Blog

Justin Welsh on X wrote about how “curiosity seems to always be the beginning of competence”.

His point was that if someone is curious, they’ll usually figure out the problem, and ultimately find success.

It raises a good question: what’s better to hire for first, curiosity or competence? And does the answer change if you’re optimising for the long term?

I was recently speaking with a reader and good friend, Barry.

In our conversation he said something that stood out to me, “Just put one foot in front of the other, and if you find you’re dancing on jello, that’s fine. You’ll figure it out.”

Dancing is better than walking.


Jello is better than mud.

Barry brought a bit of joy, whimsy, and levity to the metaphor that helped me see the journey with greater positivity. Thanks, Barry!

Note: Barry has been a long time reader, but and even longer term writer. He recently reached 3,000 posts on his blog, The Quotable Coach. It’s an extraordinary feat of consistency over the past 12 years.

I had an interesting conversation with friends the other day over coffee. We were debating whether it is ever OK to lose your temper in a professional setting.

There was a bit of back and forth, but the group quickly settled on the conclusion that it’s not OK.

In the heat of the moment, letting out some steam by raising one’s voice can feel justified—especially if it’s a high pressure situation or the team has made a big mistake—but we concluded that the lost respect, the damage to relationships, and the long term repercussions always make it a bad choice.

We agreed that there is never a good enough reason to lose our temper.

It’s a short term itch, with a long term scar.

One of the benefits of keeping a daily blog is reminding myself of important lessons.

One that continues to come to mind—which is also one that I wrote about earlier this year—is the Rule of Thirds.

When working towards an ambitious goal, one of our every three days should feel good, one out of every three days should feel OK, and one out of every three days should feel hard.

If all the days feel good, we’ve set the bar too low. If all the days feel hard, we’re likely aiming too high. And if all the days feel OK, then are we really working towards something worth doing?

It’s OK to have hard days, in fact, they’re the signal that we’re on the right track. Just make sure to keep an eye on the proportion.

Charlie Munger’s clarity of thought was like a breath of fresh air when I first started reading his speeches and books back when I was 25.

He had a profound grasp on the world and how things really worked—this was often quoted as ‘uncommon common sense’.

As the godfather of mental models, he’s responsible for popularising them, and for inspiring the writing and thinking of dozens of people that I look up to.

Munger’s humour was also sharp and non-apologetic. I often found myself rewinding clips to either chuckle a second time, or to ensure that I actually got the nuance.

Making it to 99 years old, Charlie lived a great life. His thinking and approach to life and business will continue to inspire me for the rest of mine. Of that I’m sure.

RIP Charlie.

You can either make your customer service great…

Or you can cut corners, optimise for the short term, create frustration, ignore the feedback, and simply not care.

The market eventually sniffs out the bad firms, but the good ones sail on through.

A childhood friend of mine, Anthony, passed away tragically in a canyoning accident when we were 16 years old. Today would’ve been his 32nd birthday.

We were born four days apart. Our mothers were recovering in the same maternity hospital, so they put us in a crib together as they sat and chatted nearby.

Anthony and I went to primary school together, had joint birthday parties, and played on the same sports teams.

He was going to be a chef. It was the only thing he ever wanted to do. He’d bake a marble cheesecake and bring in to class every year for his birthday.

He was preparing to go to culinary school.

Anthony was a giant—we often joked about how I only came up to his shoulders. Yet, he was soft spoken; never using his towering height to impose his will on anyone.

Orange was his favourite colour.


Since Anthony passed, I formed a close friendship with his older brother, Marcus. Each time we meet, we always remember Anthony.

Ant, I hope you’re well up there, Big Guy.

If we succeed, it’s the team’s win.


If we fail, it’s my mistake.

The point of having gears on a bike is not about travelling faster or slower, but about maintaining a steady pace and effort expenditure regardless of the gradient or terrain.

While cycling up a hill in Central London, it got me thinking about how we should all have our own internal gears. Not every problem we work on is equal. Some challenges are steeper or more difficult than others.

We should adapt our effort to each challenge. Rising to the occasion when we need to, but also taking it easier when there isn’t a fire.

Ask for advice from enough people and eventually the advice will conflict.

Not everyone can be correct.

Adding too many sounding boards to the mix can create an overwhelming amount of noise.

However, finding and filtering for the signal is where most of the value lies.

OK Go is a band more famous for their music videos than their music. It all started with treadmills in their song ‘Here it goes again’, and moved to progressively more ambitious videos as the years have gone on; with their most famous video being a 3-minute Rube Goldberg machine.

They also share videos with more behind the scenes commentary about how their music videos are made. In revealing how the sausage gets made, they give an insight into the level of thought, preparation, and dedication required for their videos. I particularly enjoyed this one from their zero gravity music video for their song ‘Upside Down Inside Out’. Enjoy!

As we get further and further into winter, we hold out as long as we can. We layer up, put on additional sweaters, and try keep the heaters off.

But eventually, the cold gets in. We turn on the heaters and let the flat warm up.

There’s a little winter defeat in this moment, but it’s followed by gratitude that each distinct season marks the passing of time. And although winter can be a drag, spring and summer aren’t too far away.

For Formula 1 cars, it’s not their speed on straights that is impressive, but rather their speed in the corners. The aerodynamic design of the cars mean they’re able to carry more speed through corners than any other cars on the planet. At the speeds they travel, it’s baffling that all four wheels remain on the ground.

I find it a helpful metaphor for my own work and projects. Anyone can put their foot to the floor and travel fast in a straight line, this is when the work is clear and easy. But it takes great skill to design a machine that can carry speed through the corners, and in life and in business, there are always unexpected corners.

By the time I walked in to the Delhi bar to catch the end of the Cricket World Cup Final, the energy had long since dissipated.

Australia’s probable win had now become an inevitability. They just needed to avoid grievous errors, and the victory would be theirs.

The hundreds of people watching the screens were deflated. This was their World Cup to win, on their home soil, and to miss out at the final step was tough. It reminded me of my own disappointment from a few weeks ago with the Rugby World Cup final.

All of it made me think: that’s just sport. Sometimes we get the fairytale we want, and other times it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

When we’re trying to do something new—say, writing a novel, recording a song, or launching a new product—we have to be willing to be wrong alone.

Being wrong is bearable.

So is being alone.

But being wrong alone is much harder than the sum of the above.

It’s an often-forgotten risk of trying to do something that hasn’t been done before.