Skip to main content

Bias For Clarity

Bias for action. Gets things done. Go-getter. Traits companies big and small look for. And for good reason, you're being hired to do things! However, action is a secondary step that often overshadows the primary step, direction.   Clear direction is the foundation that enables our actions to takeoff. Without it, we're stuck in the mud.  Striving for clarity is an underrated skill. Having the courage to ask ( seemingly ) obvious questions, and to check in, making sure we're all on the same page. "O bvious " questions are a low risk, high reward way to add value. At worst, you'll add confidence to our actions. At best, you discover a misalignment that saves us from a dead-end.  The more people, the more clear we need to be. The bigger the initiative, the bigger the risk of reaching the finish line, only to realize expectations were off.  Success is always uncertain. But we can be certain about what we want and what everyone's job is. Things that can be clea

Does Gold Work As Money?












Gold. The symbol of royalty. The olympian's trophy. The most precious of the precious metals. Scarce and beautiful. Durable yet divisible. Civilizations universally agreed it was valuable. 

Up until the past century, paper money was backed by gold - a dollar representing claim to a given weight. Now we operate in a fiat system where money is backed only by government decreed - giving them the power to create money "out of thin air". 

Whenever there's fiscal stimulus or "money printing" as some would have it, inflation fears arise along with demand for the gold standard. But does gold really work as money? 

Inflation happens where there's too much money chasing too few goods. Fiat currency can lead to this if we're not careful. Zimbabwe is notorious for hyperinflation. 

However, managed properly, fiat currencies enables policymakers to adjust the money supply based on economic needs - smoothing out the cyclical ups and downs. 

With the gold standard, the money supply is fixed to the gold supply. This is a problem. 

A discovery of a large new mine can lead to an oversupply of money (inflation). Excess outflows can lead to a scarce supply (deflation). Gold supply is volatile meaning our purchasing power would be just as volatile. While fiat has risks, its flexibility allows for stability. 

Every nation has given up on the gold standard. We've realized money is just a medium of exchange and our true value comes from the skills of our workforce and the goods we produce. 

The food we grow, the houses we build, the real economy continues regardless of how much gold there is. It doesn't make sense to peg our economic prosperity on the supply of a metal. No matter how pretty it is. 

















Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Giving Feedback

Constructive feedback is an awkward affair. You don't want hurt feelings, but recognize the importance of honesty. You've tried the classic "hoping things will get better on its own" and unfortunately it hasn't played out. When giving feedback, here are a few things that I try to keep it mind. Start with empathy. Step into their shoes and understand their story. If you don't know, ask. Be genuinely curious. Feedback is a dynamic affair. Shared communication with a shared goal towards progress. Take the emotion out of it. Focus on the situation, not the person. Focusing on the person adds unnecessary weight to an already emotionally-bloated event.  Be specific. Give clear examples. Vague feedback equals dismissed feedback.  Doing above won't de-awkward things fully, but it will dampen it and increase the chance of better outcomes. 

Bias For Clarity

Bias for action. Gets things done. Go-getter. Traits companies big and small look for. And for good reason, you're being hired to do things! However, action is a secondary step that often overshadows the primary step, direction.   Clear direction is the foundation that enables our actions to takeoff. Without it, we're stuck in the mud.  Striving for clarity is an underrated skill. Having the courage to ask ( seemingly ) obvious questions, and to check in, making sure we're all on the same page. "O bvious " questions are a low risk, high reward way to add value. At worst, you'll add confidence to our actions. At best, you discover a misalignment that saves us from a dead-end.  The more people, the more clear we need to be. The bigger the initiative, the bigger the risk of reaching the finish line, only to realize expectations were off.  Success is always uncertain. But we can be certain about what we want and what everyone's job is. Things that can be clea

Negative Feedback, Positive Lessons

In the battle against plastic bags, a five-cent tax was shown to be much more successful at deterring usage than a five-cent credit for bringing your own bags. Carrots satisfy but sticks sting, and they sting hard. So we default to the less painful choice of avoiding loss. Loss aversion impacts the way we process information. A 2019 study  invited participants to learn through a series of multiple choice questions. Each question only had two options to choose from. Whether guessing correctly or not, they would still learn the right answer.  Despite the identical learning opportunity, participants were much more successful at recalling the answers they guessed correctly than those they got wrong.  "You're right!" feels good. We savour the moment, analyzing every detail.  "You're wrong!" stings. We want to quickly forget, dismiss, and move on.  When we succumb to loss aversion, we miss opportunities to learn. Failure is part of the process. We'll experie