Avocado toast

This might just be the first ever A Learning a Day food recipe. I thought it fitting to write an ode to the awesomeness that is Avocado toast. If you haven’t tried it yet, I hope this post helps.

We discovered Avocado toast thanks to a close friend who made it for us during a trip in December. It has become a weekend breakfast staple since. We love it because it is easy to make, has a long list of health benefits, and is filling. It is especially good when you have physical activities lined up after breakfast as you don’t get hungry for a few hours.

Here are the steps involved –

1. Buy an avocado. :-) When you do see an avocado at the store, look for avocados that feel soft when you hold and press them. Softness = indicator of ripeness. If you aren’t planning to eat the avocado for a few days, go for the hard ones. And, refrigeration helps lock in ripeness for 4-5 days.

2. Cut the avocado into halves, remove the seed, and extract the fruit with a spoon. This is quick and straightforward with ripe avocados.

3. Add some salt and pepper for a simple version of the spread. For more interesting versions, try some mix of lemon juice, oregano, and chili flakes.

4. Toast your bread, feel free to boil or cook an egg, and enjoy your breakfast.

(Photo source: IBakeHeShoots)

Helicopter parenting

Quartz recently featured an interesting article on Helicopter Parenting recently that I’ve been mulling. Economists Matthias Doepke of Northwestern University and Fabrizio Zilibotti of Yale University point to economic inequality as the reason for helicopter parenting. Below are a few of the highlights –

The pair look at how inequality and parenting styles around the world have evolved over time. This allows them to unpack why parenting seems so different in some places—why, for example, the Danes let their kids play with axes, while Americans won’t even let kids walk to school until they are 11. Their most important finding? ”Across countries, the intensity of parenting lines up very closely with economic inequality,” said Doepke. Parents get more intense as a country gets more unequal over time, and grow more permissive if the country gets more equal.”

Contrary to popular stereotypes, those who succumb to the lure of helicopter parenting aren’t hysterical or illogical. Nor are Swedes, whose children have more freedom, better people; they simply live in more equal societies, which means parents can be more confident that their kids will have opportunities regardless of how much they push. It is easier to get into university in Sweden than it is in the US, for example. The differences between universities’ standings is not too big, and the consequences for not attending university are not as great as the US, where the gaps can be huge. 

The consequences of the economists’ conclusions are worrisome. Even though helicopter parents may be acting rationally, the collective impact of the wealthy frantically working to ensure their kids stay ahead only exacerbates inequality, further entrenching segregation of opportunity for children.

“Parenting has become very unequal,” said Doepke. “It’s one of the big social problems we have because we have high inequality now, and if kids don’t get the same starting conditions, it’s just going to get worse and worse in the future.”

Wisely, their prescription is not to fix the helicopter parents, but the institutions that are perpetuating inequality. They recommend that governments offer high-quality affordable or free child care to give less advantaged children better chances, and instate apprenticeships and vocational training programs that will give kids who don’t go to to college more professional opportunities. They also encourage governments to consider that parents and students respond to the organization of school systems, including high-stakes tests. If there is a high-stakes test, parents will help kids to prepare and kids will inevitably end up more stressed out because of this.

This was a fascinating piece. There are lots of interesting takeaways – I’ll share my top two. First, it is further illustration of the idea that the economics of a place shapes its culture (The Japanese, before the nation went through their economic boom, were described as lazy by an Australian consultant) .

And, second, the less the social mobility, the more the effect of privilege in a person’s success. After family and country of birth, education is arguably the largest bestower of privilege. As a result, helicopter parenting to ensure kids get into the best educational institutions possible is a perfectly logical outcome.

Safari demos

I’m working my way through an interview of Ken Kocienda by Frank Chen of a16z where Ken shares insights from his book “Creative Selection” – a look at the Apple design process during the Steve Jobs era. One interesting anecdote was from the team’s experience when they were building the first version of Safari into the MacOS.

When Ken shared that Steve used to make it to the engineering demos (equivalent of regular stand-ups/status checks), Frank wonders how the CEO of Apple found time to do so. Ken’s response is “focus” – one of the words that he believes best described Steve Jobs.

Similarly, Ken talks about Steve effectively being the only Product Manager for the 20 odd person team that shipped the first version of iOS. Apple famously did very few things and that meant Steve could stay on top of each of these projects at a granular level.

There’s a famous Steve Jobs quote on focus that I’m sure we’ve all come across – “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.”

These anecdotes brought that quote to life for me. The next step is to take action.

Much to learn I have…

Channeling Zeigarnik

You know you have a project coming in 6 weeks. You don’t have the time to give it thought now. So, you wait.. until you realize there’s only a week left. At that point, you are stuck burning the midnight oil in a race to the finish line.

There is a better approach.

As soon as you know you have a project coming, open up the “Notes” app or its equivalent on your phone, title it with the project and add the first 2 or 3 thoughts that come to mind. Then, shut it down and move on to other things.

The effect of doing so – called the “Zeigarnik effect” – is that our brains consider the project as “incomplete” and will subconsciously look for ways to add to it/finish it over the next few weeks. Every time we get prodded, we just need to go back to that note and keep adding.

This approach works for a packing list for a future trip, for the slides for that big meeting, and even for that strategy doc you are thinking about. It bypasses the need for the last minute rush to the finish line and enables us to create better quality work.

Start early. Channel Zeigarnik.

PS: The Zeigarnik effect is why songs that we haven’t completed get stuck in our heads.

Extenuating circumstances

Clay Christensen wrote a powerful note on extenuating circumstances in his book “How Will You Measure Your Life?” –

“resisting the temptation whose logic was “In this extenuating circumstance, just this once, it’s OK” has proven to be one of the most important decisions of my life. Why? My life has been one unending stream of extenuating circumstances. Had I crossed the line that one time, I would have done it over and over in the years that followed.

The lesson I learned from this is that it’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time. If you give in to “just this once,” based on a marginal cost analysis, as some of my former classmates have done, you’ll regret where you end up. You’ve got to define for yourself what you stand for and draw the line in a safe place.” 

Clay isn’t an exception in finding life to be a series of extenuating circumstances. We all find ourselves dealing with so many of them in our journeys – a new random problem pops up, someone falls sick, we have disruptive travel, and so on.

Every time I’m tempted to make a decision driven purely because of an extenuating circumstance, I think of this lesson and attempt to live by it.

Thank you, Clay.

Sharenting

The Atlantic had a thought provoking article on “Sharenting” – the use of social media to share content on their kids – recently.

A data excerpt – “Almost a quarter of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their prenatal sonogram scans to the internet, according to a study conducted by the internet-security firm AVG. The study also found that 92 percent of toddlers under the age of 2 already have their own unique digital identity.”

The article features stories of kids – some of whom are excited about their existing digital identity and others who are mortified. As more kids grow up to a generation shaped by social media, I expect many more articles on the topic. It is an important one.

For our part, we’ve made the choice to not share any photos of our kids on social media – until they grow up and give us the permission to do so. I write about lessons I learn from experiences with them as they’re a big part of my learning journey. But, that’s as far as the sharing goes.

As is the case with such decisions, it isn’t for everyone and it matters that we’re thoughtful about what would work for us.

Small margins in tennis – a historical look

Two days back, I’d shared this image of Novak Djokovic’s evolution from a 100+ ranked tennis player to world number 1. The noteworthy relationship in the article is the link between % points won and % matches won.

A tennis point is inherently 50-50 (either the player or the opponent). But, when Djokovic improved his abilities enough to win 52% of the points, he increased his % of matches won to 79%. And, at 55%, we were at an awe inspiring 90%.

A friend followed up with an article that showed these stats for world number 1s in the last ~30 years.

Points: Winning Percentage Year-End No. 1 Total
55% 12
54% 7
53% 4
56% 3
TOTAL 26

It turns out that increasing your ability to win a point by 5% in your favor almost guarantees you a place on top of the worlds rankings.

This is fascinating not just because of the small margins involved (we covered that). The data is also fascinating as it shows how world champions have gotten better and better – the last time we saw a world number 1 with 53% points winning percentage was 2001.

My biggest reflection from these stats is the compound effect of winning a few extra points consistently. In tennis as in life, small and consistent efforts show up incredible well over the long run.