Assumption Hacker's Advantage

How To Lose 150k In a Single Day. Oct 04, 2023

5 minute read...

A while back, I read a story about a young writer and former stock trader named Jack Raines.

His story took place in the crazy wild-west days of 2019-2021. I’m sure you saw a few news stories from the period: the price of Gamestop stock randomly increasing 30 fold in less than a ...

My 24 Hours at Burning Man Sep 09, 2023

4 minute read...

These past two weeks, we were supposed to be at Burning Man.

On August 24th, we arrived on site and were well into the process of setting up.

And then the symptoms started.

A bit of dizziness, a bit of nausea, a bit of a headache. What could the cause be? First hypothesis: deh...

Take a Break Aug 23, 2023

2.5 minute read...

As I write this newsletter to you, I’m getting ready for my annual trip to Burning Man.

If you haven’t heard of it, Burning Man is a week-long event that takes place in the Black Rock desert of Nevada. And in this desert, every year, participants erect what is called Black Rock...

"You are not a statistic." Aug 04, 2023

5 minute read...

When was the last time you realized that a long-held assumption you made was invalid?

Today, I’m going to share a doozy.

The natural order of things.

You’re born, you grow up, you get married, you have kids, they grow up, perhaps they produce children of their own, you even...

Assumption Hacking Sustainability Jul 14, 2023

4.5 minute read...

A country’s level of economic development is popularly assumed to be the same thing as its standard of living. For example, GDP growth (or decline) is a widely used indicator of whether or not that country is going in the right direction.

Because of this, it’s also often assume...

Mindset Traps Jun 23, 2023

4.5 minute read...

When I teach assumption hacking, I find it’s as much about getting learners to *stop* certain behaviors as it is about getting them to learn new ones. As I wrote about last week, humans are hardwired to make assumptions. And once an assumption is made, the default position of our...

Simple as ABC? Jun 09, 2023

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2.5 minute read...

Sometimes it may feel as if you’re on a hamster wheel. Do something, get an unwanted outcome. Try something else, get an unwanted outcome. Try the first thing again, get an unwanted outcome. Try something else, get an unwanted outcome. And so on…

Don't Let The Important Become Urgent May 17, 2023

3 minute read...

“Don’t ever let the important become urgent.”

When Eli Goldratt was in his final days, this was a lesson he believed was one of his most important to teach.

As you may have noticed, I missed sending a couple of newsletters recently. Covid decided to pay our

...

Love Your People Apr 22, 2023

3.5 minute read...

"Leadership is all about loving your people." (Ken Blanchard, April 2023)

My marketing guy tries to guide me to narrow the target market for Jenrada. My bet is he gets a bit frustrated with me when I tell him that none of the typical market segmentati

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When The Cost Isn't The Cost Apr 12, 2023

5.5 minute read...

When I first met Eli Goldratt back in the late 1980’s, his article and speaking tour, Cost Accounting: Public Enemy #1 of Productivity, was all the rage.

His main point was that cost accounting principles, when carried through to be the basis of local performa

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When Revenues Aren't Revenues Apr 07, 2023

5.5 minute read...

Oh, the inherent simplicity of the basic measures of a company’s performance.

Profits = revenues minus costs
Return on assets = profits over the value of the assets

And oh, the complexity we add in our quest to make good decisions

...

Unplugged in Sedona Mar 30, 2023

4 minute read...

When my husband and I take a long road trip, the typical scenario is that I bring my laptop and get some work done while he drives.

Last week, I changed things up.

Despite 2.5 hours in the passenger seat and the many things that needed to get done, I decided to leave my computer...

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The natural order of things.