Wisdom in fragments

If you tap out the rhythm to a familiar song, say 'happy birthday…' how often do you think that someone listening to your taps will guess the song? The person tapping usually guesses about 50%, but in reality, it's about 2.5%! You are assuming the other person can hear the song you are tapping!

Harvard Business Review contributor & workplace dynamics expert

There's a concept in psychology called naïve realism. We think we see the world perfectly and assume that everyone sees it the way we do. If they don't? if they disagree? Our assumption is that they are wrong, and that they are misinformed. It's a natural inclination we all have which stops us putting ourselves in the other's shoes.

Harvard Business Review contributor & workplace dynamics expert

We spend so much time at work, so we're going to have relationships with our colleagues – and those relationships may be distanced, troubled or fantastic. When they're positive, they're a source of joy, energy, productivity, and resilience. On the flip side, when those relationships are negative or stressful, they have incredible ramifications for our well-being, productivity, and creativity. Studies show that even when we cut ourselves, it takes longer to heal if we are having animosity in our close relationships!

Harvard Business Review contributor & workplace dynamics expert

Life is moving so fast now. It used to be 50–100-year cycles between great inventions. Now every year we have game-changing inventions and innovations. You might think you're working on something utterly game changing, but there's a chance that a couple of months from now, you will be totally superseded.

Co-Founder of Netflix & Former Redbox CEO

I study history and genealogy – I buy old maps from the 1500s and 1600s, and one thing that's absolutely clear to me is that legacy lasts 50 years maximum. Thinking about legacy in timeframes beyond that is meaningless.

Co-Founder of Netflix & Former Redbox CEO

I remember at Netflix, after we went public, the parking lot changed from old Volvos and station wagons to Mercedes' and BMW's. That really made me happy; not the cars per-say, but the fact that all those families could now send their kids to school and college.

Co-Founder of Netflix & Former Redbox CEO

I've never gone into a startup thinking, 'oh hey, I'm going to disrupt an industry….' I go in trying to solve a problem, and if you can effectively solve a problem, you might end up disrupting a whole industry.

Co-Founder of Netflix & Former Redbox CEO

I define disruption as being where the incumbent players and incumbents somehow deny what their customers are saying or want differently. A disruptor comes in, sees a problem more clearly, and in some cases has more freedom to attack the problem.

Co-Founder of Netflix & Former Redbox CEO

He was just always looking for that hockey stick effect, and he would always tell me, and others, that you might get it 60% right, but go for the 100% right. And that might just be turning one other lever to the right or to the left.

Co-Founder of Netflix & Former Redbox CEO

In 2010, Alibaba started talking about itself as an ecosystem and it invited many of the world's top biologists to come and lecture on how plants, water and animals all interact – and how that could teach a business about how to interact with its' own marketplace.

Alibaba convinced me that it's possible to do good for society, and to do good in business. Traditionally, people thought of social impact as a nice to have, something on the side as part of your 'CSR.' Increasingly, there is a belief that it should be core to a business.

Tai Chi is the physical manifestation of the Taoist philosophy. It represents the union of yin and yang. It allows one to embrace the seeming contradictions in the world, and in business. How do you become a profitable business while also doing good for society? How do you embrace ambiguity while also using scientific thinking?

Jack Ma went to Jonathan and said, Jonathan, what do you know about finance? He said, 'I don't know anything about finance.' Jack said, 'Well, what do you know about PayPal?' – his response, 'I don't know anything about PayPal'. Jack then said, 'Okay, you're hired, we want you to be the CEO of Ali Pay!'.

Alibaba's vision statement includes a mention of how long it wants to last, and that is specifically 102 years. 100 years sounds like a cliché, it doesn't sound special or memorable… 102 years sticks in your mind, and the reason for this specific figure is that Jack Ma wanted Alibaba to be the only internet company that spanned three centuries.

Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. Technology is a great equaliser, and an enabler of opportunity. I saw this first hand and through my work now – whether that's investment or philanthropy, that's the work I want to promote.

We have made the mistake to centralise too much. Whether that's the US federal government or whether that's the EU, I very much believe in the subsidiarity principle, which is we should be deciding things at the lowest possible level.

Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, early Bitcoin and cryptocurrency advocate