Monthly Archives: March 2017

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Figuring it out

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When making a decision we use information to figure out how to proceed.  The information is basically interpreted through one or both of two lenses.  Those perspectives are commonly classified as objective and subjective.

Objective Analysis

Taken as an adjective, as in objective analysis or objective perspective, the term refers to an interpretation of information in a way that is not influenced by personal feelings or opinions.

When considering and representing facts objectively your behaviour is described by others as impartial, unbiased, unprejudiced, nonpartisan, disinterested, neutral, uninvolved, even-handed, equitable, fair, fair-minded, just, open-minded, dispassionate, detached or neutral.

To do this, the information must not only be interpreted objectively but the sources must be objective as well.  Truly objective data cannot be tortured into saying anything.

Subjective Analysis

Again considered as an adjective, subjective analysis is
based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.  In essence the opposite of the objective view.

When considering and representing the facts subjectively your behaiour can be described as personal opinions, individually based, emotionally driven and perhaps  instinctive or intuitive.

Back to Balance

A theme that runs through many of my posts surrounds the benefits derived from balanced behaviour.  Using both objective and subjective perspectives in balance is a great example of this practice (balancing opposites).

This can also be described as the Art and Science of decision making.  Founding a decision purley on logic can result in the bi-passing of moral and emotional well being .

Purely emotional views can lead to high risk and even result in the goal not being reached.  Keep in mind, the next time you are making a decision both objective and subjective perspectives add value.

Recognize when you are using each and maintain an equitable balance, this will most likely lead to figuring out the way to consistently good decisions?

 

 

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Checks and Balances

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The law of supply and demand can act as a key behaviour control.  Action and reaction can also serve this purpose.  These two practices can be used as tools to effect change.

It’s So Unfair

I had a conversation the other day about people being mistreated.  Things like unrealistic job performance demands, little sympathy for hardship, or taking a hard line on working hours or working conditions.

Clearly wrong or harsh behaviour cannot always be corrected or resolved through a reaction or by managing supply or demand.  However, these approaches can influence change and do provide the opportunity to drive outcomes.

Whether successful or not, at least you tried.  Taking action is far more likely to achieve a result than just hoping the “luck of the Irish will prevail”.  That is, if you take no action you should expect no result.

(Side note, luck of the Irish refers to winning or succeeding at something for no apparent reason.  Like finding gold when others cannot or winning at gambling).

For Example

An obvious example of using the law of supply and demand to affect behaviour change is trade sanctions (limiting supply). In this case one group of countries might apply a trade blockade to another country to influence them to change their behaviour (e.g., stop developing nuclear arms)

At a more granular level, if an employer cuts your wage, you could just accept it but alternately you could refuse to accept the insult and provide supporting evidence of your value, (measurable evidence) and outline the impacts of losing you as a valuable resource versus some short term monetary savings.  The ability to react and how you react is up to you.

Give it a try

Next time you see unjust behaviour, try to effect a change.  What can you lose, beyond the time and effort to try.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

The World is my Oyster

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I think many would be surprised at how large a number of English idioms have their source in the literary works of William Shakespeare.  A key driver of the longevity of these sayings is how cleverly constructed they are.

From the play ” The Merry Wives of Windsor” the lines,  “Why, then the world is my oyster,   Which I with sword will open. (2.2.3-4), Pistol to Falstaff”  have come to mean, I can do whatever I want in this world.

The use of an Oyster , from which, with a little effort, a pearl might be found is a very clever way to make this point.

Here is a brief list of some of the more well known sayings from Shakespeare’s works.  This is not a complete list, intended just to give a flavor of how prolific he was in this space.

  • A fools paridise
  • A foregone conclusion
  • A horse, a horse, my Kingdom for a horse
  • A sea change
  • A sorry sight
  • As dead as a doornail
  • At one fell swoop
  • Beware the ides of March
  • As pure as the driven snow
  • Et tu Brute
  • Fancy free
  • Eaten out of house and home
  • What a piece of work is man
  • Woe is me

I took this small sample from a list of 162 common sayings atributed to the Bard.  While I did not recognize all of them the majority struck me as very well known.

The beauty of these, as you can see from the examples, is how with just a few brief words, Shakespeare is able to create a clear and. compelling image which contains a strong, clear message.

And for me, a long and fruitful life awaits, the world is my oyster.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Maggies Farm

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Nobel laureate Bob Dylan (for literature)  wrote a large number of songs during his career to date (which is not over) and continues to do so.

I heard “Maggies Farm” on the radio the other day.  For some reason I listened more closely to the lyrics than I had in the recent past and transported back to the nineteen sixties (in my mind at least).

This is a basic protest song.  The line ” I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more” sets the tone.  We are done working for the man, being driven by the esablishment.

Simply put, I ain’t going to take it no more.  Full stop.  Ah the idealism.   of youth.  I won’t say I have grown jaded but while the lyrics are still a interesting listen  (great song) the sentiment and protest value is somewhat lost on me.

Deserving of the Nobel Prize?

I was struck by the quality of the music, both lyrics and melody.  Bob Dylan has done a fantastic job of story telling throughout his life so far, whether sentimental, political or just a intriguing story I do believe the recently awared prize was fully desderved.

More interesting for me though is how my appreciation of his music seems to have grown. (I have been listening to a number of his albums again over the last several months.)

Am I influenced by the publicity and accolades he has been recieving as of late or are my musical tastes maturing?  Historically I appreciated Dylan’s music but would never have classified myself a big fan.

I think it’s probably a bit of both, regardless, I am enjoying my morphing musical tastes albeit they still seem rooted in the decades of the sixties and seventies.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Exploring Integrity

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Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

Morale principles are defined as the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group.  The practice of honesty lies in a refusal to lie, steal, or deceive in any way.

Put it together, What does it mean?

Determining if someones behaviour is honest can be a relatively objective measure.   In most cases, an act of lying, stealing or deceiving  are agreed by consensus.

That is, a randomly selected group would most likely easily achieve consensus and agree that a lie, theft or deceit occurred.

However, that is  not necessarily the case relative to identification of the perpretrator of said action, which is why we have our court/trial system, to enable the fair judgement of guilt.

For moral behaviour it is a very objective judgement, that can be individual or group specific,  as to what constitutes moral behaviour. This makes determination of whether an action was moral very difficult.

How can I be sure to act with integrity?

While honesty can be determined with little debate, this is not the case when it comes to qualifying what constitutes moral behaviour. This can create a dilemma when you want to act with integrity.

The question arises, what does it mean to be moral?   I recently participated in a discussion with that question at it’s center.  Basically, “I want to do this action, but is it ethical?”

Unfortunately the determination of ethicality contained a large subjective component around the moral correctness, not the truthfulness.

In these cases, my own approach is to apply my personal philosophy for the way to live your life.  The action is okay and ethical as long as it gives me pleasure while not detracting from the pleasure of others.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Grumpy Old Men

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There is a common stereo type that applies to old males.  Resulting from some commonly observed behaviour of old people who are just tired, impatient, annoyed and aggravated after years of dealing with people.

The men are often called grumpy old men.  Various research over the last 5 years shows that more men suffer from ‘Grumpy Old Man’ syndrome when they hit 70.

There are good reasons to believe this to be the case. Seventy is an age when men may become more aware of their own mortality as they see friends and loved ones pass on.

It’s A Stereotype!

Although there might be some scientific basis for old men to be grumpy, actually each individual controls their own behaviour.   So personally I choose if I want to be grumpy.

Of course occassionally I do choose that course.

For males of advanced age, your perspective on the years of annoyance and aggrevation of dealing with others can be controlled.  Remember, yuo do not need to act grumpy, it is a choice.

Act Naturally

One thing I have noticed that age does remove some of the natural politness filters we employ.  I guess after years of suffering the foibles of others without saying what you really think, there can come a time when enough is enough.

You could argue this honesty is refreshing but unfortunately it can also make you appear grumpy.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Inspiration

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Simply put, inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.  For me, inspiration hit  almost two years ago when I was inspired to write a blog.

I acted on that  inspiration (as regular readers know) and four or five time a week I post about a top of mind topic.  These are selected at random and derived from, well, anywhere and everywhere.

More specifically, anywhere and everywhere could be the result of discussions with friends, colleagues or acquaintances.  It could be from news or other communication sources like web or social media.  It be from dreams, hallucinations and so on.

And the posts continue

The results of inspiration are not always successful, and sometimes we choose not to act on our inspiration.  When the action derived from the inspiration does work a great feeling of accomplisment can result.

Some personal filtering is helpful to avoid acting every time inspiration hits you.  My own experience has been the best and most effective inspirations are not the ones I seek or urge onto myself but rather those that are simply organic in nature.

Desired Outcome – Personal Satisfaction

Ultimately when you act on an inspiration both the acting on what inspired you and the end results will be satisfying more often than not.  Occassionally it might make sense to ignore a sudden unbidden inspiration  but as a general rule acting on your inspirations will be a good thing.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

The Robots Among Us

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Several years ago Google developed humanoid robots with embedded artificial intelligence.  The exterior skin and mechanical movements were so realistic they appeared fully human.

Google has kept extremely tight security on this project and have been able to successfully keep it secret from the general populous. This has enabled the to run a pilot without interference.

Google Support and Sales Reps

Gradually google introduced their andriods into the Google work force hiring them as sales and tech support representatives.  Only a small limited cadre of Google insiders know of this pilots existence.

Amazingly, none of the robots have been identified as such.  So far everyone they interact with, whether inside Google or external is unaware they are actually working with an artificial being.

The Resistance

A small group of humans have become aware of Googles experment but remain underground out of the public view out of fear for there own saftey.  Google is not ready for the world to know how technologically advanced they have begun.

The small group that is aware of the robots among us have developed special tools, worn as wrist watches that detect the prescence of the artificial beings.

This helps make sure those in the know don’t share inappropriate information giving away the fact they are aware of the robots among us, putting themselves in danger.

Fantasy

Is this post real or fantasy?  Hmmm.

Maybe you should test that next person you meet with probing questions, study their emotions.  Can you tell if they are born or built?

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Managing Investment Risk

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When you invest your money the basic objective is to get the highest return with the lowest potential you will not get all or even worse, any, of your investment back.

Risk Aversion Basics

The number of processes and techniques to avoid loosing money while maximizing return is virtually impossible to list.  New methods pop up every day.

I am referring to things like laddered bond etfs indexed to central bank rates when giraffes dance in Africa.   For me, the best place to start is simple and basic.

Weird esoteric investments and associated practices have their place but these are contextual.  If you are a day trader, a bank or a fund manager, things like covered calls, long puts or rate swaps might appeal.

For the average retail investor there are much simpler and possibly more effective approaches to consider first.

Top Three Risk Mitigators

1) Do the research – If you are struggling to understand how an investment works, stop.  Only invest in things you personally fully understand how the returns or losses occur.

2) Leverage Asset Classes – There are three basic asset classes.  Balance the assets within your investment portfolio according to your willingness to take losses while seeking high returns.

Cash – things like GIC’s, savings accounts, paper money under the mattress.  These investments typically have the lowest return and the highest likelyhood at a minimum you will get your original investment back. Cash and savings accounts are typically very liquid.

Fixed Income – things like Government and Corporate bonds the inestments are usually granted a higher priority in terms of security in event of bankruptcy and will pay regular income (monthly, yearly, etc)

Equities – This type of investment is the least secure but can offer the opportunity for the higest return.

3) Balance the Sector – all investments fit into some category.  For example real estate, transportation, financial and so on.  Overweighting your investment in one sector or another can be profitable but also exposes a greater risk in the event that sector comes under stress.  An example of this was financial investments in mortgages  suffered as a whole in 2008 due to the crash in the real estate market.

Starting with these three simple to understand concepts can lead you to more advanced concepts, however, understanding the basics will lay a foundation for trying the more complex in the future.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

What is Retirement?

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Typically we would say retirement is a point where a person ceases employment completely.  This is differernt from ceasing employment voluntarily (quitting) or involuntarily (fired or laid off).

Of course, we often think of employment as the condition of having paid work.  So if you do volunteer work or focus on raising children or other ways of spending your time, other than paid employment, with no intention of ever taking up paid employment; are you retired?

Out of Retirement

If you cease employment completely (so you are “retired”) but decide to take up employment again at a later time, are you “unretired” or just employed again.  Or is the paid work called your retirement job?

That is, you retired and elected to receive a pension.  You then seek and gain employment and so have two incomes – one income for doing nothing and paid employment.

Why Retire?

Interestingly many cases of working in retirement have little to do with monetary status (although some do). Studies have shown after a lifetime of focusing on participating in paid employment, stopping suddenly can effect a big psychological impact, a negative one.

Suddenly stopping your paid employment has been  shown to be a statistically valid causal factor in early demise.

Working in paid employment or unpaid employment (e.g. volunteering) provides a purpose .  Leisure activies, technically not classified as work also provide a purpose.

In considering retirement, it is important to remember the key factor is not always financial.  Although it is nice not to worry about income, the psychological impacts of not having a purpose or objective could be deadly.