What I'm Up To - Vol. 50
Here’s what I’ve bee up to since Vol. 49…
1. Triangulating Truth in Truthy Times
With a nod to Stephen Colbert, we wrote about “truthiness” in The One Thing. His 2005 parody of “experts” who value feelings over facts was ahead of its time. Today, many of us face uncomfortable conversations with those we love and respect but who inhabit a seemingly alternative universe. How did we get here? And how do we get out?
Without taking sides, here are a few ideas from my readings:
- Stop seeing the world in binary terms. We tend to see the world as “we’re right and they’re wrong.” Whether we’re talking about vaccinations, personal freedom, or immigration, there are many valid perspectives. When people are presented with the idea that an issue is complex and multifaceted, they are almost 50% more likely to find common ground.
- Understand, you may be wrong. First, we are all wrong frequently. You can probably remember something or someone you believed in your youth that makes you cringe now. Being wrong doesn’t make us stupid. That’s just human. Refusing to imagine we could ever be wrong, is a recipe for idiocy. And we get better by reconsidering our positions and improving our perspectives.
- Give yourself (and others) some grace. There is a witch’s brew of biases that make it harder than ever to see the truth. The most obvious are confirmation bias and desirability bias. In the first, we tend to cherry-pick facts to support our existing view and, in the latter, we’re more attracted to arguments that we think make us look better. We’re more tribal than ever. So “social proof” kicks in because our friend groups tend to be fairly homogeneous. All this can add up to an echo chamber of our own design--a near-perfect Petri dish to cultivate in-bred ideas….
- Separate reporting from opinion. I blame Ted Turner. The 24-hour news cycle has never had enough news to fill it. All that empty space is filled with talking heads who opine on the few facts that are available. At best, maybe they stage a debate by bringing in some opposing views. Sometimes, this is amazing, and we hear compelling arguments from both sides. Usually, they trot in a professional patsy. (FYI -- The Washington Generals beat the Harlem Globetrotters 3 times in over 19,000 games.) It’s entertaining but it’s not really a contest.
- Get curious about the opposing view. For a little over a year, I’ve been reading the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Now, I’ve seen both respond to the policies of Trump’s and Biden’s presidency. The reported facts are more similar than you might imagine but the selections of photos, quotes, and headlines veer to opposite extremes. And the prevalence of clickbait “opinion” pieces highlights the intellectual divide. Reading opposing views hasn’t changed my viewpoint too much. It has however helped me better understand alternative perspectives.
- I’m not a psychologist but I have spent a lot of time trying to excavate the truth for our books. Anything worthwhile in the above, I’ll credit to time spent studying Adam Grant's Think Again, Annie Duke's Thinking in Bets, and Charlie Munger’s Mental Frameworks. Any errors of interpretation are my own.
- I’ll leave you with this powerful question Grant invites us to ask when we’re entrenched in our own view: “What evidence would change your mind?”
2. 50 Trips Around the Sun (and Other Wins)
When an acrobat tumbled or an animal ran wild, 19th-century circus performers were taught to keep going lest they alarm the crowd. Thus, the origin of the “show must go on.” That pretty much summed up our August when the Delta Variant crashed our reopening the country party. In any case here are some highlights.
- Wendy turned 50 on 17th and, to be honest, we celebrated on at least three occasions. We opened presents at home on her actual birthday, had a special meal at Odd Duck with the kids the following night, a week later celebrated with a smallish group of friends at Rosewood. Gus gave his mom a coupon jar filled with family activities. The best was an edict that whenever she walked in the room, we had to rise and enthusiastically declare, “All hail Lord Business, long may she reign!”
- I needed to visit the ranch for some chores and Gus volunteered to come for a guy’s weekend. His wanting to spend time with dad made my month. We assembled a bunch of new targets for the shooting range and had a fine time plinking with our pistols. He’s a fine shot, and his gun safety is top-notch. We grilled steaks, watched Tenet and read books on the porch when it rained. Happy dad.
- KW promoted me to VP of Strategic Content. The title reflects a narrower focus on books, select courses, podcasts and a new project I can’t yet share. They also brought on James Shaw, a fantastic leader, to work with our training team. I’ll miss getting to work with our instructional designers but I’m also excited to announce several new initiatives in the coming months. Impact is one of my core values and I feel like this role positions me to deliver.
- Six years ago, I almost left Austin. The Hill Country is famous for barbecue, live music and many other things. It’s also notoriously the allergy capital of the universe. I started taking sublingual allergy drops each morning and I’m happy to report that my allergist has declared me cured. No more sniffling. No more red eyes and dry coughs. And no more cortisone injections or antihistamines!
- After taking a year off for Covid, my pals assembled again (15th year for me, 22nd for the league) for our annual fantasy football auction draft.
- I also got notice that my Bronco (4-door Outer Banks) has been scheduled for production! I haven’t had a new ride since 2010.
3. MegaCamp Week
Three weeks out, we pivoted from a hybrid event to a fully digital mid-year convention. Once again our team delivered. We hosted a special mastermind at the Moody Theater for our top 500 agents and teams, with an all-star line-up that included Kendra Scott.
MegaCamp followed the next day with over 19,000 digital attendees, some of whom streamed to remote watch parties. So I’d guess we reached about 30,000.
The events and tech teams created an amazing set with huge screens where we could interact with attendees. Easily the coolest experience I’ve had on stage.
That week, I actually presented for five days at four events in three cities. Needless to say, it was fulfilling and exhausting.
4. Unwinding
For a busy month, we still found time to relax. Some of that time was spent watching shows and reading.
For fiction, I enjoyed Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and have added the HBO miniseries to my cue. I raced through another Blake Crouch thriller, Run. I’m not sure why I’m drawn to dark thrillers. Maybe they help keep the daily grind in perspective? For non-fiction, I soaked up Adam Grant’s Think Again. As I noted in my PSA above, he offers many useful tips for opening our minds to new information and communicating in these troubling times. It’s a five-star read for sure. Finally, I enjoyed How to be Fearless by Jessica Hagy. For years, I followed her blog, Indexed. Her clever wisdom is highly visual and digestible. Pick it up and you’ll know what I mean.
We took the whole family to the Alamo Drafthouse to watch The Suicide Squad. We enjoy superhero movies and loved this one. I also watched Stephen Sodenberg’s No Sudden Move. Like all his movies, it is stylishly filmed with an all-star cast. Maybe one too many twists for me. Still above average for sure.
Wendy and Gus deserted me halfway through season two of His Dark Materials. I powered through and look forward to the final season. It’s based on Philip Pullman’s trilogy of the same name, which is a fantastic and original fantasy series aimed at young adults. Finally, our kids introduced us to another anime series, Jujutsu Kaisen. If you like Manga and Anime, it’s a winner.
Finally, here is some flying dog clickbait to celebrate international dog day. You’re very welcome.
That’s it for this month! Please hit reply and let me know what you’re up to!
In the meantime, be well, do good deeds, and eat tacos!
Jay