Notes

Commonplace Notes

Short-form observations, questions, and evolving ideas. Some arrive finished. Most don’t. The ideas and raw notes that may grow into articles, newsletters, frameworks, or something else entirely.

The marginalia is where the thinking begins.

Strong opinions loosely held

・1 month ago

There is something that Josh Doss said recently that cuts to the core of how I approach my strong opinions:

“Good research conducted by strong researchers is not trying to prove its hypothesis right. Good research is trying to prove its hypothesis wrong…Good research starts with a hypothesis, then pressure tests that hypothesis. And only when it fails to disprove its hypothesis through scientific methods, does it consider or deem its hypothesis to be true.”

Now replace research with opinions.

That’s what strong opinions, loosely held means to me. You’re not trying to find ways to prove yourself right. You’re trying to find ways to make sure you’re not wrong.

Things I wonder in an algorithm-driven:

・1 month ago

Design Thinking

“Is there really this much of an uptick in posts about AI… or do I just think that because that’s what the algorithm is showing me?”

1 annotation

1 month ago

Personal Growth

“Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.” – Napeleon Hill

It’s OK to admit when you don’t know

・2 months ago

Systems Thinking

Anytime I find myself insisting on being “right” in a conversation I try to keep this quote in mind.

One of the great challenges in life is knowing enough to think you’re right, but not knowing enough to know you’re wrong. – Neil Degrasse Tyson

2 annotations

External link

You can be right or you can be effective

・2 months ago

Creativity

“You can be right or you can be happy.”

“Do you want to be right, or do you want to be effective?”

“Do you want to make a point, or make a difference?”

All of these point to the same idea: insisting on being right can get in the way of actually changing minds, building trust, or achieving the outcome you care about.

Attention is the only non-renewable resource

・2 months ago

We talk about time management but the real scarcity is attention. You cannot manufacture more genuine focus. Every notification is a withdrawal from a finite account.

2 annotations

Thoughts On Advice

・9 months ago

Career & Productivity

Sometimes the people most eager to give advice are often the ones who haven’t done any listening yet, while the people who have done the listening tend to offer it more carefully, or wait to be asked.

Be careful with unsolicited advice

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Change Isn’t Easy

・1 year ago

Strong Opinions Loosely Held

・1 year ago

Communication

To me strong opinions are about objective truths. It’s about building a robust foundation for your thoughts. You’ve put in the work, you’ve challenged your assumptions, and you’ve arrived at a conclusion that feels right based on that rigor.

But the secret isn’t that conviction, it’s holding these beliefs loosely. You value them, but you’re not white-knuckling them. You’re willing to set them down, examine them from new angles, and even replace them if something better comes along. The problem is that a lot of us do exactly the opposite. When an opinion or belief doesn’t hold up to scrutiny we hold on even tighter.

Connect the dots for creativity

・6 years ago

Creativity

Someone asked me “how can I be more creative” and my short answer was “read more” It might not seem like it, but the more information you can pull from when you are looking for creative answers, the more material you have at your disposal to create new things.

A focus on idea quantity

・8 years ago

Creativity

You can’t come up with good ideas unless you are willing to have a lot of bad ones too.