We go to war not because we ignore the costs, but because we know there are costs, but we are willing to pay those costs because we get something from the war which we wouldn't get otherwise.
— Christopher BlattmanModern society, specifically the modern economy, is very mobile. Our friendships and social networks become very quickly dispersed. At any one time, we build friendships and relationships with people and, for example, due to work, move on.
Why does this matter? Because when you're mindless—assuming 1+1 is always 2—you don't notice context, and you don't have choices. But when you're mindful, you do. If someone asks you how much 1+1 is, you get to decide: do I answer 1, 2, 10, or something else? You become aware, engaged, and flexible.
It's hard to predict risks, but easy to understand resilience, and frighteningly, we're living in a world that is less resilient than I've ever experienced in my lifetime.
A good deal of hip hop speaks and has always spoken openly and in depth about aspects of black urban poverty, particularly the grip that street culture has on many young people.
I nearly died several times. I shared everything openly with everyone. I shared how my whole thought process and character had completely changed in that expedition, but also how my own purpose had completely changed.
I find it fascinating that human beings seem like their default recreation is sedation. People are terrified, they don't like fear. They're literally bubble wrapping themselves. If you never face real fear, then you're going to weaken yourself.
Management that is forced into near time results and paybacks is not tuned for the sort of messages that design has to offer––those of long term customer relationships, of innovative approaches to creating desirable uniqueness.
Any time you get angry, frustrated or disappointed, it's worth remembering that those emotions are just a first draft. You would never publish a draft version of your blog, right? The same is true of emotion- a lot of people just go ahead and 'publish' – internalising how they feel – without stopping for a second and thinking that maybe they ought to do a revision.
Most people think of entrepreneurs as someone who starts a company, but to me? Entrepreneurship is really about problem solving. People can (roughly) be divided into three categories. The first category are people who can tell you all the problems in the world! The second group of people are those who invent, innovate and find solutions to these problems. The third group, entrepreneurs, are those people who don't talk about the problem or solution but go out and solve it.
Philanthropy is very much like business, there's not such a huge difference. In business you have a mission statement, in philanthropy you have a vision. I believe in philanthropy we want to do things that give back as much as we give, otherwise it doesn't have permanence.
If you are able to share the things you're scared people will find out? That's real transparency, and that's how you earn the trust that transparency can bring, but if it doesn't feel uncomfortable, it's just marketing.
I think you'll see strong growth in the markets in developing economies like Brazil, India, China, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore and places like that. In that sense, it will be a larger market- a growing pie- risk in that sense will be distributed more.