Right Attitudes

Ideas for Impact

Nagesh Belludi

What Makes a Great Relationship

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Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things (2014) is one of the best business books I’ve read in a long time. Here’s what he says about how he and Marc Andreessen have worked effectively in partnership across three companies over two decades:

Most business relationships either become too tense to tolerate or not tense enough to be productive after a while. Either people challenge each other to the point where they don’t like each other or they become complacent about each other’s feedback and no longer benefit from the relationship. With Marc and me, even after eighteen years, he upsets me almost every day by finding something wrong in my thinking, and I do the same for him. It works.

Close relationships—at work or home—are tough. Nothing in life prepares you for them. But the intellectual and emotional rewards of close relationships are stimuli enough for navigating these choppy waters.

Disagreement is inevitable, but it is at the heart of creative thinking and problem-solving. An unassuming disagreement—even a misunderstanding—can cause tensions to rise. Differences of opinion can turn into disputes and arguments can cascade into fights, putting a relationship at risk.

The healthiest relationships are built on a strong foundation of mutual respect. A reciprocally beneficial connection entails accepting the others, knowing their goals, supporting them to become the best version of themselves, and wanting to work through difficulties and disagreements.

Wondering what to read next?

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  2. Let Go of Toxic Friendships
  3. The Hidden Influence of Association
  4. Being Underestimated Can Be a Great Thing
  5. Stop Trying to Prove Yourself to the World

The Boeing 737 MAX’s Achilles Heel

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Two thousand nineteen was one of the most turbulent years in Boeing’s history. Its 737 MACS (pardon the pun) troubles went from bad to worse to staggering when aviation regulators around the world grounded the aircraft and a steady trickle of disclosures increasingly exposed software problems and corners being cut.

The flaw in this aircraft, its anti-stall mechanism that relied on data from a single sensor, offers a particularly instructive case study of the notion of single point of failure.

One Fault Could Cause an Entire System to Stop Operating

A single point of failure of a system is an element whose failure can result in the failure of the entire system. (A system may have multiple single points of failure.)

Single points of failures are eliminated by adding redundancy—by doubling the critical components or simply backing them up, so that failure of any such element does not initiate a failure of the entire system.

Boeing Mischaracterized Its Anti-Stall System as Less-than-Catastrophic in Its Safety Analysis

The two 737 MAX crashes (with Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines) originate from a late-change that Boeing made in a trim system called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS.)

Without the pilot’s input, the MCAS could automatically nudge the aircraft’s nose downwards if it detects that the aircraft is pointing up at a dangerous angle, for instance, at high thrust during take-off.

Reliance on One Sensor is an Anathema in Aviation

The MCAS was previously “approved” by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA.) Nevertheless, Boeing made some design changes after the FAA approval without checking with the FAA again. The late-changes were made to improve MCAS’s response during low-speed aerodynamic stalls.

The MCAS system relied on data from just one Angle-of-Attack (AoA) sensor. With no backup, if this single sensor were to malfunction, erroneous input from that sensor would trigger a corrective nosedive just after take-off. This catastrophe is precisely what happened during the two aircraft crashes.

The AoA sensor thus became a single point of failure. Despite the existence of two angle-of-attack sensors on the nose of the aircraft, the MCAS system not only used data from either one of the sensors but also did not expect concurrence between the two sensors to infer that the aircraft was stalling. Further, Lion Air did not pay up to equip its aircraft with a warning light that could have alerted the crew to a disagreement between the AoA sensors.

Boeing Missed Safety Risks in the Design of the MAX’s Flight-Control System

Reliance on one sensor’s data is an egregious violation of a long-standing engineering principle about eliminating single points of failure. Some aircraft use three duplicate systems for flight control: if one of the three malfunctions, if two systems agree, and the third does not, the flight control software ignores the odd one out.

If the dependence on one sensor was not enough, Boeing, blinded by time- and price-pressure to stay competitive with its European rival Airbus, intentionally chose to do away with any reference to MCAS in pilot manuals to spare pilot training for its airline-customers. Indeed, Boeing did not even disclose the existence of the MCAS on the aircraft.

Boeing allows pilots to switch the trim system off to override the automated anti-stall system, but the pilots of the ill-fated Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights failed to do so.

Idea for Impact: Redundancy is the Sine Qua Non of Reliable Systems

In preparation for airworthiness recertification for the 737 MAX, Boeing has corrected the MCAS blunder by having its trim software compare inputs from two AoA sensors, alerting the pilots if the sensors’ readings disagree, and limiting MCAS’s authority.

One key takeaway from the MCAS disaster is this: when you devise a highly reliable system, identify all single points of failure, and investigate how these risks and failure modes can be mitigated. Examine if every component of a product or a service you work on is a single point of failure by asking, “If this component fails, does the rest of the system still work, and, more importantly, does it still do the function it is supposed to do?”

Wondering what to read next?

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  2. The “Ashtray in the Sky” Mental Model: Idiot-Proofing by Design
  3. Many Hard Leadership Lessons in the Boeing 737 MAX Debacle
  4. Situational Blindness, Fatal Consequences: Lessons from American Airlines 5342
  5. How to Guard Against Anything You May Inadvertently Overlook

Inspirational Quotations #822

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Too austere a philosophy makes few wise men; too rigorous politics, few good subjects; too hard a religion, few persons whose devotion is of long continuance.
—Montesquieu (French Political Philosopher)

Of the things men give each other the greatest is loyalty.
—Ben Hecht (American Screenwriter)

Throw out an alarming alarm clock. If the ring is loud and strident, you’re waking up to instant stress. You shouldn’t be bullied out of bed, just reminded that it’s time to start your day.
—Sharon Anderson-Gold (American Philosopher)

In prosperity we need moderation; in adversity, patience.
—Lee Iacocca (American Businessperson)

He who does not accept and respect those who want to reject life does not truly accept and respect life itself.
—Thomas Szasz (Hungarian Psychiatrist)

Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.
—David Ogilvy (British Advertising Executive)

I believe that traditional wisdom is incomplete. A composer can have all the talent of Mozart and a passionate desire to succeed, but if he believes he cannot compose music, he will come to nothing. He will not try hard enough. He will give up too soon when the elusive right melody takes too long to materialize.
—Martin Seligman (American Psychologist)

People are twice as biased as they think they are, which is precisely why biases are dangerous.
—Morgan Housel (American Financial Journalist, Investor)

Not to be able to bear poverty is a shameful thing; but not to know how to chase it away by work is a more shameful thing yet.
—Pericles (Athenian Statesman)

Heaven is at the feet of mothers.
—Persian Proverb

Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.
—Baltasar Gracian (Spanish Philosopher, Prose Writer)

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
—Jack London (American Novelist)

If someday they say of me that in my work I have contributed something to the welfare and happiness of my fellow man, I shall be satisfied.
—George Westinghouse (American Engineer)

Labor is a pleasure in itself.
—Marcus Manilius (Roman Poet)

Charity and personal force are the only investments worth anything.
—Walt Whitman (American Poet)

Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.
—Barbara Kingsolver (American Novelist, Essayist)

How to Develop a Vision for Year 2020?

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Four Rules for Priority-Setting

As you think about what you want to achieve in the New Year, consider these four rules for priority setting laid down by the original management guru Peter Drucker in his seminal The Effective Executive (1966; my summary):

Courage rather than analysis dictates the truly important rules for identifying priorities:

  1. Pick the future as against the past;
  2. Focus on opportunity rather than on problems;
  3. Choose your own direction—rather than climb on the bandwagon; and
  4. Aim high, aim for something that will make a difference, rather than for something that is “safe” and easy to do.

How to Develop a Vision for 2020?

The first thing to do before thinking too far ahead in the future is to identify what success really means to you. Ask yourself, “It’s 31-Dec-2020 and the year 2020 is almost over. I am getting ready to celebrate the turn of the year with a tremendous sense of accomplishment. What have I achieved?”

Visualize a year 2020 wherein everything has turned out the way you’ve wanted. You have given it your best, worked your hardest, and achieved all your goals. Now write down what you imagine.

Take the time to think through and develop a clear picture of where you want yourself and your work- and personal lives to be in three months, six months, and one year.

This exercise is generally effective at helping folks differentiate between tasks that simply feel urgent or top-of-mind from those that are truly important.

Idea for Impact: Getting clear on your vision will help you create a path that feels the most meaningful, stimulating, and fulfilling to you.

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  3. Your To-Do List Isn’t a Wish List: Add to It Selectively
  4. Do Things Fast
  5. What the Dry January Trap Shows Us About Extremes

Our 10 Most Popular Articles of 2019

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Top Blog Articles of 2019 Here are our most popular exclusive features of 2019. Pass this on to your friends; if they like these, they can sign up to receive our RSS feeds or email updates.

  • Stop Searching for the Best Productivity System. Don’t keep looking for “better” ideas instead of settling on a “good enough” idea and then putting it into rigorous practice.
  • Charlie Munger’s Iron Prescription. Nothing deceives you as much as extreme passion. Stay away from extreme ideologies until you’ve examined the opposing viewpoint. Don’t ignore the counterevidence.
  • Do Your Team a Favor: Take a Vacation. When the hardworking manager does go away on vacation, he doesn’t truly get away. By butting in whenever he can, he subtly undermines his team by insinuating that his team members cannot run things on their own.
  • Fire Fast—It’s Heartless to Hang on to Bad Employees. Ending a bad fit sooner is better than doing it later—it’s better for both the employee leaving and the employees remaining. Many fired employees feel surprised that the axe didn’t fall sooner.
  • Ask This One Question Every Morning to Find Your Focus. Starting your day by mulling over on “what should I have achieved today to leave the office with a tremendous sense of accomplishment?” is a wonderful aid in keeping the mind headed in the right direction.
  • Benefits, Not Boasts. A tolerable way to promote yourself without sounding boastful: instead of “I have 15 years of experience in this field,” say, “I bring to you 15 years of experience in this field, promising you that, should any problems surface, I will handle them promptly and proficiently.”
  • Doesn’t Facebook Make You Unhappy? If you find yourself wasting time on social media or getting demotivated, consider using Facebook less or quitting it totally. Shun the narcissistic inclination to publicize the excruciating minutiae of your life to the world. Limiting social media participation can reduce your anxiety about work.
  • Accidents Can Happen When You Least Expect Them. The “overconfidence effect” is a judgmental bias that can cause you to misjudge the likelihood of positive/desirable events as well as negative/undesirable events.
  • Don’t One-up Others’ Ideas. A manager who tends to put his oar in his employees’ ideas and “add too much value” ends up killing their ownership of ideas. This diminishes their motivation and performance.
  • Make Friends Now with the People You’ll Need Later. An essential lesson from Boeing’s 737 MAX debacle: a network of allies and confidants becomes indispensable during a crisis, whether the crisis is self-inflicted or caused by external events.

And here are some articles of yesteryear that continue to be popular:

We wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2020!

Wondering what to read next?

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  2. Book Summary of Oprah Winfrey’s ‘The Path Made Clear’
  3. The Best Way to Achieve Success is to Visualize Success
  4. Transformational Leadership Lessons from Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s Founding Father
  5. Unreliable Narrators Make a Story Sounds Too Neat

Inspirational Quotations #821

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So remarkably perverse is the nature of man, that he despises those that court him, and admires whoever will not bend before him.
—Thucydides (Greek Historian)

Most people repent their sins by thanking God they ain’t so wicked as their neighbors.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (American Humorist)

There is no companion like solitude.
One who knows how to tune himself to the inner silence,
even in the midst of the din and roar of the marketplace,
enjoys a most recreative solitude.
—Swami Chinmayananda (Indian Hindu Teacher)

A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor a learned fool the taste of wisdom.
—Welsh Proverb

Two things we ought to learn from history: one, that we are not in ourselves superior to our fathers; another, that we are shamefully and monstrously inferior to them, if we do not advance beyond them.
—Thomas Arnold (English Educationalist)

If only we’d stop trying to be happy, we’d have a pretty good time.
—Edith Wharton (American Novelist, Short-story Writer)

Life is not so bad if you have plenty of luck, a good physique, and not too much imagination.
—Christopher Isherwood (Anglo-American Novelist, Playwright)

In this world, you must be a bit too kind to be kind enough.
—Pierre de Marivaux (French Dramatist, Author)

Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn’t be done.
—Amelia Earhart (American Aviator)

The value of an idea lies in the using of it.
—Thomas Edison (American Inventor)

You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.
—George Burns (American Comedian)

Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.
—Marcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher)

There is no real wealth but the labor of man.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (English Poet)

Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise, for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.
—Sun Tzu (Chinese Military Leader)

Writing is another powerful way to sharpen the mental saw. Keeping a journal of our thoughts, experiences, insights, and learnings promotes mental clarity, exactness, and context.
—Stephen Covey (American Self-help Author)

I think if you have the opportunity to bully your opponent then you have to take that chance.
—Venus Williams (American Tennis Player)

Books I Read in 2019 & Recommend

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  • Management: Bob Fifer’s How to Double Your Profits in 6 Months or Less (1995) obsesses about cutting costs by any and all means possible. Every corporate resource is a cost-center that must be pared down to the bone—unless it brings in business or improves the bottom line. This obscure book has instigated systematic cost-consciousness in many large firms that have bloated cost structures in today’s hypercompetitive business environment. [Read my summary.]
  • 'Hit Refresh' by Satya Nadella (ISBN 0062959727) Leadership: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s Hit Refresh (2017) recounts his remarkable empathy-centric revamp of the culture of a company that had become set in its ways. Nadella is an exemplar of a leader as a sense-maker. His narrative arc shifts from a personal memoir to a management how-to, and then to technological futurism. [Read my summary.]
  • Self-Help: Greg McKeown’s Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (2014) is an excellent reminder of the wisdom to think through—and act upon—what really matters. “A rich, meaningful life entails the elimination of the non-essential.” A simple life is a good life. [Read my summary.]
  • Self-Help: Robert Maurer’s One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way (2004) conceives transformative change as a cumulative, gradual process of small improvements. One small step leads to the next, which leads to one more, and so on. “Small Kaizen actions disarm the brain’s fear response … and satisfy your brain’s need to do something and soothe its distress.” [Read my summary.]
  • 'The Singapore Story' by Lee Kuan Yew (ISBN 9780060197766) Leadership: Singapore Founding Father Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs are The Singapore Story (1998,) From Third World to First (2000,) and One Man’s View of the World (2013.) Lee is one of the most competent leaders the world has ever seen. He was an autocratic pragmatist—a strong-willed, visionary leader who got it done. While considering Lee’s legacy, one needs to acknowledge his incredible achievements while refusing to close one’s eyes to certain lapses. He once remarked, “We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.” [Read about the key lessons that Lee had to teach.]
  • Science History: Richard L. Hills’s Power from Steam: A History of the Stationary Steam Engine (1989) traces the arc of development of the technique to harness the properties of steam. Steam-powered mechanical devices became the driving force of the Industrial Revolution and led to innovations that became the bedrock of modern civilization. [Read this case study about insights into creativity.]
  • Management: Julie Zhuo’s Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You (2019) chronicles her experiences from ramping-up into management and getting to know herself better. This excellent primer for novice managers offers many hard-earned insights that only time in the trenches can reveal. “Being a manager is a highly personal journey, and if you don’t have a good handle on yourself, you won’t have a good handle on how to best support your team.” [Read my summary.]
  • 'Collision on Tenerife' by Jon Ziomek (ISBN 1682617734) Aviation History: Jon Ziomek’s Collision on Tenerife (2018) analyzes the world’s worst aviation disaster caused by small errors that became linked up and amplified into a big tragedy. He provides a comprehensive picture of the importance of protocols and expounds on how some humans can freeze in shock while others spring into action. [Read my summary.]

See, also, my book recommendations from 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014.

The four books I re-read every year are Benjamin Graham’s Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor, Phil Fisher’s Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, and Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.

You may be interested in my article on how to process that pile of books you can’t seem to finish and my article on why we read self-help books.

I wish you all very enlightening reads in 2020! Recall the words of the American philosopher Mortimer J. Adler, who said, “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.”

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Books I Read in 2020 & Recommend
  2. Do Self-Help Books Really Help?
  3. Crucible Experiences Can Transform Your Leadership Skills
  4. Books I Read in 2017 & Recommend
  5. Elevate Timing from Art to Science // Book Summary of Daniel Pink’s ‘When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing’

Inspirational Quotations #820

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Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
—Calvin Coolidge (American Head of State)

The spirit of politeness is a desire to bring about by our words and manners, that others may be pleased with us and with themselves.
—Montesquieu (French Political Philosopher)

The human condition is such that pain and effort are not just symptoms which can be removed without changing life itself; they are the modes in which life itself, together with the necessity to which it is bound, makes itself felt. For mortals, the “easy life of the gods” would be a lifeless life.
—Hannah Arendt (German-American Political Theorist)

Hope is a very unruly emotion.
—Gloria Steinem (American Feminist)

Life is life – whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man’s own advantage.
—Sri Aurobindo (Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet)

It’s easy to be liked: listen more than talk, praise often, and disagree rarely. The question is, is it worth the loss of integrity?
—Marty Nemko (American Career Coach, Author)

Healing yourself is connected with healing others.
—Yoko Ono (Japanese Artist, Musician)

Anything whatsoever may become the subject of a novel, provided only that it happens in this mundane life and not in some fairyland beyond our human ken.
—Murasaki Shikibu (Japanese Diarist, Novelist)

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.
—John Kenneth Galbraith (American Economist)

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.
—John Stuart Mill (English Philosopher, Economist)

Happy those who here on earth have dreamt of a higher vision! They will the sooner be able to endure the glories of the world to come.
—Novalis (German Romantic Poet)

The finest fury is the most controlled.
—Christopher Hitchens (Anglo-American Social Critic)

Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (Roman Stoic Philosopher)

There is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time in the midst of wretchedness.
—Dante Alighieri (Italian Poet, Philosopher)

How to Stop “Standing” Meetings from Clogging Up Your Time

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Monthly staff conferences, progress updates, weekly sales calls, and other regularly scheduled “standing” meetings, essential though they may be, tend to be wasteful, especially so when they’re convened per tradition and attended out of an obligation.

The beginning of the year is a great time to examine all the standing meetings that you’re invited to. Review your calendar and consider the RoI of each standing meeting. Make each one of those meetings defend the use of your time—and your employees’ time.

Ask how else you could accomplish the goals of each meeting efficiently. If you must hold a meeting, remind all its participants of the reasons for gathering, and check if the meeting—and the frequency—still serves that purpose. Rewrite the charter of these meetings if necessary. Look at ways to complete the meetings more efficiently—perhaps in half the time, half as frequently, or with half the people.

For instance, a design team may convene for twice-a-week status reports at the project launch while there may be many decisions to make. Once the early frenzy subsides, only a monthly meeting may be justified, complemented by frequent status updates shared via email.

Idea for Impact: Don’t keep going to every meeting just because you’re invited, or because you think you have to.

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  4. Fear of Feedback: Won’t Give, Don’t Ask
  5. How to … Deal with Meetings That Get Derailed

A Guide to Your First Management Role // Book Summary of Julie Zhuo’s ‘The Making of a Manager’

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First-time managers are often unprepared for—even unaware of—the responsibilities and challenges of being a manager. This is particularly true at fledging startups that don’t have bonafide HR departments to guide their novice managers nor can afford management coaches. Besides, it takes a new boss a year or two to learn the basics and become comfortable in his/her new role.

When Facebook was small enough and “the entire company could fit into a backyard party,” 25-year old product designer Julie Zhuo was asked to become a manager. Zhuo had started at Facebook as its first intern and then gone full-time. Having no prior managerial experience, she acted how she thought managers were supposed to act and made many mistakes. In due course, she found joy in the role, expanded her skill set, and evolved to become Facebook’s VP of product design.

In The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You (2019,) Zhuo has chronicled her experiences from ramping-up into management and getting to know herself better. It’s the book she wishes had been there for the novice manager that she was.

Zhuo offers many hard-earned insights that only time in the trenches can reveal:

  • Operate from first principles. “Your job, as a manager, is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together.”
  • Not everyone is cut out for a managerial responsibility. “Being a manager is a highly personal journey, and if you don’t have a good handle on yourself, you won’t have a good handle on how to best support your team.”
  • Let go of your old “individual contributor” role and make the shift to being the boss. Don’t spend time trying to do the work. Invest your time in coaching, supporting, and developing employees. Don’t run interference between them.
  • Discover your decision-making proclivities. Map out your strengths and weaknesses. “Great management typically comes from playing to your strengths rather than from fixing your weaknesses.”
  • Realize that the source of your power as a manager is everything but formal authority. Respect trumps popularity.
  • Don’t manage everyone in the same way. Learn to appreciate how distinctive each individual is in what he/she wants from work and what animates him/her to work well.
  • Trust is a critical ingredient in relationships. “Invest time and effort into creating and maintaining trusting relationships where people feel they can share their mistakes, challenges, and fears with you.”

'The Making of a Manager' by Julie Zhuo (ISBN 0735219567) Zhuo offers practical—if basic, but sufficient—advice for setting a vision, assessing the culture, delegating problems, giving feedback, aligning expectations, setting priorities, establishing a network of allies and confidants, hiring cleverly, and other responsibilities of leading a team. She delves into many difficult circumstances she’s encountered, e.g., handling previously-peers-now-employees whom she passed over for a promotion.

Recommendation: The Making of a Manager is an excellent primer for novice managers. It offers an insightful, practical, and relevant playbook for making the transition from being an outstanding individual contributor to becoming a good manager of others.

Complement with Andy Grove’s High Output Management (1983,) Loren Belker et al.’s The First-Time Manager (2012,) and Michael Watkins’s The First 90 Days (2013.)

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  3. Direction + Autonomy = Engagement
  4. Never Criticize Little, Trivial Faults
  5. Fire Fast—It’s Heartless to Hang on to Bad Employees