Our brains are adept at concealing our motives from ourselves, convincing us that we are not as interested in status as we might actually be. This self-deception, paradoxically, enhances our ability to argue our lack of interest in status, which, in turn, can ironically increase our standing within the social group. People are drawn to this perceived humility, further entrenching the intricate and ironic dance of status within human society.
— Will Storr British journalist and author known for investigative reporting and psychology booksAre you the guy who wants to know what he gets at the end of the month? Or are you the guy who says I'll take my chances and will do very well or very badly. If you can make that distinction in your own mind, the rest is up to you. That's where entrepreneurship comes from; it means you can live with risk.
The second big change I foresee is the continued convergence of the complex OTC derivatives market and the exchange traded futures and equity options market. Those lines will continue to blur due to regulation, legislation, increased capital and margin requirements, increased requirements for trade reporting, and increased pre and post trade price transparency in OTC markets.
As founder(s) you cannot be scared of making tough decisions for the good of your business; the longer you let things lie, the tougher (and more expensive) it can be to resolve them.
Older generations give their trust to experts and influencers based on who and what: credibility, qualifications, and institutional affiliations. Younger generations, by contrast, trust based on how someone makes them feel.
I can illustrate the current situation in the form of a story. Two boys were being chased by a Tiger. One boy stops to put on running shoes, and the other boy says, 'What are you doing?' The first boy responds, 'I don't have to outrun the Tiger, I just have to outrun you'.
Today, we have the tools to enable institutions to operate simultaneously at micro and macro scales. We have the tools today to allow us to get smarter faster. But we do have to learn how to do it.
Economics is like artificial intelligence, it's not really there… there's no physical invisible hand…. It's about people interacting with people against a social order, a set of ethics, principles and practices.
Anyone worth following in peak performance will tell you that 90% of human performance is mental. The understanding of that mental aspect of the game is brand-new – perhaps 10-20 years old. The work being done around the neuroscience of performance is creating an unprecedented rate of change; it's honestly off the charts.
It's not that capitalism is failing, but rather that the organisation of capitalism is succumbing to wealth and power. People with extraordinary power and wealth will organise and enforce markets in such a way that it benefits their wealth and adds to their power- it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy- a vicious cycle of more wealth and power.
As comedians, our main charity engagement for such a long time had been the tradition of the Secret Policeman's Ball, a way of saying comedians care… they'll be as funny as they can…. they'll make money for a cause… but the event had close to no connection with the cause at all! When I did Comic Relief, the aim was to be as funny as possible, to get as much of an audience as possible, and leverage the fact that comedians are often seen as people's friends, and normal people, not as intellectuals.
Without what Becker called 'cultural world views' we would be overwhelmed by existential terror. Beliefs about reality that we share foster psychological equanimity by giving us a sense of meaning and value.
When you look at companies that survive growth, you are seeing the importance of people- not just ideas. One of the big surprises to young people when they show up in Silicon Valley... is that there are literally thousands of people just like that across Silicon Valley who were top of their class and have incredible ideas. Successful companies that scale stand out because of their people!