My fr
My friend Roger Crowley
just published this book about the 15 century opening of the sea routes to Asia
by Portugal.
Portugal’s
discovery of a sea route to India, campaign of imperial conquest over Muslim
rulers, and domination of the spice trade would forever disrupt the
Mediterranean and build the first global economy.
To me the
best take from this book is a lesson of too much bravery & not much efficacy.
The 15th century Nobles were brave but the loss of lives was
unnecessary since the Portuguese possess Cannons & guns. Why die by the sword?
I read the
book and I certainly recommend it as an easy read that can be done in one take. (i make zero from the sale of the book)
Someone put
this in AMAZON
Warning: these Portuguese are wonderful soldiers but
they are overbearing, and often vicious, in breaking into the Indian Ocean
world almost like Vandals breaking into the Roman world.
From the smart Lucy Kellaway
The researchers conducted a series of experiments in which they divided students into three groups and gave them all a job to do. The first group was subjected to constant compliments; the second to constant abuse and the third to a mix of the two. The first group wasn’t stressed at all; the second was mildly so, while the third — the group that didn’t know if they were going to get sticks or carrots — was by far the most stressed and least happy........................................
Predictability matters at work not just in relation to your boss — but to almost everything. People claim they love jobs in which every day is different, but there is little evidence to back this up. Instead, studies in the US have shown that workers with unpredictable hours are more stressed and less happy than those who keep a regular timetable.
If I think of my peers, I would probably tell you that I love working with people who surprise me. But that isn’t true. I like working with people who interest me, but who do not surprise me at all.
It's clear that boring wins over exciting and predictable & stable endure for centuries (Communism & Christ). I listen to people that say that they love their job because it's different every day. The fact is that most people prefer stable & predictable.
Mathmatics & Software is boring and predictable and it's going to win over the unpredictable human mind.
I think the best job is when you have a big goal and all the team works hard to achieve it.
I just think people have a lot of fiction. But, you know, I mean, the real story of Facebook is just that we've worked so hard for all this time. I mean, the real story is actually probably pretty boring, right? I mean, we just sat at our computers for six years and coded.
Mark Zuckerberg
