Everybody is Right

By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

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In his bestselling book "Zero to One:  Notes On Startups Or How To Build the Future", Paypal co-founder and tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel says he likes to ask the interview question “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”  It is an interesting question and one that I have had an opportunity to use in several different types of interviews. 

I recently asked it at a risk management workshop that I was conducting.  I asked it in the context of what are some of the accepted “truths” in risk management that everyone believes but in fact may be wrong.  The response was silence. 

There are several possible explanations for the silent response.  A very real one may be that no one dared to risk their professional status to speak up and admit that they had a deviation from the accepted wisdom of the crowd.  (A worthy thought for a future post.)  Another reason however may be that we are too lazy to think about alternatives to current practice.  (Again, a potential future post.) 

However perhaps the reason was even simpler and more basic – no one had ever thought to ask the question “what is it that everyone believes that might be wrong?”!

Bluenose

By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

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If you have ever been really bored and examined the back of a Canadian dime you have seen a rendering of the sailing ship The Bluenose.  The Bluenose is (was) the pride of Nova Scotia.  During the early 1900’s when sailing schooners were the elite of the shipping and fishing world, the Bluenose was a remarkable vessel.  Not only was it a working fishing vessel, it was also the fastest sailboat of its kind.  (Let’s see Larry Ellison’s sailboat bring home a catch of fish!)

As with all things, progress led to the demise of the working schooner and the Bluenose sunk after hitting a reef near Haiti while hauling a load of bananas.  To commemorate the world beating achievements of the Bluenose (and, admittedly, to capture tourist dollars) the construction of a replica was commissioned. 

Unfortunately the fate of The Bluenose II has not been as positively illustrious as its famous ancestor.  To begin there were a variety of legal disputes and then cost overruns on the construction.  The biggest hurdle however was that the ship was required to get a steel rudder in order to be classified as sea worthy by an American classification agency.  More than one seasoned shipbuilder called the requirement ridiculous.  In essence regulation was stating that the original design of the ship was a dud and needed to be redesigned.  Slight problem – the original design of the ship was not set up for a steel rudder.

Long story short, The Bluenose II had to be taken out of service earlier this week due to problems in part caused by the steel rudder.  Just another case of well intentioned regulation really mucking things up.  I suspect the original Bluenose had no accreditation or regulatory inspections except for the fact that it was not only the fastest but one of the hardest working ships of it era.

Jane Goodall

By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

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One of my favorite shows on CBC Radio is “Ideas”.  It is a wonderful show that discusses “ideas” with a variety of truly interesting people (and that thankfully does not include the Kardashians).  Last week one of the guests was the noted primatologist (amongst other appropriate labels) Jane Goodall.  The scope of the discussion was wide-ranging and centered on a talk titled “Hope” that she was giving. 

Host Paul Kennedy is a wonderful interviewer with great insights and a curiosity to look beyond the obvious.  The conversation got around to Ms. Goodall’s lack of a formal education.  Perhaps a rude topic to bring up, but also likely a safe one as I suspect Jane Goodall has accomplished so much that she has enough self-esteem that she does not need to be kowtowed to by an obsequious host.  When Paul Kennedy asked what the effect was of Ms. Goodall not having any formal education when she started studying the chimpanzees her response was that a lack of a formal education was an “enormous advantage”!  She continues to state that she was “very glad” that she was not at all formally trained.

I thought it was interesting to contrast that with today’s insistence of only hiring those with the proper formal credentials.  I realize this is something that I have written about many times before, but the points are worth repeating.  You do not need formal credentials in order to be able to think.  The second point being that a formal education can be very limiting as it produces one way of thinking that is often at the expense of other more novel or more appropriate ways of thinking.  Good insights and instincts – whether they be for studying chimpanzees or for managing risk - do not necessarily need formal education in order to exist.

For those who are interested in hearing the full Jane Goodall interview with Paul Kennedy on Ideas, the link is here.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2676759495