Category: Expectations
-
Limitations of causal reasoning
A few days ago, I wrote about causal and effectual reasoning. You’ll be familiar with these two paths—but having words to describe them really helps. “When you think with causal reasoning, you focus on what you want to do—the desired end goal, or the destination—and then work backwards from that,” I wrote. “Business leaders, managers,…
-
Keep the back up plan a back up plan
The future is unpredictable. It’s always great to have an option, maybe two, in case things don’t go according to plan. That’s why you’d want to have a backup plan. In my freshman year in university, I made a backup plan that took too much of my energy. According to my plan, I would switch…
-
Discovering the work that needs to be made
I’m finally making good progress on the second draft of my next book. It feels good enough to actually discuss—and much less fragile than the first draft. To be precise, it actually feels more like the first draft of the book that it was actually meant to be. “Every block of stone has a statue…
-
Reconsider your definitions
One of my clients was a co-founder of a company that had raised $60 million in funding before they signed on my editorial studio to work with them. We met to discuss the project, and it went well—they liked the strategy and were ready to kick off. Towards the end of the meeting, he wanted…
-
Free lunches
Early in my life, I learned the motto, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” The implied lesson is to be careful around somebody offering you something for free—because there’s usually a hidden cost. They must have something to gain from it, and that’s why they’re giving it to you for free. While that…