Weekend Building Blocks - 05 MAY 2017


There's no value in collecting blocks unless you're connecting them to build something awesome!

Here's what I've picked up this week:
  1. Surgeons Should Not Look Like Surgeons. Nassim Taleb continues to poke conventional thought. This piece from February 2017 is filled with terrific stories of complexity, perception, and theories. My favorite quote: "Never hire an academic in the complex domain, unless the function is to partake of the rituals of writing papers or taking exams." His take on scientism is right in line with a lot of my rants against making things more difficult than necessary.
  2. Elephants & Riders - How The Brain Works. The "Venn Leader" Joe Willis uses an analogy of the elephant and its rider to discuss how humans process stimuli and make decisions (personally, I am partial to my Caveman & Professor analogy, but...ehh..whatever.) . Joe is a dear friend; we stay in close touch about our ideas and how to connect various theories and hypotheses to each other. He and I have a unique relationship, in that we debate, build, tear down, and recreate...knowing the other is hellbent on personal growth instead of proving righteousness. 
  3. The Best Leaders are Constant Learners. Harold Jarche and Kenneth Mikkelsen discuss "personal knowledge mastery" (PKM) and operating in perpetual beta mode. I've had some long Skype conversations with Mikkelsen; his work and his attitude are amazing. Sadly, I'm still slowly making my way through his book (that he wrote with Richard Martin) The Neo-Generalist. The book is absolutely terrific, as is this blog! 
  4. Learning How to Learn: Jack of All Trades, Master of Learning. Sam Yang does a wonderful job compiling contemporary learning research into a single post here. (Warning: it's slightly longer than most posts that I link to here.) Sam discusses: meta-learning, dosage, double-loop thinking, and generalism. Take time to really digest this one!! 
  5. Embracing Complexity: Adaptive Management in a Volatile & Complex World. This is a quick 33-slide document on complexity science. Dr Jean Boulton separates environments/functions into Machine-Complexity-Free Market. Comparatively, I use the Rules-Adaptive-Creative spectrum. She talks about patterns, disruptions, divergent & convergent thinking, and more. 
What did I publish this week?
  • Adaptability...Then Resiliency. I get frustrated when others use the terms adaptability and resiliency interchangeably. They are certainly related, but not the same. I take a stance here to define the two terms, but also relate them one another. I welcome any and all feedback - especially the critiques! 
I hope you enjoy this weekend's building material!

Lou Hayes, Jr.
thinking & adapting like a Tactical Philosopher

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