Buffett-Munger: Temperament is more important than IQ

Temperament is more important than IQ

by SHANE PARRISH on NOVEMBER 25, 2013

During a recent interview Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger had some interesting comments on how to outsmart people who are smarter than you.

Munger: We’ve learned how to outsmart people who are clearly smarter [than we are.]

Buffett: Temperament is more important than IQ. You need reasonable intelligence, but you absolutely have to have the right temperament. Otherwise, something will snap you.

Munger: The other big secret is that we’re good at lifelong learning. Warren is better in his 70s and 80s, in many ways, than he was when he was younger. If you keep learning all the time, you have a wonderful advantage.

Buffett: And we have a wonderful group of friends, from whom we can learn a lot. Read more of this post

When the undefeated samurai Miyamoto Musashi retreated to a cave in 1643 and wrote The Book of Five Rings, he created one of the most perceptive and incisive texts on strategic thinking ever to come from Asia

The Book of Five Rings Hardcover

by Miyamoto Musashi  (Author) , Shiro Tsujimura

(Illustrator) , William Scott Wilson (Translator)

When the undefeated samurai Miyamoto Musashi retreated to a cave in 1643 and wrote The Book of Five Rings, a manifesto on swordsmanship, strategy, and winning for his students and generations of samurai to come, he created one of the most perceptive and incisive texts on strategic thinking ever to come from Asia.
Musashi gives timeless advice on defeating an adversary, throwing an opponent off-guard, creating confusion, and other techniques for overpowering an assailant that will resonate with both martial artists and everyone else interested in skillfully dealing with conflict. For Musashi, the way of the martial arts was a mastery of the mind rather than simply technical prowess—and it is this path to mastery that is the core teaching in The Book of Five Rings.
William Scott Wilson’s translation is faithful to the original seventeenth-century Japanese text while being wonderfully clear and readable. His scholarship and insight into the deep meaning of this classic are evident in his introduction and notes to the text. This edition also includes a translation of one of Musashi’s earlier writings, “The Way of Walking Alone,” and calligraphy by Japanese artist Shiro Tsujimura.   Read more of this post

How successful people make themselves luckier

How successful people make themselves luckier

By Craig Forman November 30, 2013

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you know why. Unfortunately for some people, that second day never occurs. For lucky people, though, the second day—the day you know why—is often described as a personal epiphany. The most successful people have a clear idea of who they are, and a conviction about where they want to end up. They then work backwards to develop the milestones they need to hit along the way. Read more of this post

Scientists May Have Found A Way To Erase Traumatic Memories

Scientists May Have Found A Way To Erase Traumatic Memories

VIRGINIA HUGHES, POPULAR SCIENCE
DEC. 1, 2013, 11:06 AM 1,039 3

Roadside bombs, childhood abuse, car accidents — they form memories that can shape (and damage) us for a lifetime. Now, a handful of studies have shown that we’re on the verge of erasing and even rewriting memories. The hope is that this research will lead to medical treatments, especially for addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Researchers have known for decades that memories are unreliable. They’re particularly adjustable when actively recalled because at that point they’re pulled out of a stable molecular state. Read more of this post

Ian Rankin: ‘It took 14 years for my writing to pay’; Crime writer Ian Rankin, 53, who has sold more than 20m books, opens up on his personal finances

Ian Rankin: ‘It took 14 years for my writing to pay’

Fame & Fortune: Crime writer Ian Rankin, 53, who has sold more than 20m books, opens up on his personal finances

Ian Rankin: ‘A royalty statement arrived giving a sum of six figures. Neither my wife nor I could quite believe it’  Photo: Martin Pope

By Roz Lewis

7:36AM GMT 01 Dec 2013

How did your childhood influence your work ethic and attitude to money? Greatly. I grew up in a family that was working class, which taught me to be careful with money. My father worked in a grocery store. When the grocery chain went into administration he eventually got a job in the naval dockyard in an office preparing the charts for the boats and the submarines before they headed out. Read more of this post

Our educational goal should be to help all students learn as much and as deeply as they possibly can, and to instill in them a love of learning

How I get all my students to be good at math

By Elizabeth Cleland November 30, 2013

Elizabeth Cleland has taught in Indiana, Oregon, New York, and California in public, charter, and private high schools. She also has taught in Japan and studied the Japanese educational system. As a mathematics educator for the last seven years, I can attest that most folks believe they either are or are not “math people.” And that idea of innate math ability is very harmful to both those who believe they possess it and to those who believe they don’t.  Furthermore, our new era of accountability (read test-taking) perpetuates this fallacy and clouds the message we want our students to receive in math class. Read more of this post

Why We Fail

Why We Fail

by SHANE PARRISH on NOVEMBER 28, 2013

We fail for many reasons.

In The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right Atul Gawande explains: In the 1970s, the philosophers Samuel Gorovitz and Alasdair MacIntyre published a short essay on the nature of human fallibility that I read during my surgical training and haven’t stopped pondering since. The question they sought to answer was why we fail at what we set out to do in the world. One reason, they observed, is “necessary fallibility” — some things we want to do are simply beyond our capacity. We are not omniscient or all-powerful. Even enhanced by technology, our physical and mental powers are limited. Much of the world and universe is—and will remain—outside our understanding and control. There are substantial realms, however, in which control is within our reach. We can build skyscrapers, predict snowstorms, save people from heart attacks and stab wounds. In such realms, Gorovitz and MacIntyre point out, we have just two reasons that we may nonetheless fail. Read more of this post

It’s easier than ever to get a piece of the Next Big Thing. But it’s also easier to get a piece of the Next Big Nothing. It’s easier than ever to make the leap. But also to make a big mistake

What You Need to Know to Become an Angel Investor

It’s easier than ever to make the leap. But also to make a big mistake.

SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN

December 2, 2013

Ready to strap on some wings and become an angel investor? Investing in young companies or startups used to be just for very wealthy individuals with strong networks. But these days, you don’t need to be well connected to participate in deals. Now you only need fairly deep pockets and access to the Internet to get in on the ground floor of what could be the next Google or Facebook. Read more of this post

How to make family businesses sustainable: Why do only 4 per cent on average of family-owned businesses survive into the fourth generation?

How to make family businesses sustainable

Achara Deboonme
The Nation December 2, 2013 1:00 am

Why do only 4 per cent on average of family-owned businesses survive into the fourth generation? To Joachim Schwass, director of Switzerland’s IMD Global Family Business Centre, there are plenty of reasons. But based on 25 years of academic research into the subject, he says there are ways to preserve family wealth in a sustainable way.  “Academic research offers the rationalisation approach, away from emotionality, to help families become better families, better owners and better managers,” he said at a dinner talk on “The Fusion of Family and Business”, hosted by Kasikornbank for its premium clients.  Read more of this post

How Should Small Businesses Handle 15 Minutes of Fame? It can be a tough choice for entrepreneurs who get a burst of publicity: Go big—or play it safe?

How Should Small Businesses Handle 15 Minutes of Fame?

A windfall of publicity brings a tough choice: Go big—or play it safe.

LISA WARD

December 2, 2013

You get a glowing review in a magazine. Or a round of positive mentions in the blogosphere. Or an appearance on a cable-TV show. Curious new customers flood your store or website. Sales surge. But then what? Read more of this post

Employees don’t like working for creative managers

Employees don’t like working for creative managers

By Carl Tsukahara 11 hours ago

It’s a commonly held workplace belief that employees who succeed in their current roles should be rewarded with the chance to manage other employees. But big data reveals that what might be prized qualities for an employee are not necessarily traits that drive managerial success. Read more of this post

Biz Stone Did Something Brilliant When Twitter Was Just Starting, And Every Early Startup Employee Should Take Note

Biz Stone Did Something Brilliant When Twitter Was Just Starting, And Every Early Startup Employee Should Take Note

JAY YAROW

NOV. 30, 2013, 1:45 PM 7,764 5

Christopher “Biz” Stone is a minor celebrity thanks largely to a bold decision he made in the very early days of Twitter’s founding. When Twitter was starting to take shape, Stone emailed Ev Williams, who was bankrolling Twitter, and asked, “Maybe this is inappropriate, but if I don’t ask, I’ll never know! What do you envision my title to be? Is there a chance I could be called co-founder?” Read more of this post

How To Use The ‘Hairy Arm’ Technique To Manage Your Boss

How To Use The ‘Hairy Arm’ Technique To Manage Your Boss

OLIVER BURKEMAN, THE GUARDIAN
NOV. 30, 2013, 3:15 PM 3,462 1

The tactic goes by many names, but my favourite is the Theory Of The Hairy Arm. An American business consultant, Lawrence San, tells the following story about a colleague he calls Joe, who worked as a graphic designer in the days before computers. Read more of this post

A British IT worker has launched a frantic search of a landfill site after realising he accidentally threw away a computer drive holding $7.9 million in the online currency bitcoin

Man searches landfill for $7.9m bitcoin fortune

December 2, 2013 – 9:48AM

A British IT worker has launched a frantic search of a landfill site after realising he accidentally threw away a computer drive holding $7.9 million in the online currency bitcoin. James Howells, 28, obtained 7500 bitcoins in 2009 when the currency was virtually worthless. Its value has since soared, with a single bitcoin hitting $US1000 ($1101) for the first time last week. Read more of this post

The power of innovation in building businesses; passion in the world of business is all about small but pragmatic “ideas” or “Winnovations” that are promising and profitable

The power of innovation in building businesses

Published: 2013/12/02

PASSION in the world of business is all about small but pragmatic “ideas” or “Winnovations” that are promising and profitable. One of the most profound books authored by management guru Peter Drucker is “Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. Drucker expressed that “Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship… the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth”. I believe this “new capacity” is all about ideas and a business environment that fosters innovation, helping to create new business opportunities and new markets for new revenue streams. Having said that, history has shown that many technological, cultural and even social barriers were eliminated through ideas (which were at first received with cynicism to no end, and yet, these very same ideas were the ones that changed the world).  Read more of this post

Acquiring Another Small Firm? Watch Out. How to avoid costly mistakes—and make the most of the deal

Acquiring Another Small Firm? Watch Out.

How to avoid costly mistakes—and make the most of the deal

BARBARA HAISLIP

December 2, 2013

You’ve done your homework. You’ve chosen the perfect business to acquire. You’re ready to sign the deal. Now the real hassles begin. For many small businesses, buying another company seems like an attractive way to grow: They get a new batch of customers, along with trained employees and sales systems, all set up and ready to go. But bringing even two tiny operations together can be a big challenge. At every stage, problems can crop up that mean headaches, money and extra work. Read more of this post

A Gawker Editor Tells How He Picks ‘Viral’ Content Readers Can’t Resist Sharing

Why Everyone Will Totally Read This Column

A Gawker Editor Tells How He Picks ‘Viral’ Content Readers Can’t Resist Sharing

FARHAD MANJOO

Dec. 1, 2013 7:23 p.m. ET

Neetzan Zimmerman doesn’t like to be called a machine. That word implies something cold and inhuman about how he works, and Mr. Zimmerman believes that what makes him so good at his job is precisely the opposite sensibility: Unlike a computer, he understands the emotions that might compel a human being to click on something online. Read more of this post

Learning from proverbs; do not wear a hat that is way too big for one’s head is similar to the Malay peribahasa of ukur baju di badan sendiri, meaning that you should measure the coat on your own body

Updated: Monday December 2, 2013 MYT 7:51:01 AM

Learning from proverbs

BY LEE YEN MUN

Let’s begin by practising some simple wisdom at home — do not wear a hat that is way too big for one’s head.

THERE is a Chinese saying that cautions people against putting on a hat that is much too big for one’s head. The phrase is not a literal jab at ladies who sport a gargantuan but delicately decorated hat to tea parties. Like all things Chinese that emphasise on humility and the value of face, the saying is presented subtly to remind people not to take on a form beyond one’s ability or worth. Read more of this post

What the Silver Screen Tells Us About Entrepreneurship; Pop culture says a lot about America’s changing attitude toward striving

What the Silver Screen Tells Us About Entrepreneurship

Pop culture says a lot about America’s changing attitude toward striving

BRAD REAGAN

December 2, 2013

Want to know what America thinks of entrepreneurship? Just ask Hollywood. Over the decades, popular culture has served up many memorable characters looking to be their own boss. We’ve seen get-rich-quick schemers like Ralph Kramden and Cosmo Kramer. Men on a mission like Jerry Maguire, or women on a mission like Mildred Pierce. Even real-life figures like Mark Zuckerberg, Howard Hughes and Preston Tucker. Read more of this post

The Brain Actually Has Two Internal Clocks

The Brain Actually Has Two Internal Clocks

EMILIE REAS, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
DEC. 1, 2013, 7:15 PM 1,875

Did you make it to work on time this morning? Go ahead and thank the traffic gods, but also take a moment to thank your brain. The brain’s impressively accurate internal clock allows us to detect the passage of time, a skill essential for many critical daily functions. Without the ability to track elapsed time, our morning shower could continue indefinitely. Without that nagging feeling to remind us we’ve been driving too long, we might easily miss our exit. Read more of this post

Tips on Building a Franchising Empire; How to make the leap from one outlet to many

Tips on Building a Franchising Empire

How to make the leap from one outlet to many

NEIL PARMAR

December 2, 2013

How does a franchisee get bigger? These days, many franchisers favor owners who already run multiple locations, giving them preferential treatment when selling existing stores or awarding new locations. But most franchisees—about 80%—own just one unit. So what’s the best way for them to go from small-time ownership to the kind of franchise empire that chains look for? Read more of this post

Weighing in on the entrepreneurial personality

Insights From Our Online Panel

Updated Dec. 2, 2013 12:25 a.m. ET

Running your own business is not for everyone. Indeed, personality plays a huge role in entrepreneurial success, from how one manages the start-up phase, to effective use of social media, to how—or whether—one should balance work and personal life. For a range of views and advice about the interplay of personality and entrepreneurship, we turned to The Experts, an exclusive online group of industry and thought leaders who discuss topics raised in the Small Business Report. Edited excerpts of their discussion follow. To read more, go to WSJ.com/Reports. Read more of this post