- My Favorite Things
- Posts
- brown paper packages tied up with strings
1. This quote
“People did not choose between things. They chose between descriptions of things.”
from Michael Lewis’ book The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds which explores the collaboration and dynamics between psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky that laid the foundation for the field of behavioral economics.
2. The origin of “What gets measured gets managed”
Peter Drucker never said it.
It has been misapplied in the sense that the second part of the exposition has been left out:
What gets measured gets managed - even when it’s pointless to measure and manage it, and even if it harms the purpose of the organisation to do so.
3. Four Laws of Software Economics
Reality #1: Your development team will never, ever, ever be big enough —> The Law of Ruthless Prioritization
Reality #2: All of the profits are in the nth copy or nth user —> The Law of Build Once, Sell Many
Reality #3: The software bits we release are not the product —> The Law of Whole Product
Reality #4: You can’t outsource your strategy —> The Law of Strategic Judgment
4. The French word for Happy is Content
I think this says a lot.
They reserve the word "heureux" for a state of happiness that is more enduring and profound, one that goes beyond fleeting moments of joy or temporary pleasure.
This says a lot too.
5. “Always invite AI to the table”
You won’t know what AI can (and can’t) do for you until you try to use it for everything you do. And don’t sweat prompting too much, just start a conversation with AI and see where it goes.
Professor Ethan Mollick at the Wharton School (U Penn) writes my favorite “I am trying to figure out how best to navigate this AI-haunted era” blog at One Useful Thing. Choose one of the free AI tools like ChatGPT 4.0, Claude, or Google’s Gemini. You can ask it for help with anything, even just to talk through a problem or challenge you're facing.
6. Illuminate from Google Labs
Ever wonder if there’s a better way to make academic papers more digestible? Google unveiled the Illuminate project at this year’s Google I/O. It turns academic papers into NPR-style conversational interviews. As one of the AI-generated hosts says, “The possibilities are mind-blowing.”
7. This tweet from Lego
All cat owners understand.
8. "Just because things could have been different doesn't mean they would have been better."
Beware of hindsight bias. Not only do we overestimate the predictability of past events, but we also underestimate the difficulties or challenges that could have arisen in the alternative universe.
9. Ball Mason Jars
I have been delighted by how versatile these mason jars are and wish I had gotten them sooner, even though I do not plan on canning anything. Once the lid is screwed on, there is no risk of leakage. I can also easily mark the contents with a Sharpie. I have been using them to store cocktails, leftovers, chopped onions, garlic purchased in bulk from the local Asian mart, homemade chicken broth, cocktails, and the latest use case (and my favorite) - wine.
10. 19 Crimes Snoop Dogg Cali Red Blend
This ~$12 bottle red blend is my current go-to for everything, whether sipping by itself or with a meal. I store the rest of the bottle in a mason jar and place it back in the wine fridge.
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