Weekly Wisdom #288 - Nice vs. Kind, Generalists vs. Specialists, Venture-Backed vs. Bootstrapped and Work-Life Balance

Nice vs. Kind, Generalists vs. Specialists, Venture-Backed vs. Bootstrapped and Work-Life Balance

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Happy Monday!

Last week I was having a discussion about professional reputations with a colleague.

It prompted me to ask: "what's MY reputation?"

Their response: "are you sure you want to know?"

I told them about this line from Shane Parrish's Clear Thinking:

"Too often, the people we ask for feedback are kind but not nice. Kind people will tell you things a nice person will not."

Being nice is telling people what they want to hear. Trying to avoid hurting their feelings.

Being kind is about sharing the truth, even if it's difficult to hear.

In short, I wanted them to be kind. Regardless of what my reputation was, it's better to know the truth than have a sugar-coated version of it.

Being nice is the default for most colleagues, friends, and even family. They sugar-coat things to make you feel better, or to avoid conflict.

Of course, there are times when that's correct. But most of us could use more kindness.

Part of that is on us too: we have to give others permission to be honest, not to say what they think we want to hear.

Next time you're looking for an honest opinion, explain you're looking for someone to be kind, not nice.

Have a great week!

Graham

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Links

📚 Book Notes: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World - David Epstein - I've been surrounded by specialists lately—successful ones—and so I'm revisiting my notes on this one to remember how being a generalist can be powerful.

It's not hard to feel left behind when someone else has spent their 20s getting educated in a single field, or when someone has 20 years experience in a specific job role.

Epstein's book is a reminder that lots of innovation comes with combining knowledge from different fields, and in fact, specialization often leads to blind spots that generalists avoid.

📖 Confessions of a Middle-Class Founder - Intelligencer - Anonymous writing lacks accountability, but it also produces pieces which are startlingly clear. This is one of the latter.

From the reasons that many people start companies (status) to the general feeling inside many companies today (like they missed the big exit), this piece gives a lot to think about for those interested in starting companies.

I also enjoyed this line about customers:

"I learned most customers are indifferent as long as the job gets done, about 20 percent are discerning but reasonable, and 3 percent will drive you nuts (no amount of support will satisfy them because the product they really need is therapy)."

📖 Peter Thiel Is Taking a Break From Democracy - Barton Gellman - The Atlantic - Thiel has long been a controversial figure, known for his contrarian views, including backing Donald Trump in the 2016 election.

He also wrote Zero to One, an excellent book about building new companies.

Clearly a smart person, this profile also goes to show that holding contrarian views (even if correct) often comes with holding many that are probably incorrect, and outlandish.

I sympathize with his desire to see humanity work on more important things, but this article is a good reminder that even the smartest and wealthiest people aren't often clear on everything.

🔧 Kyugo - The tagline for this app is "Your work-life balance guardian."

I've seen all kinds of calendar apps, but this is one of the most unique, with the central feature being a circular calendar instead of the one we've become used to.

The ability to auto-schedule things has been offered by many apps, though I find that breaks down a bit when you don't have control over much of your day (or at least offers less value).

That said, I plan to try this app soon.

Tweet of the Week

I think this is one of those truths that once you hear it you go "oh yeah, makes sense."

The most memorable periods of my own life were the ones where the number of new experiences were high: new places, new activities, new friends.

Amanda Goetz-->

@AmandaMGoetz

Recently learned our second half of life feels faster because we experience less things “for the first time”.

60% of our days are spent in habit loops / auto-pilot.

Determined to seek out and soak in new experiences.

8:5 AM • Nov 11, 2023

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