Adam Grant on how to self-promote without coming off as bragging: "Humor signals competence without arrogance"

e.g. Reagan’s assertion that he would not make age an issue of the campaign by exploiting his opponent’s “youth & inexperience”. He calmly took the threat of his old age off the table, while allowing his wisdom to shine through his l

Mark Andreessen: crystallized intelligence (memory/recall) vs fluid intelligence (reasoning) - When you come across a problem you haven't encountered before, you rely on fluid intelligence to solve it. AI is at human level when it comes to fluid intelligence, but far exceeds humans in crystallized intelligence. We should learn how to use AI so

Teddy Roosevelt on slowing down as you get older:

"We must all either wear out or rust out"

Nassim Taleb (Incerto) on how systems improve:

“Systems don’t learn because people learn individually –that’s the myth of modernity. Systems learn at the collective level by the mechanism of selection: by eliminating those elements that reduce the fitness of the whole, provided these have skin in the game. Food in New York improves from restaurant b

Daniel Ek (episode on Acquired podcast) on how constraints breed creativity:

“Constrained growth is a plus. It helped Spotify learn how to come out with a compelling product before it broke into US market. The geographic isolation also helped insulate Spotify’s culture and build something from first principles rather than osmosis from the existing

The Idiot Index: a critical tool in Musk’s cost-cutting arsenal. It compares the cost of rocket components to the expenses incurred in sourcing their raw materials. For Musk, efficiency is paramount, and any significant disparity in cost signals inefficiency. As he bluntly told Walter Isaacson, “If the ratio is high, you’re an idiot.”

Elon Musk Unve

Importance of corporate identity: Uber thinks of itself as a mobility company. If it moves, Uber believes it can wire it up to connect buyer to supplier - Dara Khosrowshahi on In Good Company podcast

Contrast this with Lyft seeing themselves as a human transport company, while Uber is getting into the delivery game

David Ogilvy on how organizations often focus on reducing costs, but should really focus on improving output:

"Clients who haggle over their agency's compensation are looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Instead of trying to shave a few measly cents off the agency's fifteen per cent, they should concentrate on getting more sales results

Alexis De Tocqueville on democracy: "People liberated from old hierarchies want equality in freedom and, if they cannot get it, they still want it in slavery”

Vince Lombardi on “soul in the game”:

"The greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more"