Wisdom in fragments

I believe a key issue is this newfound ability to hide behind our screens, which gives a false sense of impunity, allowing people to express themselves without restraint. Moreover, the surge in social media use seems to be edging out genuine social interactions. The more time we spend glued to our screens, the less we engage in meaningful, real-world exchanges.

For me, etiquette transcends mere formalities; it's fundamentally about ensuring others feel at ease in your presence, regardless of their background or demeanour. It's this universal language of respect and inclusion that truly enriches our interactions, making every social exchange an opportunity to bridge differences and foster a sense of belonging.

Growing up immersed in multiple languages taught me a profound lesson: achieving fluency in a language is akin to mastering the art of human connection and social interaction. To me, social fluency hinges on two pivotal abilities: first, the capacity to decode the nuances of people and situations accurately and swiftly; and second, the skill to engage with others smoothly, effectively, and confidently.

If you're aiming to compete for the same clientele as major banks like JP Morgan Chase, you're entering a highly competitive arena with slim profit margins. However, targeting a segment that such banks deem too risky or uninteresting presents a lucrative opportunity. We considered focusing on demographics or small-medium enterprises that were essentially deemed un-fundable by mainstream financial institutions. The idea was to make these groups profitable and easier for any entity, including banks, to underwrite.

Currently, we find ourselves at a fascinating juncture technologically, where advancements have vastly expanded our capabilities to manage and interpret large-scale data. Computational methods have now surpassed human abilities in certain areas, a milestone that, until as recently as last year, seemed distant. This achievement indicates that the expense associated with intelligent data processing is decreasing.

Building financial systems from the ground up in a context that emphasises current money movements and digital transactions presents an opportunity to bypass these historical biases. This approach focuses on real-time behaviours, offering a dynamic and inclusive way to assess creditworthiness. It's interesting to note the impact of newly implemented credit systems in regions like Africa, where, given equal opportunities, women and small to medium-sized businesses have demonstrated significantly higher credit repayment rates.

Without the capability to take calculated risks, offering access to capital becomes nearly impossible. Charity, with its limitations and lack of accountability, rarely leads to significant change. However, the landscape is shifting with the advent of digital transactions. The digitisation of money movement, transitioning from cash to digital, allows for traceability. This traceability generates data, which can be analysed to inform decisions.

Working for international organisations, I was caught up in the belief that we could fix broken systems simply by introducing the right resources, processes, and intentions. However, I've come to realize that good intentions alone are insufficient. The lack of access to essential services isn't a matter of moral failing but rather a systemic inability to assess risk and generate profit from these assessments.

The silence we've adopted, along with the habits, behaviours, and patterns we've established, don't have to dictate how we proceed today or tomorrow, even if they characterized our yesterdays. It's challenging, to be clear. Changing behaviours is difficult. But on the other side of that challenge lies the opportunity for us to meet our needs, to build the teams we truly intend to build.

Unlearning silence doesn't mean speaking incessantly—the world is far too noisy for that. Instead, it means understanding the difference between choosing to be silent and having silence imposed upon you. It's recognizing whether silence is additive or oppressive, whether it's reflective and generative or merely detracting. It's about having agency: Do I get to choose when to be silent?

So much of silence is about perpetuating the status quo, reinforcing what someone or dominant groups within an entity or organization have deemed appropriate, good, polite. Being different inherently exposes you to vulnerability; you're pushing against everything that the forces of mimicry urge you to do, which is to conform. Yet, we also recognize that innovation is impossible without differing opinions.

Silence is, by definition, an absence—an absence of voice, opinion, and life. It begins so subtly that it often goes unnoticed. We start by withdrawing or withholding our genuine thoughts from conversations, replacing them with what we presume others want to hear. As it continues, silence essentially means we cannot fully be ourselves. We find ourselves editing parts of who we are, censoring our thoughts and feelings—and we do this to each other, often without realizing it.

It's this natural propensity to analyse and optimize everything around me, turning mundane tasks like loading a dishwasher into a strategic game of Tetris, that highlights how my brain operates. It's an instinctive approach to life, viewing the world through the lens of systems and structures.

Founder of Electronic Arts (EA) and 3DO Company

By 1970, with a budding awareness of computers, I envisioned a future where the cumbersome administrative tasks of gaming could be offloaded to computers, transforming gameplay into something as visually captivating as television but with the added allure of interactivity. My vision was clear: to merge the engagement of gaming with the visual appeal of TV, thereby revolutionising how we play.

Founder of Electronic Arts (EA) and 3DO Company

I realised that games are a potent medium for crafting artificial experiences, offering an unparalleled avenue for exploration and learning. This realisation cemented my ambition to create games, driven by the belief in their profound capacity to encapsulate and convey experiences.

Founder of Electronic Arts (EA) and 3DO Company

From a young age, I was acutely aware of the exhilaration that came with play. It was an early insight, recognising that through play, I was learning by doing. Play is inherently interactive, granting agency whether indoors or outdoors. When competition was added into the mix, playing with friends introduced me to complex concepts like game theory, including strategies involving threats, promises, and bluffs.

Founder of Electronic Arts (EA) and 3DO Company