Sublime

If the talent were to advance the heuristic to the algorithm stage, the company could hand the specialist's job to a much less expensive person.

As a result, we value demonstrated excellence—which leads us to adopt practices geared toward identifying and investing in students who show obvious signs of brilliance.

Rule of thumb: The smaller the margin per unit, the bigger the impact of suboptimal pricing.

Who has leverage?

Let me start with a quote from an intellectual hero of mine, Dr. Robert Cialdini, the well-known author of Influence at Work. I had the honor of interviewing him and

accumulation of hundreds of culturally induced behavioral changes will sometimes add only two to three points to profit. But when these two to three points are reinvested in R&D for new products, for lower-cost processes, or for service to the customers, the impact is multiplied tenfold.

So they build up permanent departments staffed by fungible people in permanent slots.

learning laboratories where decisions are grounded in facts.

know how likely each person is to be influenced, we can drive decisions, treating each individual accordingly.