Writing
Latest Essay
Carl Friedrich Gauss
A mathematical guide to thinking with the end in mind
Gauss demonstrated the advantages of conceiving the end before beginning — a lesson that runs counter to how most people approach complex problems.
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Charlie Munger: LatticeWork
A multidisciplinary approach to thinking
"Spend less time trying to be brilliant and more time trying to avoid obvious stupidity." Munger's latticework of mental models, and why breadth of knowledge compounds faster than depth alone.
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Active Listening
A crucial skill for effective management
Effective communication is taught as speaking. Active listening is where the real leverage lives, and it is almost entirely neglected in professional training.
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First Principles Thinking
Philosophy and reasoning without analogy
First principles thinking strips a problem down to its foundational truths and builds back up. It is the method behind every genuine breakthrough, from Aristotle to Musk.
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Project Success: A One-Pager
Managing a non-tech graduate in a technical field
The frameworks that helped a junior team member succeed in data science, and what that experience revealed about the gap between technical skill and project delivery.
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The David Rock SCARF Model
Neuroscience meets management
Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness. A neuroscience framework for understanding what drives human behaviour at work, and why good managers intuitively get this right.
Read more → Seeking Validation
Reflections on an instinct we underestimate
We underestimate how much of our decision-making is driven by the desire to be affirmed. Recognising this instinct is the first step to acting on better information.
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Charlie Munger: 12 Key Learnings
Distilled from decades of speeches and interviews
"I have nothing to add on the subject of valuing businesses." Twelve lessons from Munger's most instructive speeches, stripped of commentary and arranged for practical use.
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Project Aristotle: Google's Team Study
Culture eats strategy for breakfast
Google spent two years studying 180 teams to find what made them great. The answer had nothing to do with who was on the team.
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The Rashomon Effect
Why the same event produces different truths
Derived from Kurosawa's 1950 film, the Rashomon effect describes how equally credible witnesses produce contradictory accounts. The implications for leadership are significant.
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On Innovation
Skate to where the puck is going
Managing can be a formidable task. Key learnings on fostering innovation, creating conditions for creative thinking, and the difference between activity and genuine forward motion.
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Reflections: First-Time Manager
Shaping a person's future without any formal training
The gap between being a strong individual contributor and becoming a good manager is wider than almost anyone admits. What I learned managing a non-technical graduate in data science.
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Behavioural Psychology
Actions, stimuli, and what drives us
Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, CBT, and motivation theory. The science of why people do what they do, and what it means for how organisations are run.
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Reductionist vs. Systems Thinking
Two sides of the same coin
Reductionism dissects phenomena into atomic elements. Systems thinking grasps the interwoven tapestry of all its parts. Both are necessary. Knowing which to apply is the skill.
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Social Learning Theory
Actions speak louder than words
Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory: humans learn through observation and imitation, not just direct experience. The implications for how we mentor, manage, and build culture.
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Stakeholder Frameworks: Part 1
Stakeholders are humans after all
The RACI model defines who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. A practical primer on managing the most unpredictable variable in any project.
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Thinking with Mental Models
Cognitive frameworks for a complex world
Mental models are cognitive frameworks that simplify complex information and help anticipate outcomes. The argument for building a diverse library of them, and where to start.
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