The Calpers’ Hedge Fund Fiasco: The Solution They Missed
I guess you noticed that Calpers has just ditched investing in hedge funds. The official line was that it was too complicated. The truth of the matter was that it didn’t work. . That tells us a lot about hedge funds and investing generally and you know I am going to draw my own conclusions from […]
Peter Thiel “Zero to One”: Monopoly-ness is Closest to Godliness!
I just read Peter Thiel’s new book “One to Zero”. You know Peter Thiel right? Co-founded Paypal, founded Palantir, well-known for his scholarships that give chosen entrepreneurs $100,000 if they quit college and start a company. Quite a guy. The book is really a series of reflections on innovation and entrepreneurship whose quality varies more […]
Will Putin Nuke? The Psychomarkers of Leaders for War and Peace
So Russia just conducted a nuclear test, how could that be interpreted other than a warlike act? If you are into leadership one good distinction to make is between the leaders you need for war and those you need for peace. The Mafia knew (knows?) all about it and I get my information on impeccable […]
What the Dreadnoughtus Dinosaur Teaches us About Leadership 2.0
Did you hear about the recent discovery of the so-called Dreadnoughtus schrani dinosaur (found in Argentina)? When it lived on Earth it weighed some 85 tons. That’s 12 African elephants or 7 Tyrannosaurus Rexes. Or to translate into a modern equivalent, that’s over 40 Cadillac Escalades. That’s really, really big. So as usual that got me to […]
Yo! – Is Exercise the Secret to Silicon Valley’s Success?
I’ve just been reading about the Yo app. You know the one whose only job is to text you the word “Yo”. It doesn’t get much briefer than that. But who knows. Maybe it will get a billion dollar valuation too and make me at least look like a total fool. There are lots of […]
The Ice-Bucket Challenge – Leadership for Sissies?
I’ve been watching all the celebrities getting involved in the ice-bucket challenge. It’s quite a sight. And you can’t gainsay the fact that so far it’s raised over $40 million for the fight against Lou Gehrig’s disease. That’s genuinely impressive. But isn’t the thinking behind it less so? The idea is that someone pours ice cold water over […]
Reflection on Robin Williams – Health IS Wealth
Of course we have all seen the tragic news about Robin Williams, So I get to thinking yet again about health. The most immediate impacts of ill-health are on psychic and emotional well-being. That impacts both the ill person and their friends, colleagues and family. So of course, these social and personal impacts are what […]
The Rosetta Probe and the New Era of Spacefarer Leadership
I guess you’ve been seeing all the news about the Rosetta probe that has now just rendezvoused with the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. To do that it had to travel 4 billion miles over a period of 10 years, and make several gravity-assisted flybys of several planets in an incredibly convoluted series of space maneuvers. What’s the odds […]
Planet of the Apes and Quantum Empathy – Do Animals have a Higher EQ than Humans?
This is not a plug for the Planet of the Apes prequel. It’s hackneyed and full of terrible clichés. But it does raise an interesting question about how animals think, and therefore about how we humans think too. I think we can safely say that people have higher cognitive capacity for abstract problem-solving than animals. […]
Serena Williams and the End of Leadership
Did you see Serena Williams flame out at the French Open? So what was that all about? Leadership is a phase in one’s life. You start it, do it and then finish it. How do you prepare for its end? There’s a gazillion books and articles on leadership (including my own). They all tell you […]