I am re-reading my notes from “The Prince.” The ones that resonated with me are below.Teams choose to follow those who will make their life better. Look out for individual contributors who appear to offer your team some relief, they may be leveraging any harms you create to backstab you.If you acquire teams that operate differently from yours, draw bright line. It’s always easier to assimilate groups and teams that operate similarly. To hold on to the new and different groups, you must metaphorically kill their old culture/SOP. Take care of the people who can do you the most damage. The people who are able to hurt you or your customers the most need your attention. Protect and take care of the people who can and do provide you with the most benefits.It’s not a virtuous win if you had to hurt others to win. Though, there may be occasions when a leader must harm in order to win; that win is never a victory. In fact, you may have led that team to their demise. Beware the scars you leave.I really think Machiavelli gets a bad rap. When I read his words, I see cautionary tails versus a playbook. Perhaps, in an esoteric meta way, that’s the point.

It’s hard to understand things that are happening around us. How I see things in the world is not always what things are. Which is ironic as I often write to see life as it is. During moments like that, I am trying to live by a few principles:Watch for how things wash out in the end. Read lots of history. And read all kinds of history — even the history you find reprehensible. However you think it is, you are likely wrong — and that’s fine. Better to remain skeptical about your thoughts than allow yourself to get fooled. Being Curious > making claims. I prefer to be curious about a thing than make claims about a thing (see rule #3).

I’m reminded of this quote from “Why Bad Behavior Becomes a Pattern in a Relationship.”“The rules in any relationship are negotiated and affirmed every day through the actions each party accepts.“Remember: this applies to your relationship with yourself as much, if not more than, your relationship with others.

I am trying to take stock of what all is going on in my life. There’s nothing dire or crazy; but the pressure of things (that are rather light) feels heavy and onerous. This pain in the ass feeling rears it’s ugly head every now and then. I usually have to over-intellectualize myself to work through it. Odd… it’s not an over analysis that gets me into the weirdness, it’s the over analysis that gets me out of it.

I read a piece about Amelia Dimoldenberg, who, for 10 years, produces a YouTube channel chronicling her dates at London chicken shops. Her dates include Elmo, Synthia Erivo, Jennifer Lawrence, Sabrina Carpenter, Ryan Reynolds, and others. I love this show! British humor. I love the dry, awkward, deliciously witty, and absurdity of British humor. The title of the videos, “Chicken Shop Date” alone is hilarious — a chicken shop is not where you go on a first date in London. The Questions! Interviewing is an art. It’s like music. An opening and hard hitting starting question gives way to a meaty answer which gives way to a lighter un-related question which gives way to an out-of-the-box answer which gives way to a harder more cerebral question… the dance continues. Interview shows like “Chicken Shop Date” or “Hot Ones” or even “Between Two Ferns” gives an aspiring interviewer so many ideas for how to engage an interviewee and bring out the best in them.Question: “What object would you be?”Keke Palmer: “A rock…” her explanation is awesome.

I hear this question often: “Why would I want a lizard?” “Why would I go there?” “Why would I…”And I wonder if that’s an unfair question. Unfair because it’s impossible for a respondent to answer that question well. The only good answer I can think of is: “I’m not you, you tell me.”Marketers like to ask a similar question. Why would someone want to buy our product? And to answer that question, they need to have some hypothesis about the purchasing motivations of their target audience. But to the non-marketer or business-person, perhaps that question is rhetorical. Perhaps the esoteric meaning is: that’s a ridiculous suggestion you made, do you even know me. I think I would likely just say that versus using rhetoric. What if the question invites an opportunity to persuade? What if the why would I could be esoterically thought of as an invitation to brainstorm and think of interesting reasons. Unless you knew the asker to be a literal communicator, you might need a lot more context clues to help you know that was the intent. Also, I don’t believe the median person is that literal a communicator. So I’m left wondering, how do I best engage with that question when it’s asked outside of business? The weirdo in me wants to answer literally… but the part of me that desperately wants to crack culture code knows an esoteric meaning may be present. Perhaps my response could be: Why would I want to invest any time figuring out why you would want to join me for coffee? I think I’ve arrived at a conclusion point. Ask people about themselves first and listen. if you can connect someone to a thing that solves a known-problem or indulges a known-interest, connect.If step 2 fails, go back to step 1.

Yesterday, I wrote about a sign in a doctor’s office. The sign signaled that patient privacy is valued. The behavior of the workers at the clinic suggested otherwise. A brand is only as meaningful as an organization’s desire to deliver on it. And if there is no desire to deliver on it, customers pick up the hint and move on. What I don’t understand is that the logic I presented applies to most businesses, but hospital systems exempted? In my mind healthcare, should be one of those things where delivering on a brand promise is life or death.

I walk into a medical clinic and observe a sign that reads: “For patient privacy, please wait here. Thank you.” So I wait. An attendee helps the person in front of me. The attendee speaks loudly enough that I can clearly hear the answers and topics being discussed. I can’t help but wonder: I wonder if the attendee is aware of how loud they are?What’s the point of signaling privacy?What if I highlighted the paradox for the attendee would they care?As I am writhing — writing — this another person walks in. I learn that person’s name and what they’re in for. I learn the name of another person who needs their appointment changed because a provider will be out I learn that another attendee is sick and will be traveling to Miami. And I learn the name of the attendee I suppose this is the experience of the Lincoln Avenue Health Center, a clinic of the Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Memorial Hospital.

Possibly one of the best tv shows I’ve watched in a billion years. I cackle, I laugh obnoxiously loud, and I love how it’s absurd, endearing, physical, quirky, and reflective of what it means to be human. Too often I feel like an alien. I try to allow life get ahead of me and move mindfully through it; but, the second order effect of that is tend to see life as an observer. And, I imagine, aliens must feel like observers. That’s ridiculous, absurd, and — interestingly — human.

I enjoy visiting prediction markets — Polymarket and Kalshi are two examples — every now and then. In some ways, I find these mini-markets about the future more revealing and sobering than reading or listening to 24/7 news. I operate with an understanding that people invest into the things they know. For example: the trending market on Kalshi is “What share of the vote will the AfD get in the German election?” I know nothing about the AfD or what’s going on in Germany; however, I assume that a majority of the people who voted in that market have an idea of what they’re talking about. The market is leaning towards a 66% chance that the AfD will get 20-24.9% of the vote. That’s interesting because it invites a whole host of questions: what’s going on in Germany? Who is the AfD? What are the ramifications of them getting more or less than 20-24.9% share of the vote? What impacts might that have on me? How about best picture at the Oscars. On Kalshi, Anora is given a 75% chance to win best picture. That market is worth 4M dollars — not an insignificant amount of money. I am now curious about “Anora.” I love movies, and haven’t made time to watch it. Maybe I’ll check it out. Lots of hype in US news about the US acquiring Greenland. I don’t know if I have strong enough interest in that topic; however, I see the real and satirical news headlines. How much is hype and how much is real? Where are people putting their money? As of right now, 23 Feb at 4:05am Central, Kalshi shows there’s a 25% chance, and some voters have linked articles to support their votes. How much of the headline is hype and how much is real? I am not an economist, yet I enjoy thinking about price, signals, and markets. And while markets certainly contain noisy data — a bet can be thought of as the sum of the value you place on something plus noise — it appears a lot less noisy than opinion news. Now, time to rent “Anora.”