Towards the end of 2019, which feels a decade ago, I wrote a post on growth. It was an attempt to get away from the blanket term “growth” and its counterpart “degrowth,” which have become stand-ins for entire philosophies and move the discussion to specific categories such as knowledge (need more) and consumption (can do with less). The COVID19 crisis, while causing immense pain, also provides a unique opportunity to reflect on what we need in our lives and what we can do without. And that ex...

Towards the end of 2019, which feels a decade ago, I wrote a post on growth. It was an attempt to get away from the blanket term “growth” and its counterpart “degrowth,” which have become stand-ins for entire philosophies and move the discussion to specific categories such as knowledge (need more) and consumption (can do with less). The COVID19 crisis, while causing immense pain, also provides a unique opportunity to reflect on what we need in our lives and what we can do without. And that ex...

On Monday of this week the Business Roundtable, an organization which “represents chief executive officers (CEOs) of America’s leading companies,” published a new statement on the purpose of a corporation. The new statement, which was signed by 181 executives, explicitly states that “we share a fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders” (emphasis mine). This is an important departure from the singular focus on shareholders as the focus that has dominated the American corporate landsca...

On Monday of this week the Business Roundtable, an organization which “represents chief executive officers (CEOs) of America’s leading companies,” published a new statement on the purpose of a corporation. The new statement, which was signed by 181 executives, explicitly states that “we share a fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders” (emphasis mine). This is an important departure from the singular focus on shareholders as the focus that has dominated the American corporate landsca...

Last Uncertainty Wednesday I wrote that “Stuff can and will go wrong, with varying degrees of bad consequences.” One direct corollary of this is that we will all face setbacks in our life. A key question then is what happens next. Do you give up? Or do you learn, persist and try a new approach? That latter requires grit. Grit is a character trait that turns out to be a strong predictor of long term success. In her book “Grit,” Angela Duckworth recounts that tests of grit among Westpoint Acade...

Last Uncertainty Wednesday I wrote that “Stuff can and will go wrong, with varying degrees of bad consequences.” One direct corollary of this is that we will all face setbacks in our life. A key question then is what happens next. Do you give up? Or do you learn, persist and try a new approach? That latter requires grit. Grit is a character trait that turns out to be a strong predictor of long term success. In her book “Grit,” Angela Duckworth recounts that tests of grit among Westpoint Acade...