Thursday, November 17, 2016

Exogenous Shocks to the System


This is my friend, Jeremiah Owyang. On the left, a few years ago. On the right, today. 

Notice anything different?

Of course you do.

Like many middle-aged men, Jeremiah realized he wasn't a teenager anymore and he needed to get in shape.

But unlike many middle-aged men, he didn't say, 'ok, I'm going to start by reducing the glasses of wine I drink from 2 to 1 (or whatever)."

Instead, he forced a change on his entire outlook by signing up for Tough Mudder.

That goal forced him to re-orient his entire way of being.  But it was a goal that he realized that, if he could do it, it would institutionalize an entirely new way of living.

And that's exactly what happened.

In the wake of the election, we're all thinking about Change.

Obviously, the Democratic party, America, (and the world) were subjected to a completely unexpected exogenous shock to the system.

It should serve as a major wake-up call to Democrats, Americans, and the World about what's important (and I think, for many, it has).

Now, when it comes to investments of a business kind or DECIDING if you'd like to pursue a given path or not, I subscribe to the "Little Bets" theory.

But, when you KNOW you have to make a big change, I wonder if the exogenous shock to the system is the way to go?

One thing I like to say: "Better to force the change upon yourself than have the change forced upon you."




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