psychology
Army ants follow each other’s pheromone trails to know where to go. Sometimes, they accidentally form a loop, or “ant mill”, circularly following each other until they die of exhaustion:
substack.com • 25 Useful Ideas for 2025
This exacerbates their problem of downward immobility.
Clayton M. Christensen • The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change)
To use a phrase popularised in a famous FT article: great brands are often built obliquely. They are generally a by-product of something (ideals, vision, focus) and not a product of anything.
Rory Sutherland • Rory Sutherland
.psychology
The frontier also tends to forge tribes that are more democratic and meritocratic (and less status-conscious), have fewer laws and policies, and bias toward empiricism over theory (because theory encodes facts about older environments). All of these cultural institutions help keep tribes more flexible, so they're more able to adapt when change
... See moreKevin Simler • Startups are Frontier Communities
Our greatest strength is the exact opposite of narrow specialization. It is the ability to integrate broadly.
(Journalist) David Epstein • Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Our memory is in large part the starting point for how we think, how our preferences form, and how we make decisions.
Maria Konnikova • Mastermind
.psychology memory is the basis of everything. It is the layer on which analytical mind is built
Subtlety #1: Not giving a fuck does not mean being indifferent; it means being comfortable with being different.
Mark Manson • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (Mark Manson Collection Book 1)
.psychology being comfortable in your own skin and taking action towards your goal
There’s a saying—I don’t know whose—that an expert is always from out of town. It’s similar to the Bible verse that says no man is a prophet in his own country.
Morgan Housel • Same as Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life
myth that is really just about privilege and stacking the deck with high cards. Adam Grant thoroughly debunked this in Originals and he’s hardly the only one; the focus on risk taking is a product of cognitive bias. Remember what The Streets said—validation is what makes a low straight work—and add in a little boxing wisdom: slow is smooth, smooth
... See moreMatt Wallaert • Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change
.bias .psychology .risk Founders take risk unnecessarily and ship products without much research and validation .Minimum Viable Product. This bias gets perpetuated across the orgamization