Mentalmodels
“If we did not do this already, would we, knowing what we now know, go into it?” Peter Drucker’s question can be applied in both the big picture and small picture – from the broadest strategic moves of your company to its tiniest daily processes. More than that: try substituting “company” in the previous sentence for “department”, “nation”, “regulatory system” and even “life”.
In his latest post, Tom Barrack of Colony Capital writes about some similarities between a big wave surfer and a successful investor. While we would be even more conservative in general, we agree with most the “credos”.
Our thoughts go out to the families affected by floods everywhere, but this picture had us thinking about the book “Too Big To Fail”. Unlike other books about the financial crisis that shook the world recently, Mr. Sorkin’s book deals with the real-time, day-to-day background discussions and decision-making in the eye of the storm. And decisions made in times of turmoil can lead to less-than-ideal outcomes and a false sense of security.
David Brooks has a nice teaser article on the current and future economic “protocols”. His tip is to not just read the book he’s reviewing but another that complements what he feels are the first book’s weaknesses. Always a nice way to help readers better form opinions of their own, and it’s what we will always try to do here as well. Also includes links to other columns of his.
Continue reading about Christmas bonus, part 2: David Brooks
We have put together a small collection of links regarding competition and corporate strategy as defined by Harvard’s Michael Porter. As this blog will always remind readers, “take it with a grain of salt”! No matter how famous the expert, how “make-sense” his arguments, always check, search for contradictions and weaknesses and then make up your own mind.
Continue reading about Christmas bonus, part 1: Michael Porter
Reading the book Empires of the Word – A Language History of the World, by Nicholas Ostler, is a great reminder that learning languages is a relevant part of the process that Charlie Munger defines as “make sure you go to bed at night a little wiser than you were when you woke up”.
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They took questions from Columbia grad students and the event was broadcast live by CNBC. It has an eerie feel to it – with the whole “must keep spirits high” approach. That said, both men think in the long term (15+ years) and it’s always interesting to be reminded of some basic concepts.
Continue reading about Buffett and Gates at Columbia University
Part 2 of the excerpts from our Q4 2008 report. In Part 1, we introduced and exemplified the theme of the structural fragility of incentive systems via two texts, “Own Goal” and “Dolus Bonus”. In this text, we present the core of our reflection on the subject in order to highlight the importance of raising our moral critical standards.
Continue reading about IP report excerpts, vol. 4: Moral diligence (part 2)
Post 1 of 2 posts with excerpts from one of our most-commented reports. We look back at a highly unusual year – a period of seemingly definitive change which proved, definitively, that some things never change. 2008 was one of those years that tested our mettle and reaffirmed old principles, the most cherished of which is our moral diligence. We kick off with two introductory texts, “Own Goal” and “Dolus Bonus”.
Continue reading about IP report excerpts, vol. 4: Moral diligence (part 1)
In these excerpts of our Q3 2008 report, we discuss our use of the tried and true “roadmap” that our investment philosophy provides during even such periods of turmoil. In a nutshell, “In extreme situations, it makes all the difference to have very clear principles coupled with a simple, hands-on philosophy executed with discipline.”