I am a firm believer in creating value the old-fashioned way (heavy lifting/long term view). In my opinion, while ‘financial engineering’ can be a tool, it is a dangerous one and one that is used far too often. With this background (disclosure) in place, I continue with the story of how the Grinch stole my Christmas.
So often we enter into stressful situations assuming we are as ill-prepared as the scenario in our headline. In fact, there is considerable evidence that we have many more arrows in our quiver than we anticipate.
It is hard to think of a better concept for the times we live in other than the single word in our title - change. There are (many) quotes to come, but at this point, I can’t help but think of Marcus Aurelius who wrote that “change is nature’s delight” thus illustrating that change is actually woven into the universe.
This article we are focused on the concept of people’s inhumanity to people – obviously in the context of world events, but also in a context that is still ‘closer to home’ with arguably a direct impact on even more individuals.
An important perspective related to decision-making is cognitive dissonance which is generally described as habitual ways of thinking that are negatively biased. The following can serve as a ‘field guide’ of landmines for new and experienced investors and managers to keep in mind.
As I write this article, more (and more) bad/depressing news continues to surface related to wars, famines, paradigms that are disintegrating, etc. While I have works-in-progress related to these situations, I thought it made sense to start on my ‘home turf’ – that is business.
In terms of ‘targets’, I have decided to take a different orientation than previous articles. Rather than go beyond the inward facing – self-actualization, etc. context, this article will speculate that maybe the answer is: not looking “in” but looking “out”.
I have lost track of how many times I have thought (and written) that I was ‘coming to the end’ of my “COVID series”. As depressing as that may be – as I look back on initiatives to date, perhaps there has been a ‘silver lining’ in that we have had ample reason to become more familiar with coping mechanisms (arrows) and positive states of mind (targets).