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The Survivors Club… The Science of Luck

Introduction

We all know someone in our lives that seems to catch all of the ‘lucky” breaks. No matter what happens in their lives, the sun seems to always shine on them. But the truth is, luck isn’t as unpredictable as we often make it out to be. Luck is a combination of your preparation, your attitude, an opportunity, and your action. The following from Ben Sherwood’s The Survivors Club and I hope it will help you bring more luck into your life.

Develop a Lucky State of Mind

In Closing

Lucky people are far less random than one would think. In reality how you approach this world and your state of mind determines how much luck you achieve/receive. Unlucky events happen to people and purely random things do sometimes occur. But, the luckiest of us all find a way to see ourselves through these events. Remember, 90% of your life is determined by the way you think.
 

Extras

Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
Direct Link to Book: The Survivors Club
Author’s Twitter: @bensherwood 
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The Survivors Club… The Rule of 3

Introduction

Between the uncertainty caused by the current social and political climates, and the global pandemic, 2020 has gotten off to a challenging start to say the least. And while I am not a bonafide doomsday prepper, I do like to take proactive steps towards ensuring my personal safety. In this vein, Ben Sherwood’s The Survivors Club was either a recommendation from a friend or one that I came across as a “must read”. Having recently finished it I have learned some new frameworks and tools for survival. When it comes to surviving there is a whole lot that you can’t control, but there too is a surprising amount that you can control. The Rule of 3 is an easy but great mental reminder of the limits the human body can be pushed to.

The Rule of 3

In Closing

Emblazon the number 3 in your mind. The order of the rules will help you remember your survival priorities as you strive to manage your needs during your most stressful time. Never forget the Rule of 3. This magic number will keep your priorities clear and help you stay alive!

Extras

Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
Direct Link to Book: The Survivors Club
Author’s Twitter: @bensherwood
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The Survivors Club… How To Survive a Plane Crash

Introduction

Between the uncertainty caused by the current social and political climates, and the global pandemic, 2020 has gotten off to a challenging start to say the least. And while I am not a bonafide doomsday prepper, I do like to take proactive steps towards ensuring my personal safety. In this vein, Ben Sherwood’s The Survivors Club was either a recommendation from a friend or one that I came across as a “must read”. Having recently finished it I have learned some new frameworks and tools for survival. When it comes to surviving there is a whole lot that you can’t control, but there too is a surprising amount that you can control. In the following write up, I will unpack some of the cool things I learned about surviving a plane crash.

In A Plane Crash You Have 90 Seconds to Save Your Life

In Closing

The statistics of surviving a plane crash are in your favor with close to 96% of passengers in airplane accidents surviving. While there is no one seat that is the best, on average, sitting within five rows of an exit increases your chances of survival exponentially. Listen and pay attention to your flight attendants when they go over the safety protocols, and remember that waiting for instructions during and emergency can lead to negative outcomes. In the end, crash survival comes down to a simple question: How committed are you? Don’t panic but be proactive in your survival.

Extras

Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
Direct Link to Book: The Survivors Club 
Author’s Twitter: @bensherwood
Seven Ways To Increase Your Odds of Surviving a Plane Crash by Business Insider
10 Tips That Could Save Your Life by The Art of Manliness

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The Female Brain

Introduction

Google the phrase “differences between men and women” and you will get close to 572 million results. It’s a topic that is as old as time, but Louann Brizendine’s Female Brain focuses these differences squarely on our brains. From birth, “boy-behavior” and “girl-behavior” is hardwired into the brain, thus making us much more predictable than we think.

The Female Brain was written in 2007 during the rising tide of behavioral and neuroscientific research, and is a fascinating read for anyone interested in better understanding some of the whys behind female and male behavior. In the following write up, I will unpack some of the gender specific behavioral differences that are driven by the “simple” biological differences between the female and male brain.

Blame it on Testosterone, Estrogen, and Progesterone

As Louann Brizendine details in the Female Brain, there are no neutral unisex brains. Hormones make our brains uniquely female and male. The specific three hormones that drive most of the brain differences between the sexes are: (1) Testosterone (2) Estrogen (3) Progesterone. The deeper science between these three hormones aren’t relevant for this post but what is relevant is the specific role each of these hormones plays in the development of the female and male brain. 

The rising tides of estrogen and progesterone assure that all female-specific brain circuits become more sensitive to emotional nuance such as approval or disapproval and acceptance or rejection. Female brains are programmed to prioritize connecting, bonding and keeping the peace. In direct contrast, testosterone has been shown to decrease the communication-specific brain circuits in the male brain, often leading men to seek out conflict and decreased socialization. Literally, the differences in the sexes come down to the hormone levels in females and males which determine the parts of our brains that are primed for different types of behaviors.


The Female and Male Brains

Over the millions of years that humans have walked on this Earth, female and male brains have evolved along some of the following lines:

  • The amygdala is the brain’s center for fear, anger, and aggression and it’s physically larger in men.
  • The prefrontal cortex is the brain’s center for planning, decision-making, problem solving, and self-control and it’s relatively larger in women.
  • Most neural connections in the male brain run between the front and back parts of the same brain hemisphere, which accounts for the better spatial skills and motor (muscle) control in men
  • Many more neural connections go from side to side across the left and right hemispheres of the female brain. This accounts for women’s better verbal skills and intuitive abilities.

The male brain has larger centers for aggression and action and is wired for pursuits that require solitary work. The male brain is finely tuned to sense threats, connect through sex, react quickly, and respond directly to spoken cues of others.

The female brain has larger centers for nurturing, communicating and forming social bonds, and is wired for pursuits that require interaction with others. The female brain is finely tuned to read faces, hear emotion in tones of voice, and respond to unspoken cues of others.

In Closing

It’s not that men and women are from two different planets as John Gray wrote in 1992. It’s more simply that women and men have different brain realities caused by differences in testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. These hormonal differences give women the edge when it comes to connecting emotionally, observing fully, and communicating effectively, and thus are ultimately better at sustaining deeper relationships with others. So the next time you have a communication disagreement with someone of the other sex or have a challenging time understanding their point of view, remember to give yourself a bit of grace because “boy-behaviors” and “girl-behaviors” are simply hardwired into our brains at birth.


Extras

Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
Direct Link to Book: The Female Brain
Author’s Website: Louann Brizendine, MD
Author’s Twitter: @drlouann

Video: Louann Brizendine at TEDxBerkeley

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Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Introduction

Human behavior is one of the hardest things to predict and understand. And the more we learn about ourselves, the more we realize that our decision making is very flawed. To put it bluntly, humans do not make decisions in a rational and truly thoughtful way. We are very flawed thinkers who have tendencies to make suboptimal decisions. Consequently, “nudges” can be used to alter our behavior towards more optimal outcomes.
Nudge was written in 2008 by the father of behavioral economics Richard Thaler with help from Cass Sunstein. As a major challenge to the concept of traditional Economic Man (Homo economicus), Nudge rejects this hyper-rational model of the individual. Instead it posits that individuals are simply Humans plagued with automatic thinking, biases, prejudices, irrationality, and uncertainty in their decision making.
The following picture from Raconteur summarizes just a few of our cognitive biases:
 

Humans are Humans … We Need Help (Nudges)

The entire premise of this book lies in the fact that Humans are not Economic Man. We don’t make unbiased forecasts. We don’t choose unfailingly well. And consequently, we need help to make more rational and optimal decisions in our lives. Enter the Nudge.
The simplest definition of a nudge is any factor that significantly alters the behavior of Humans in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.

The key factor in the nudge is that it’s not a coercive action. Its focus is on trying to influence choices that will make Humans better off in the short and long terms. Thaler and Sunstein really believe that people should be free to do what they like and even opt into undesirable arrangements if they really want to. As policy makers and private institutions then, it’s on us to make it easier for people to exercise this freedom in the direction that makes their lives better, which is why we use the nudge. 
 

How We Set Up Choice Matters as Well

Because Humans are not Economic Man, the manner in which choices are presented to us can greatly influence our decisions. The best way to explain this concept (choice architecture) is to think through how food is offered in a cafeteria. By moving healthy food forward to the beginning of the line or to eye level, choice architects can greatly impact the frequency with which healthier food is chosen. It’s the same reason why retailers put impulse buy items near checkout and why they move items throughout their stores from place to place.
As a choice architect, you have the ability to influence outcomes simply by how you lay out and present options. Small yet seemingly insignificant details will have major impacts on people’s behavior.
 

In Closing

Humans have a tendency to move towards a state of inertia, and given this we don’t always make the decisions that are in our best interest. To quote the Guardian, “real men and women are inconsistent, ill-informed, weak-willed, and lazy. We can’t be bothered to fill out the form that would get us in the company pension plan, we forget to cancel subscriptions and we slump on the sofa eating doughnuts when we should be doing yoga. We are virtually incapable of balancing the temptations of today with the rewards of tomorrow; for some of us, even instant gratification isn’t quite quick enough.”
Nudges can save us from our inability to act rationally and the core of this book drives home this very point.

Extras

Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
Brian Nwokedi’s Twitter
Direct Link to Book: Nudge
Author’s Website: Richard Thaler
Author’s Twitter: @R_Thaler
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Measure What Matters Using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Introduction

Measure What Matters is a business book by John Doerr based on the fact that ideas are easy but execution is hard. When it comes down to it the core model of execution (Objectives and Key Results – OKRs) in this book sets out to help organizations in there major ways:

·         Companies that use OKRs will focus and commit their teams to better priorities
·         Companies that use OKRs will align and connect their teams with better teamwork
·         Companies that use OKRs will better track accountability and force their teams to stretch for amazing results
The intrinsic value in attempting to use an operational model like OKR is the fact that it will focus and align your business on the most important goals that really move the needle. As an organization, consistently creating aligned goals and measuring outcomes undoubtedly leads to more clarity and job satisfaction for employees. OKRs keep you from trying to do everything.
 

What’s an Objective and What’s a Key Result?

The challenge with business books like Measure What Matters is to really define in detail the principles that book is covering. And when push comes to shove, you pick up a book like this to learn something new that can be implemented in your day to day business life. 

At the most basic level, Objectives are the “what” you are trying to accomplish. Objectives express goals, intentions, are aggressive, and realistic. Above all though, they are tangible and must provide clear value to your organization. At the most basic level, Key Results are the “hows.” Key Results express measurable milestones that advance forward the objectives. Together, Objectives and Key Results form the framework of Doerr’s operational model within Measure What Matters.

A Typical OKR Cycle

The typical OKR cycle for setting OKRs at the company, team, and contributor levels looks something like this:

 
 
 

Great. I Understand OKRs at a High Level. How Do I Actually Use Them?

The hard part with any business book that details an operational model or business process is implementation back into your own day to day business life. I am by no means an expert on any of the principles detailed within this book. But having finished reading it I will give my best attempt at detailing how to use this process in your day to day.
On page 84, Doerr gives a very simple example of how to create impactful OKRs. Using a fictional NFL team, Doerr walks the reader through the following picture:

(1) As you can see from the example the Objectives are straight forward and the Key Results are simple and measurable. 



(2) There is zero doubt what the organization (in this case an NFL team) is focusing on accomplishing this year.



(3) Poorly defined OKRs are a waste of time. Well defined and aspirational OKRs are motivational management tools that help your company execute.


(4) The very nature of the OKR process is to think big but focus and this hypothetical OKR does exactly that.

Is It Really That Simple?

The short answer is yes and no. The principles within Objectives and Key Results are easy to understand. The complexity lies in writing really good Objectives and really good Key Results. As Measure What Matters details within the appendix on Google, it can be very hard to consistently write good OKRs when you first start out. Like any new process, it takes time to get really good at it.

 
No operational system is perfect. But having a defined process in business is key to executing over the long-run. The Objective and Key Results model of operating will undoubtedly help focus your business on the objectives and goals that matter most to your organization. 
 

Extras

Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
 
Direct Link to Book: Measure What Matters
 
Author’s Website: Measure What Matters
 
Author’s Twitter: @johndoerr
 
Video: TED Talk
 
 
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Anna Karenina

19th-Century Imperial Russia is a Hard Place to be a Woman

Hailed as a literary masterpiece, Anna Karenina for me was a surprisingly simple piece of writing that captures the depths of human emotion and nature. From the thrills of infidelity and falling in love with a new partner, to the deep jealousy and dissatisfaction that often times creeps into one’s relationship, Tolstoy manages to write openly about the base human emotions we often try to shut away. Through Anna Karenina Tolstoy focuses on the point that we are inherently self-interested by nature, and when in a relationship with another, we are in a constant struggle to put others first. As Stephan Arkadyevitch’s behavior shows, typically our baser level instincts and nature’s win out. But Tolstoy reminds us in the characters of Levin and Kitty, that there is hope for those who rise above this inherent self-first nature.
Throughout this novel the underlying theme of dissatisfaction with one’s circumstances, and Tolstoy captures this perfectly with the character of Anna herself. In her ultimate demise, Tolstoy seems to say that chasing perfection or bettering one’s circumstances can often lead to your demise.
Looking for perfection in your circumstances (i.e. spouse, job, etc.) can oftentimes lead to further dissatisfaction, and rather “one must forget oneself and love others, and one will be happy, and noble.” Put another way, selflessness (putting others first) over selfishness is the only way towards long-term satisfaction in one’s relationship.
In closing, the mistake we often make as humans is to think that our happiness will come through the realization of our baser human desires. But in Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, we see that the true path to happiness, especially when in a relationship is pure unadulterated selflessness. We must love our spouses and partners as the whole person just as they are, and not as we would like them to be. 

Big Themes in this Book

Love
The pursuit of love can be both a positive and destructive force in ones life. For Anna, she pursues love outside her marriage which leads to the abandonment of her son and her ultimate suicide. Through the ultimate demise of Anna, Tolstoy reminds us that the cult of love can cut deeply and when pursued in the wrong fashion, can kill. Anna Karenina isn’t a traditional love story with that mushy gushy ending.
Marriage is a Burden Necessary to Hold Society Together
To a majority of the characters in this book, marriage is a burden and hindrance to achieving the life especially the men. Throughout the book, the male characters primary interests lie outside the home whereas the female characters primary interests lie within the home. But Tolstoy stresses that regardless of its potential faults, marriage is the glue that holds society together. What’s very interesting about this theme is the fact that in the late 2000s, the diary of Leo Tolstoy’s wife was transcribed. It paints a marriage that seems to be based in the themes he writes within Anna Karenina.
Double Standard of Fidelity
It’s a man’s right to be unfaithful to his wife in the face of her unyielding fidelity, and throughout this book you get the sense that it’s less serious for a husband to stray than a wife since family unity depends on the woman.
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Doughnut Economics

Macroeconomics Explained Using Doughnuts

Matt Groening was once said, “Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do?” And for Kate Raworth, doughnutsare rewriting everything you ever learned in Economics 101. Her book, Doughnut Economics, is a simple referendum on modern day economics. Her thesis is quite simple:
Leaders of 2050 are being taught an economic mindset that is rooted in the textbooks of 1950, which in turn are rooted in the theories of 1850.
This “archaic” economic mindset has led our current world astray, and thus a new way of thinking for the 21st Century is much needed.

Enter the Doughnut

The essence of the doughnut is a social foundation of well-being that no one should fall below, and an ecological ceiling of planetary pressure that we should never go beyond. It is in between these two layers that lies a safe and just space for us all:
In order to remain within the boundaries of the doughnut, current economic thinkers and policy makers need to change their default modus operandi. Raworth identifies seven specific ways to change economic thinking and policy making for the better: 
1.      Change the Goal from GDP to the Doughnut
2.     See the Big Picture from self-containing market to embedded economy 
3.     Nurture Human Nature from rational economic man to social adaptable humans

4.     Get Savvy with Systems from mechanical equilibrium to dynamic complexity
5.     Design to Distribute from ‘growth will even it up again’ to distributive by design
6.     Create to Regenerate from ‘growth will clean it up again’ to regenerative by design
7.      Be Agnostic about Growth from growth addicted to growth agnostic
The following picture is my visual representation of what Doughnut Economics represents to me.
 
 
 

Shifting from Conventional Economics to Doughnut Economics Will Help Planet Earth and All Humankind Thrive

The current economic pursuit of GDP first pushes every consumer in our global economy to spend money they don’t have on things they don’t really need (think consumerism 101). It’s an endless hamster wheel of more for the sake of more, and it requires continual growth in income and output to support it.

By changing the goal of our global economy from GDP to the Doughnut we ignore conventional economic theory that posits every citizen’s satisfaction or happiness is based on the consumption of more goods. And this switch in focus will allow us to better advance the richness of human life on earth.
Underlying the big shift in economic focus is another underlying shift in the characterization of humans and their nature. Conventional economic theory posits that humans are rational and make decisions that solely maximize their utility which equates to driving satisfaction through consumption.
But the reality of life for each of us is we are far from solitary figures. Instead, we are social adaptive beings that thrive best in environments where we can relate to each other. Thus, our global economic machine is best served by putting the collective “WE” at the focus instead of growth in “GDP” at the focus.

It’s Clear We Have an Economic Design Problem … The Question is Will We Fix It?

In the 21stcentury, we have transgressed at least four planetary boundaries and have created a global economy that has left billions of people still facing extreme deprivation. On top of that, the current global economy has allowed the richest 1% to own half of the world’s financial wealth.
At the heart of income and wealth inequality lies a simple design question: who owns the enterprise, and so captures the value that workers generate? Our current economic system is designed in such a way that shareholders own the enterprise and thus capture the value generated by workers as evidenced by the following:
From 2002 – 2012 worker productivity grew +30% while real wage growth remained practically non-existent. This trend was so dreadful that economists have dubbed this ten-year period the “Lost Decade for Wages.” Meanwhile, returns to shareholders grew faster than the economy as a whole.
Furthermore, it’s beyond clear now that our economic system is the actual root cause of the ecological crisis that we currently face as humankind on this Earth (see hereand here). At the heart of Earth’s ecological decline lies a simple design flaw in our current global economy:
We extract Earth’s minerals, metals, biomass, and fossil fuels and manufacture them into products. These products are eventually sold to consumers who use then but eventually throw them away. The very essence of this cradle-to-grave type industrial economic system is destructive to Earth’s ecological system. 
Given the societal and ecological challenges we face, it’s up to us to decide whether or not we want to fix the economic design problem we have.

In Closing

In 2015, world GDP was $80 trillion. An expectation of 3% indefinite growth would mean that …
(1)   By 2050 the world economy would be 3x bigger than 2015
(2)  By 2100 the world economy would be 10x bigger than 2015
(3)  By 2200 the world economy would be 240x bigger than 2015
It’s beyond clear that this expectation of indefinite growth can not be possible without destroying our Earth and society! Alarm bells should be going off in each and every one of us from citizens to politicians.
It’s time for us to accept the fact that we have reached the logical conclusion of our expansionist economic paradigm, and redesign a global economy that is focused on the promotion of human prosperity whether GDP is going up or down. This will be an extremely hard shift in paradigm, but it will be absolutely vital if we are going to make it as a planet and society for the next 100 years.

Extras

Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
Brian Nwokedi’s Twitter
Direct Link to Book: Doughnut Economics
Author’s Website: Doughnut Economics
Author’s Twitter: @KateRaworth
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The Amazon Way

The Simplicity of the Amazon Way

 
The Amazon Way is a book by a former executive on the 14 leadership principles that drive their success. Above all though, it is clear the only thing that really matters is the customer. At the core of everything Amazon does from systems to the way in which they compensate their employees is this obsession over the customer. The Amazon Way is your guide into how Jeff Bezos built the Everything Store that now dominates.

14 Principles of Leadership Determine it All for Amazon

At the core of everything they do lies 14 leadership principles:
1.      Obsess Over the Customer
2.     Take Ownership of Results
3.     Invent and Simplify
4.     Leaders Are Right-A lot
5.     Learn and Be Curios
6.     Hire and Develop the Best
7.      Insist on the Highest Standards
8.     Think Big
9.     Have a Bias for Action
10.  Practice Frugality
11.   Earn the Trust of Others
12.   Deep Dive
13.   Have a Backbone – Disagree and Commit
14.   Deliver Results
These 14 leadership principles make up The Amazon Way. The following picture is my visual representation of what the Amazon Way represents to me.
The 14 Leadership Principles that make up the Amazon Way exist solely to put the customer first above all else. By obsessing over the customerfirst and working backwards from what they need, Amazon has built a rocket-ship of a company that is light years ahead of the competition.
Outsiders to the organization usually focus their attention on Amazon’s holy trinity of (1) pricing of products (2) selection of products and (3) availability of products. And while this trinity of competencies is formidable, Amazon’s true strength lies in the fact that they have built a frictionless, highly intuitive, and completely self-service platform that drives customer trust and loyalty.
As an owner of the business, each Amazon employee is expected to fully master their domain, and tenaciously manage every potential business-derailing dependency. And since they hire and develop the best, Amazon has created an organization of A-players that take complete ownership of their results.
In closing, the real scary proposition for anyone competing with Amazon is that fact that at its core, is an organization that has a pervasive fear of turning into a Day 2 company. As a result, no one is ever satisfied with what they have accomplished, and no one there seems to willingly rest on their laurels. At Amazon, it’s always Day 1 and everyone there seems to embrace this mentality. Most organizations can’t instill this relentless desire to keep learning, and this is the real challenge when it comes to competing with them head on.


Extras…

Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
Brian Nwokedi’s Twitter
Direct Link to Book: The Amazon Way
Author’s Website: THE AMAZON WAY
Author’s Twitter:@johnerossman


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The Inner Game of Tennis

Introduction

The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey is a book about more than just tennis. It’s the ultimate guide to gaining peak performance in the mental aspects of life itself, and this is a must-read book for anyone who is interested in gaining complete mental control over their self. For a deeper dive into this material, visit The Inner Game website.
Deep within our mind, we have two inner selves battling for control over our actions and thoughts. Self-1 is an egocentric and control-minded being that lives to tell and judge. Self-2 is a natural reactor and learner from experiences. It’s the ultimate doer by nature and can be seen as our subconscious mind. 
 
The relationship that exists between Self-1 and Self-2 is the primary factor in determining our ability to navigate the complexities of this world. Better tennis and life lie in improving the relationship between the conscious teller in Self-1 and the natural being of Self-2.

What’s the Real “Problem” with Self-1?

Generally speaking, the vast majority of us are constantly thinking or ruminating over the past and future, forgetting to live in the present moment. Self-1 overly influences and overwhelms the natural capabilities of Self-2 by exerting control over situations through self-judgement, over-thinking, and trying too hard. This constant thinking, assessing, and judging are the real problem with Self-1.
 
 

One Major Key to Overcoming Self-1 … Let Go of Self-Judgement

Judgement is the act of assigning a negative or positive value to an event, and are thus very much personal in nature. Our judgements start with our thinking process and can easily spiral out of control as our ego reacts to sights, sounds, feeling and thoughts within our experience. Letting go of judgements doesn’t men ignoring errors. It simply means learning to see events as they are and not adding anything to them (i.e. positive or negative values).

Concluding Thoughts…

The world is rapidly changing every single day and this change can feel at times unsettling. The Inner Game of Tennis offers indispensable tools that when put into practice, will give you the ability to remain calm in the midst of this rapid and unsettling change. The ultimate goal of winning the inner game is to overcome the telling nature of Self-1 to allow the Doer of Self-2 to dictate your actions.  
 

Extras…

 
Brian Nwokedi’s Book Review on Goodreads
Brian Nwokedi’s Twitter
Direct Link to Book: The Inner Game of Tennis
Author’s Website: THE INNER GAME
Author’s Twitter: @the_innergame
Video on Quieting Self-1