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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

The Broken Record of Broken Records.

 



When Roger Bannister first ran the 4 minute mile, it changed running forever. Broken records shake up preconceive notions and challenge our limits. Bannister's performance, a feat once considered impossible is now commonplace for runners. 

If you pay attention to financial news, it'll appear that records are being broken everyday. The S&P 500 hitting a new high. The Dow suffering its largest drop. These headlines are dramatic but are they meaningful?

In markets, things that never happened before ironically happen all the time. The novel is routine and nothing to fret about. 

There's a lot of moving pieces in finance and endless combinations can occur to form a record-breaking narrative. These are largely cosmetic.

The markets are rich with data, data that can be sliced and diced until you find something "historic". Timeframes, sectors, factors - tweak the parameters enough and you'll find something everyday.

You can do the same in your life. When you had your coffee this morning, it was the first time you had that coffee, at that time of day, on this calendar day and year. A first? Technically. Meaningful? No. 

True record-breaking events like Bannister's are rare. Most is noise, especially in the markets. Changing nothing, the principles of sensible investing remain the same. 









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