What We’re Reading

A few good pieces the Collaborative team came across this week …

Efficiency:

Total efficiency constrains us. We become super invested in maintaining the status quo because that is where we excel. Innovation is a threat. Change is terrifying. Being perfect at something is dangerous if it’s the only thing you can do.

Strategy:

And what if it doesn’t work this way and all of the believers [who think you can do anything if you believe in it enough], myself included, are just kidding themselves?

My answer to that is “So what.” Not with a question mark, but with a period. So what. There are a million other ways you can go through life and business, but having this attitude is probably the best. It’ll make people want to root for you and to be around you. If you act in accordance with this belief, you will not be afraid to say what needs to be said, to ask for what needs to be asked for, to go out on that limb that others wouldn’t dare attempt.

Legend:

Steven Pruitt has made nearly 3 million edits on Wikipedia and written 35,000 original articles … one-third of all English language articles on Wikipedia have been edited by Steven.

Intangible:

Intangible assets now make up 84 percent of the market value of the S&P 500. That’s up from just 17 percent in 1975. We investors clearly value things like investment in brands, new business processes, skills development for employees, R&D, etc., as drivers of future value. In other words, we believe these investments will create revenues in the future. But accounting can’t figure out how to value those non-tangible assets, so it treats those investments as expenses. That just doesn’t make sense.

Rest:

Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, the district moved the official start times for middle and high schools nearly an hour later, from 7:50 a.m. to 8:45 a.m … This boosted their total nightly sleep from 6 hours and 50 minutes to 7 hours and 24 minutes … The study also found an improvement in grades and a reduction in tardiness and absences.

Schedules:

Buffett has spent most of his time reading and thinking since he was in grade school. Having more money or managing a large company doesn’t magically give you free time. People don’t just fall into huge blocks of free time unless they retire. Rather, free time is the result of strategy. It’s the result of looking at time differently.

Have a good weekend.