Money and Finance
- Links, And A Few Comments
The Motley Fool interviews Sanjay Bakshi (LINK) Focusing on the Investment Process (LINK) Economic Inequality: The Simplified Version - by Paul Graham (LINK) Nassim Nicholas Taleb on the Real Financial Risks of 2016 (LINK) Teams of foxes make...
- Only Fools Claim To Know The Future – By John Kay
At this season it is customary to look back on the achievements of the year that is past and to consider what may unfold in the year to come. Nate Silver, the young statistician who became an unexpected hero of 2012, is relevant to both exercises. Many...
- Philip Tetlock: Why Foxes Are Better Forecasters Than Hedgehogs
Found via The Big Picture. Why Foxes Are Better Forecasters Than Hedgehogs from The Long Now Foundation on FORA.tv ………………. Related previous post: Hedgehogs and Foxes ...
- Seth Klarman Quote And Some Thoughts On Deliberate Practice In Investing
“To achieve long-term success over many financial market and economic cycles, observing a few rules is not enough. Too many things change too quickly in the investment world for that approach to succeed. It is necessary instead to understand the rationale...
- Is The Chinese Bubble Ready To Burst?
Thanks to Phil for passing this along. The discussion of whether or not the Chinese economy is a bubble destined to collapse, or if the recent rash of media over empty cities and spiraling food costs are merely sensationalistic hype masking an unstoppable...
Money and Finance
All Hail the Generalist - By Vikram Mansharamani
Found via @farnamstreet.
We have become a society of specialists. Business thinkers point to "domain expertise" as an enduring source of advantage in today's competitive environment. The logic is straightforward: learn more about your function, acquire "expert" status, and you'll go further in your career.
But what if this approach is no longer valid? Corporations around the world have come to value expertise, and in so doing, have created a collection of individuals studying bark. There are many who have deeply studied its nooks, grooves, coloration, and texture. Few have developed the understanding that the bark is merely the outermost layer of a tree. Fewer still understand the tree is embedded in a forest.
Approximately 2,700 years ago, the Greek poet Archilochus wrote that "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." Isaiah Berlin's 1953 essay "The Fox and the Hedgehog" contrasts hedgehogs that "relate everything to a single, central vision" with foxes who "pursue many ends connected...if at all, only in some de facto way." It's really a story of specialists vs. generalists.
In the six decades since Berlin's essay was published, hedgehogs have come to dominate academia, medicine, finance, law, and many other professional domains. Specialists with deep expertise have ruled the roost, climbing to higher and higher positions. To advance in one's career, it was most efficient to specialize.
For various reasons, though, the specialist era is waning. The future may belong to the generalist. Why's that?
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Related previous posts:
Philip Tetlock: Why Foxes Are Better Forecasters Than Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs and Foxes
Related book: Boombustology
- Links, And A Few Comments
The Motley Fool interviews Sanjay Bakshi (LINK) Focusing on the Investment Process (LINK) Economic Inequality: The Simplified Version - by Paul Graham (LINK) Nassim Nicholas Taleb on the Real Financial Risks of 2016 (LINK) Teams of foxes make...
- Only Fools Claim To Know The Future – By John Kay
At this season it is customary to look back on the achievements of the year that is past and to consider what may unfold in the year to come. Nate Silver, the young statistician who became an unexpected hero of 2012, is relevant to both exercises. Many...
- Philip Tetlock: Why Foxes Are Better Forecasters Than Hedgehogs
Found via The Big Picture. Why Foxes Are Better Forecasters Than Hedgehogs from The Long Now Foundation on FORA.tv ………………. Related previous post: Hedgehogs and Foxes ...
- Seth Klarman Quote And Some Thoughts On Deliberate Practice In Investing
“To achieve long-term success over many financial market and economic cycles, observing a few rules is not enough. Too many things change too quickly in the investment world for that approach to succeed. It is necessary instead to understand the rationale...
- Is The Chinese Bubble Ready To Burst?
Thanks to Phil for passing this along. The discussion of whether or not the Chinese economy is a bubble destined to collapse, or if the recent rash of media over empty cities and spiraling food costs are merely sensationalistic hype masking an unstoppable...