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” and share your learnings with me or go redo your resume based on this format and we’ll get started with the finer edits.
This acts as a natural filter since the ones who get back are the ones who I truly want to help. That’s not to say everyone else is beyond help – maybe they found someone else whose way of helping suited them more. That’s great too. I wish them the best. I’m just working to make sure I walk out of the experience with a smile.
So, if you’ve ever found yourself in a similar position where you felt like you put in a lot of effort to help someone only to feel it was wasted, don’t question the act of caring and helping out. Just make sure you work with people who would appreciate the sort of effort you would put in and use it to get better. The simplest way to test that is to give them something to do.
A manager I respect a lot was fanatical about understanding financial data. He refused to get any analysis started without sitting down with the data provider and asking all the basic questions. “Why this number? What exactly does it mean? Do the numbers make sense to you?” Here’s why – you often begin by making simple assumptions – oh sales must refer to gross sales and very soon, you build on these assumptions and make a few more of your own. As you begin looking at the data in various ways, your initial assumptions become embedded.
When Disney were building their theme park in France, the projections always assumed there would be 3 million people/year visiting the theme park – the same as the Orlando theme park. At the end of the first year, the projected 3 million people had shown up but the revenues were significantly smaller. Why?
The theme park in France was smaller than the one in Orlando. As a result, most people just made it in and out with just a day trip. This wasn’t possible in Orlando and people stayed for 2-3 days when they visited. This assumption about size just got embedded within the numbers until no one questioned it. It took Disney a year or so to modify assumptions and fix this problem by adding attractions.
D’oh? Well, yes and no. If you are an analyst who has made financial models and projections, you know that such errors can happen to anyone.
The lesson I’ve taken away is – if you are inheriting data, a tool, or a framework created by someone else – don’t assume anything. Go through each and every part of it with the creator making sure you understand everything where possible. Once you ask and understand the ‘why’, go crazy with the ‘why not.’
There are two ways to approach anything – to wait for permission or to take initiative and apologize later.
Yes, there are limits to this approach but too many people sit around waiting for permission most of the time. The problem? The people giving permission don’t often see the issue or the fix as clearly as you do.
So, go do it. Back yourself. Fix it. And apologize later if necessary. Here’s the funny part – it’s hardly ever necessary.
I used to play in an amateur football league in London two years ago with a few weekend football friends. Our understanding of amateur was clearly different from our opponents but we didn’t know this when we showed up for our first game. 11-0. Every subsequent game became a gradual struggle – very few wanted to wake up at 8am on a Saturday morning and journey across town to be thrashed by an average of 11 goals at 0 degree temperatures and rainfall.
For the few of us who were regular, it was a real test of willpower. We kept it going for a few months and ended up quitting in the new year. Getting thrashed every week wasn’t our idea of fun.
I learnt a lot from that experience. I learnt that victories keep a team together. A team is just equivalent to a mood and you get into a good mood when you win.
I also learnt that losing badly was good for me. I am generally very competitive and losing a goal or two pushes me to work harder for a team. But, this was a situation where effort didn’t matter. We were outclassed. It was a good lesson to learn – put your effort in areas where your effort will actually make a difference.
And, finally, it has put all my subsequent losses in perspective. I was part of a team that lost a game 4-1 this weekend. There were a few teammates who were disappointed.. I was smiling. It could have been worse, after all, and thank god we are healthy enough to play..
I was inspired to read “Improv Wisdom” thanks to Dan Pink‘s excellent book – “To Sell is Human.” I knew there was going to be more to the book than just the principles of Improv Acting. The book showed me that improv acting isn’t an art form but a way of life. We are improvising every day of our lives and that our improv skills play a big role in our happiness. I reached to Patricia immediately, of course, and was glad to meet someone who clearly lives the principles she’s written about.
I had a spring in my step after listening to Patricia and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!
My favorite snippets as always –
“My students were not very good at that (acting without a script) at all, so I had to find some way to help my acting students be alive, be human, be able to be spontaneous.”
“I started back in 1989 working on the book. It took almost 20 years which is odd considering it’s a book on improv. I should have been able to just dash it off. But the reality is that improvising is a way of doing something, but sometimes improvisation can take a long time depending on what it is.”
“Everybody is scared of looking silly or looking like they don’t quite know. The truth is that we don’t mind if someone doesn’t have the perfect answer if they’re natural and honest. Much more important than getting it right is being real.”
“When we improvise, instead of trying to accomplish any particular outcome, we’re trying to make sense out of just the next moment.I think that giving up control in favor of sharing and in favor of seeing where we go rather than directing an outcome a particular way is one of the big lessons.”
“He (Robert Pointon) says that improv can be boiled down to three things: let go, notice more, and use everything.”
“I think an improviser is someone who is always cultivating that muscle of noticing, saying thank you, and being grateful for the many things that we have all of the time.”
“I make my bed every morning. First thing when I get out of it, I make the bed and I put the pillows up and put the little quilt on the bottom. There’s something about seeing the room nicely folded that makes my day.”
“An idea that inspires me is to notice and wake up to the gifts. I think so often we’re stuck in our own shell, our own ego, our own desires, and the things that bother us or worry us. The most important thing I’d like to tell people is to notice how much you are receiving from other people. Your life is sustained by people who make energy, the food we eat, and the transportation we use. If you can fill up with understanding how much of life is already a gift, that’s one of the great things that I’d like to share and pass along.”
Full transcript, as always, on Realleaders.tv. Thanks so much for taking the time, Patricia!
I was inspired to read “Improv Wisdom” thanks to 
A Learning a Day 