Open thinking

The hard part of computer programming isn’t expressing what we want the machine to do in code. The hard part is turning human thinking – with all its wooliness and ambiguity and contradictions – into computational thinking that is logically precise and unambiguous, and that can then be expressed formally in the syntax of a programming language.

Back in May, Ted Gioia wrote about the wave of cor­po­ra­tions and celebrities joining Sub­stack. Long­time internet readers will note the clear echo of 2000s blog tri­umphalism and/or 2010s Twitter energy, which is to say: enjoy it while it lasts.

I think it’s a notable that Ted’s post, though it’s titled Sub­stack Has Changed in the Last 30 Days,... See more

Rory Sutherland, vice chairman of the Ogilvy advertising agency, famously told a story about an office building where people complained that an elevator took too long to arrive. Instead of spending $1 million to make the elevators 5 percent faster, they solved the problem by spending around $100 to add mirrors so people could look at themselves... See more

If you want a long career in the tech industry, you have to embrace whatever is fashionable, no matter how stupid it seems.

Learn the new thing, use it, become an expert in it. And then be ready to throw it aside and denounce it when the next thing arrives.

But real collaboration isn’t about being nice.

It’s about being courageous.

It’s about saying:

“I don’t think this idea is working.”“I think we’re solving the wrong problem.”“Are we actually having the conversation we need to have?”

Collaboration, when it works, is:

Constructive tension

Trust that’s strong enough to handle a few sparks

Trust that’s... See more