What We're Thinking
Ideas I have found useful
Success in navigating complexity requires a particular outlook or mindset, which includes a commitment to staying in the present as much as possible. I’m always surprised at how challenging my monkey brain makes it to do that. Staying in the moment requires letting go any worries about the future and any assessments from the past.
A risk at all times, but even more acute now.
A little over a week ago we had a kerfuffle over the departure of a number of senior administrative staff from the US State Department. Remember that? I know. It seems so long ago. A quick refresher: on Jan 26, four career Foreign Service officers, each of whom served under both Democratic and Republican administrations left the agency.
Looking for lessons.
I write this from my office in London, where I sit following a largely sleepless night. Before the first polls closed on America’s historic election night, I hosted a lovely dinner with a handful of friends and colleagues where, mercifully, very little conversation was devoted to the campaign or the potential results that were only a few hours away.
Seeing the system sometimes means looking in the mirror.
Lately, our news in the US has been full of stories about young men who have committed crimes of horrific violence. Stabbings. Shootings. Bombings. Mass killings. Terrorism. Last week I came across this thoughtful analysis in The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/2dh48Ms
Though it feels good, simply punishing broken trust isn’t a full remedy.
Another black eye for the financial services industry last week. This time it was Wells Fargo, the largest US bank when measured by market valuation (over $250 billion). Though I expect that is going to change in the very near term.
