Stop Decorating the Fish: A Review of Cox and Ashlag’s Wake-Up Call

Why This Book Exists

Kristen Cox and Yishai Ashlag wrote The World of Decorating the Fish because they kept seeing the same pattern everywhere: smart organizations investing massive resources into initiatives that produced marginal improvements. Busy teams. Impressive presentations. Negligible results.

Their central metaphor is perfect: we’re decorating raw fish instead of cooking it. We’re making things look better without making them be better.

I’ve read Drucker, Collins, Sinek, Clear, and a dozen other management thinkers. They all circle the same problem from different angles. Cox and Ashlag name it directly and give you a diagnostic framework to spot it in your own organization.

Here’s what they taught me.

The Diagnostic: Are You Decorating the Fish?

Cox and Ashlag give you clear signals. If any of these sound familiar, you’re decorating:

“It’s complicated”

If you or your team respond to questions with “it’s complicated,” you’re decorating the fish. Complexity is often a smoke screen for unclear thinking. Real clarity is simple enough that anyone can understand it.

Chasing technology for technology’s sake

“If you believe that rushing to embrace technological trends is innovative, you are decorating the fish.”

I see this constantly. Organizations adopt AI, cloud, or the latest platform without asking: What customer limitation does this remove? New technology with old practices doesn’t create breakthroughs. It creates expensive chaos.

They’re blunt: “Technology frequently brings the promise of increased productivity and efficiency, but it can also introduce complexity into processes and compound problems… It can also make the workflow invisible, which hides the source of backlogs, quality issues and needless tasks.”

Targeting measures you can’t control

“The more removed an organization is from the goal it pursues, the lower the impact it will have. If your organization is targeting measures it cannot directly impact, then it is likely decorating the fish.”

How many times have I seen teams measured on outcomes they can’t influence? You’re measured on “customer satisfaction” but have no control over pricing, product features, or support staffing. That’s not accountability. That’s theater.

Living on lag indicators

“If your organization is focused on lag indicators that do not provide real-time feedback, it is likely decorating the fish.”

Lag indicators tell you what happened. They’re autopsies. By the time you see the number, it’s too late to fix it. You need lead measures—the daily or weekly actions that predict the outcome.

Massive investment, marginal improvement

“If your organization is making significant investments of either time or money into an initiative but is getting marginal improvements, then it is likely decorating the fish and not addressing the core problem.”

This one hits hard. We launch a six-month organisation wide initiative. Spent serious budget. Got a 3% improvement. We decorated the fish beautifully, but we never addressed the real constraint.

The Three Classic Traps

1. No Clear Goal

Cox and Ashlag are ruthless here:

“If you have to try to explain what your goal means, you are fish decorating. If you have no way to determine if you are making progress towards the goal, you are fish decorating. If your strategy is your goal you are decorating the fish.”

They give you the test for a real goal. It must have four elements:

• Easy for anyone to understand; you shouldn’t have to explain it
• Measurable
• Focused on outcomes, not strategy
• [Implied: directly actionable by the team]

Most organizational goals fail at least two of these. “Be the market leader in customer experience.” Sounds great. Means nothing. What does success look like Tuesday? No one knows.

2. Confusing Strategy with Goals

This is everywhere. Teams present their strategy, “we’ll implement agile, adopt AI, restructure the team” and call it a goal.

Strategy is how. Goals are what. If your goal is your strategy, you have no goal.

3. Solutions That Mirror Problems

“When the solution mirrors the problem, you are likely decorating the fish. For example, we fight addiction with another form of addiction, or respond to cost-cutting with more cost-cutting, or try to solve a lack of jobs with incentivizing jobs. Trying to get what we lack is not the solution.”

This is subtle but devastating. We’re behind schedule, so we add more meetings to coordinate. We have quality issues, so we add more inspection steps. We’re moving slowly, so we add more process to “ensure rigor.”

The solution looks like the problem. We’re adding complexity to solve complexity.

What Actually Works

Start with the customer’s primary need

Cox and Ashlag insist: “Distinguish between the customer’s primary and secondary needs using their perspective.”

Not what you think they need. Not what’s easy to measure. What they actually need, in their language, from their perspective.

This forces clarity. Your customer doesn’t need “a robust ticketing system with AI-powered routing.” They need “my problem solved in under four hours.”

Set ambitious targets

“Setting ambitious targets and going after big improvements will force you to redefine the problem.”

Small targets let you optimize current processes. Big targets force you to question whether you’re solving the right problem at all.

If you’re trying to reduce support tickets by 5%, you’ll optimize your current system. If you’re trying to reduce them by 50%, you have to ask: Why are people filing tickets in the first place?

Focus on what you can directly impact

Measure things your team can actually change through their daily work. If you can’t draw a straight line from their actions to the measure, pick a different measure.

Find the real constraint

Stop decorating. Find the one thing that, if removed, would unlock disproportionate improvement. That’s where your energy goes. Everything else is decoration.

Why This Book Matters Now

I’ve read the management classics. Drucker taught me about objectives and results. Collins taught me about clarity and understanding. Clear taught me about systems. Sinek taught me about infinite games.

Cox and Ashlag gave me the diagnostic.

They gave me language to spot the pattern in real time: “We’re decorating the fish.” They gave me questions to ask: “Can you directly impact that measure?” “Is this technology removing a customer limitation?” “Are we getting marginal returns on major investment?”

In an era of AI hype, digital transformation initiatives, and agile everything, this book is the necessary counterweight. Before you adopt the next technology, launch the next initiative, or restructure the team, ask:

Are we cooking the fish, or just making it prettier?

The Bottom Line

Most organizations are decorating. Impressive activity. Marginal results. Cox and Ashlag show you how to spot it, why it happens, and what to do instead.

The real question isn’t whether you’re busy.

It’s whether the fish is actually cooked.

Book Details:
The World of Decorating the Fish by Kristen Cox and Yishai Ashlag​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

My 2025 Reading List: Key Insights

As the year ends, 2025 was a year of profound learning. This year’s reading list provided a profound exploration of human behavior, societal structures, and personal effectiveness. The collective insights challenged me to rethink my own motivations (Drive, Flow) and irrationalities (Predictably Irrational), while exposing the hidden systems of power that shape our world (Caste, The World is Flat, Apple in China). A recurring theme in all my reads this year is the power of strategic focus and questioning assumptions, whether in personal growth (The Achievement Habit), innovation (Blitzscaling, Decorating the Fish), or simply in what we choose to care about (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck). From the vastness of space (Starry Messenger) to the intimacy of a mother’s love (Shyamchi Aai) and the resilience of the human spirit (The Martian, I Who Have Never Known Men), these books collectively serve as a guide to navigating my complex inner and outer worlds with more wisdom, purpose, and clarity.

Row 1

Never Be Sick Again (Raymond Francis)

1. The “One Disease” concept: Argues that all disease is ultimately cell malfunction, which stems from only two causes: deficiency (lacking necessary nutrients) or toxicity (exposure to harmful substances).
2. The Six Pathways: Proposes that health is a choice managed by controlling six key pathways: Nutrition, Toxins, Psychological (stress), Physical (activity), Genetic (modifiable expression), and Medical (avoiding iatrogenic, or medically-caused, harm).

The World of Decorating the Fish (Kristen Cox & Yishai Ashlag)

1. The “Decorating the Fish” Metaphor: The book’s central concept is that organizations (and people) often waste time on “decorating the fish”—actions that look and feel like progress but do absolutely nothing to solve the root problem.
2. The “Seductive Seven” Traps: It identifies common traps that lead to this behavior, such as a fixation on getting more data, adding more resources, or adopting a new tool, all of which are distractions from the hard work of first defining the actual problem.

Drive (Daniel H. Pink)

1. Motivation 3.0: Challenges the traditional “carrot-and-stick” (Motivation 2.0) model, arguing it’s ineffective for creative, complex tasks. The future relies on “Motivation 3.0,” which is intrinsically driven.
2. The Three Intrinsic Elements: True motivation for 21st-century work is built on three pillars: Autonomy (the desire to direct our own lives), Mastery (the urge to get better at something that matters), and Purpose (the yearning to do what we do in service of something larger than ourselves).

Wise Animals (Tom Chatfield)

1. Co-evolution with Technology: Rejects the idea that technology is a separate, external force acting upon us. Instead, it argues that humans have always co-evolved with their tools—from fire and language to AI—and these tools fundamentally shape what it means to be human.
2. Technology as a Humanist Project: Instead of viewing technology as a threat (a “master”) or a simple tool (a “servant”), the book reframes it as a deeply humanist endeavor that reflects our own values, flaws, and potential.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (Sangu Mandanna)

1. Found Family over Isolation: The central theme is the healing power of a “found family.” It contrasts the protagonist’s life of forced isolation (a rule for witches) with the chaotic, loving, and accepting environment of the Nowhere House, arguing that belonging is essential for magic and life.
2. Redefining Rules and Tradition: The book questions rigid rules that are in place “for an good reason” but that no longer serve the people they are meant to protect. It’s a story about challenging old dogma to make way for a more compassionate and inclusive community.

The Change Maker’s Playbook (Amy J. Radin)

1. The “Seek, Seed, Scale” Framework: Provides a practical, three-part framework for innovation within large organizations. It argues against “innovation theater” and focuses on a tangible process: Seek (find the right customer-centric idea), Seed (validate it with small, data-driven tests), and Scale (integrate the proven idea into the core business).
2. Innovation is a Leadership Task: The book stresses that successful innovation isn’t just a bottom-up process; it requires active, visible leadership to navigate internal obstacles, secure resources, and protect fledgling ideas from bureaucracy.

Row 2

Dust (Hugh Howey)

1. The Truth of the Lie: The story finally resolves the central mystery of the series. The outside world is not toxic; the poison is manufactured inside the silos and pumped out with the “cleaners” to maintain the grand, multi-generational lie.
2. The Unification and Exodus: The climax of the trilogy sees the breaking of the ultimate taboo—communication and connection between the silos. It’s a story about ending the forced isolation and leading a united humanity out of the “dust” of the old world to build a new one.

Death of the Author (Roland Barthes)

1. Separating Text from Creator: This seminal essay argues that a text’s meaning should not be defined by the author’s identity, biography, or intentions. Once the work is published, the author effectively “dies,” giving way to the reader.
2. The Birth of the Reader: By “killing” the author as the ultimate source of meaning, the power of interpretation is transferred to the reader. The text becomes a “multi-dimensional space” where meaning is generated by the reader’s engagement, not by deciphering a single, “correct” message from the creator.

Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely)

1. Systematic Irrationality: Challenges the core assumption of classical economics (that people are rational actors). Ariely demonstrates through experiments that we are not just irrational, but predictably irrational—we make the same “mistakes” repeatedly.
2. The Power of Anchoring and Decoys: We rarely make decisions in a vacuum. Our choices are heavily influenced by the context presented, such as the first price we see (anchoring) or the presence of a “decoy” option designed to make another option look more attractive.

Flow (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

1. The Optimal Experience: “Flow” is the psychological state of being completely absorbed in an activity, where you lose your sense of time and self. This is the “optimal experience” and the true source of happiness, rather than external rewards or passive leisure.
2. The Challenge/Skill Balance: Flow is achieved in the narrow channel where the difficulty of a task is perfectly balanced with your skill level. If the task is too hard, you feel anxiety; if it’s too easy, you feel boredom. Growth requires continually increasing the challenge as your skill improves.

Games People Play (Eric Berne)

1. Transactional Analysis: Introduces the idea that all human interactions are “transactions” between three ego-states: the Parent (learned, external rules), the Adult (rational, objective), and the Child (emotional, internal feelings).
2. Psychological “Games”: We unconsciously play “games” with hidden motives and payoffs. These are patterns of transactions that seem plausible on the surface but are actually designed to achieve a hidden psychological gain (e.g., to prove “I’m always right” or “Why does this always happen to me?”).

Caste (Isabel Wilkerson)

1. Caste vs. Race: The book’s central thesis is that American racism is an insufficient label for its systemic inequality. The more accurate framework is a caste system—an artificial, rigid hierarchy that defines one’s value, power, and access—which uses race as the visible marker to enforce its rules.
2. The Eight Pillars: Wilkerson compares the American system to those in India and Nazi Germany, identifying eight “pillars” that all caste systems share, including divine will (using religion to justify the hierarchy), endogamy (preventing mixing of castes), and dehumanization (treating the lower caste as sub-human).

Row 3

Blitzscaling (Reid Hoffman)

1. Speed Over Efficiency: Blitzscaling is a specific strategy for winning a “winner-take-all” or “winner-take-most” market. It involves intentionally prioritizing speed to grow at a breakneck pace, even if it means sacrificing efficiency, burning capital, and “letting fires burn.”
2. Offensive vs. Defensive Scaling: Unlike normal startup growth (which is about finding product-market fit) or scale-up growth (which is about efficiently growing a proven model), blitzscaling is an offensive strategy. You accept uncertainty and risk to achieve a “first-scaler advantage,” building a dominant position before competitors can react.

Tiny Experiments (Anne-Laure Le Cunff)

1. Mindful Productivity: This book promotes a sustainable approach to growth by replacing rigid, long-term goals with small, iterative “experiments.” This mindset shifts the focus from a pass/fail outcome to a continuous process of learning and adapting.
2. P-A-R-I Framework: The book offers a framework for this growth: Pact (commit to curiosity), Act (practice mindful productivity), React (collaborate with uncertainty and view disruptions as data), and Impact (grow with the world by sharing your work).

The Achievement Habit (Bernard Roth)

1. Design Thinking for Your Life: Applies the principles of design thinking (used at Stanford’s d.school) to personal problems. This involves reframing problems, challenging your own “reasons” (which are often just excuses), and adopting a bias toward doing rather than just thinking.
2. “Reasons are B.S.”: A core insight is that the reasons we give for not achieving something (“I don’t have time,” “I’m not good enough”) are almost always excuses we’ve rationalized. By disregarding them and taking a small, concrete action, you break the pattern of inaction.

The Practicing Mind (Thomas M. Sterner)

1. Focus on the Process, Not the Goal: Argues that our modern obsession with “the goal” is the primary source of frustration, impatience, and failure. The key to mastery and peace is to shift your entire focus to the process of practicing the task at hand, finding joy in the simple, present-moment act of doing.
2. The “Do, Observe, Correct” Loop: When you lose focus or get frustrated, use this simple technique: 1. Do the task. 2. Observe your performance and your thoughts non-judgmentally (as a third-party witness). 3. Correct your action slightly. This loop keeps you engaged in the present rather than worrying about the past or future.

I’m Just Saying (Milan Kordestani)

1. The Necessity of Civil Discourse: In a deeply polarized world, the book argues that the ability to engage in respectful, productive conversations with people who hold different views (civil discourse) is not just a “nice to have,” but essential for personal growth and a functioning society.
2. Self-Reflection as a Prerequisite: To have effective discourse, you must first engage in self-reflection. This involves identifying your own biases, understanding why you believe what you believe, and approaching conversations with the humility and openness to change your mind.

The Martian (Andy Weir)

1. The Power of Incremental Problem-Solving: The novel is a testament to the human spirit, but its engine is the scientific method. Mark Watney survives not through one grand gesture, but by breaking down impossible problems (“I’m going to die”) into a series of smaller, solvable ones (“I need to make water,” “I need to grow food”).
2. Ingenuity and Global Cooperation: The story operates on two levels: Watney’s individual ingenuity (famously “sciencing the s–t out of” his problems) and the massive, collaborative effort back on Earth. It shows that while one person’s resourcefulness is powerful, humanity’s greatest achievements require us to cooperate across national and organizational lines.

Row 4

The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine (Rashid I. Khalidi)

1. A “War on” not a “War Between”: The book’s central argument is that the conflict is not, as often portrayed, a “war between two equal sides.” Rather, it is a colonial war waged on the indigenous Palestinian population, supported first by Great Britain and later by the United States.
2. Settler Colonialism Framework: It reframes the conflict through the lens of settler colonialism, arguing that the Zionist project was, from its inception, about replacing the native population with a new society, which inevitably led to the “nakba” (catastrophe) and a continuous, century-long struggle for displacement and resistance.

The Last Queen (Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni)

1. Giving Voice to a Forgotten Historical Figure: The novel is a historical fiction account that brings to life the story of Maharani Jind Kaur, the last wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and a figure largely erased from history. It gives her agency, showing her transformation from a commoner to a powerful, defiant regent.
2. Resilience Against Colonialism: The book is a powerful story of resistance. It details Jind Kaur’s fierce struggle against the British East India Company’s annexation of the Sikh Empire, her imprisonment, and her daring escape, highlighting her relentless spirit and dedication to her people and her son.

Butter (Asako Yuzuki)

1. Food as Autonomy and Desire: The novel uses food (especially rich, decadent butter) as a metaphor for female desire, pleasure, and autonomy. The journalist Rika’s journey from eating instant noodles to obsessively cooking is a story of her own self-awakening.
2. A Critique of Misogyny: The book is a sharp critique of how society, and the media, polices women’s bodies and appetites. The public’s fascination with the convict, Manako Kajii, stems less from her alleged crimes and more from the fact that she is “not thin” and lives a life of unashamed, hedonistic pleasure, which transgresses all societal expectations.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (Mark Manson)

1. The Feedback Loop from Hell: The book argues that modern culture’s obsession with positive thinking creates a toxic “feedback loop”—feeling bad about feeling bad. The solution is to accept negative feelings as a normal part of life.
2. Choose Your F*cks Wisely: The “subtle art” is not about being indifferent; it’s about being selectively indifferent.. It means consciously choosing what you care about (your values) and “not giving a f*ck” about the adversity, failure, and superficial metrics that are unavoidable in life.

Useful, Not True (Derek Sivers)

1. Beliefs as Tools: This book presents a profound mental model: your beliefs are not facts about the world; they are tools. The most important question to ask about a belief is not “Is this true?” but “Is this useful?”
2. Reframing for Action: If a belief causes you to act in a way that is beneficial, it’s a useful tool. If it holds you back (“I’m not a good public speaker”), it’s a useless tool, even if it feels true. You can, and should, consciously discard useless beliefs and “try on” new ones to see if they produce better results.

I Who Have Never Known Men (Jacqueline Harpman)

1. Humanity in a Void: This is a deeply philosophical and absurdist novel. Its core insight is an exploration of what it means to be human when all context—family, history, culture, and even the other half of the species—is stripped away.
2. Curiosity as a Reason for Being: The book contrasts the profound apathy of the older women, who have faint memories of a lost world, with the narrator’s fierce, consuming curiosity. It suggests that the urge to learn, count, and document, even in a meaningless void, is the fundamental essence of being human.

Row 5

श्यामची आई (Shyamchi Aai) (Sane Guruji)

1. Motherhood as Moral Foundation: This classic of Marathi literature is a collection of 42 stories told by the protagonist, Shyam, to his friends. The central theme is the profound, selfless love of his mother (“Aai”) and the moral values (honesty, empathy, selflessness) she instills in him, often through hardship.
2. The Power of Sanskar: The book is a guide to “Sanskar” (a concept of moral and cultural upbringing). It demonstrates that a person’s character is not innate but is molded by the values, sacrifices, and teachings of their family, particularly their mother, even in the face of poverty and rural challenges.

The Intelligent Investor (Benjamin Graham)

1. Mr. Market: Introduces the allegory of “Mr. Market,” an irrational, manic-depressive business partner who offers you a different price for your stocks every day. Sometimes he’s wildly optimistic (high price), sometimes he’s despondent (low price). The intelligent investor doesn’t take cues from his mood; they use his volatility to their advantage—buying when he’s depressed and selling when he’s euphoric.
2. Margin of Safety: This is the book’s central concept. The intelligent investor never speculates. They buy an asset only when its market price is significantly below its calculated intrinsic value. This “margin of safety” protects you from bad luck, errors in judgment, and the irrationality of Mr. Market.

Kashmir: The Case for Freedom (Various Authors)

1. A Counter-Narrative: This book is a collection of essays that directly challenges the dominant state-sponsored narratives of India and Pakistan. It argues that the conflict is not a simple territorial dispute but a popular, indigenous freedom movement by the Kashmiri people for self-determination.
2. Critique of Occupation: The essays document the human cost of what they describe as the Indian “occupation,” including human rights abuses, militarization, and the suppression of political dissent, arguing that a just resolution is impossible without acknowledging Kashmir’s right to choose its own future.

Lord of Light (Roger Zelazny)

1. Technology as Magic: A classic example of Arthur C. Clarke’s law (“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”). The “gods” in the book are not divine; they are the original crew of a colony ship who use advanced technology (mind-transfer, “Aspects”) to grant themselves god-like powers and immortality, enforcing a rigid caste system on the planet’s descendants.
2. Religion as a Tool of Control: The novel is a deep exploration of the conflict between two ideologies: the “gods” (using Hinduism as a tool of control and reincarnation-as-technology to maintain power) and the protagonist, Sam/Buddha (introducing Buddhism as a philosophy of liberation to break their stranglehold).

A Minute to Think (Juliet Funt)

1. The “Thieves of Time”: The book argues that we aren’t just busy; we’re compressing our time with low-value tasks. These “Thieves of Time” are often good traits taken to an extreme: Drive becomes Overdrive, Excellence becomes Perfectionism, Information becomes Overload, and Activity becomes Frenzy.
2. “White Space” as a Strategic Pause: The solution is to reclaim “white space”—small, intentional pauses inserted into the day. This is not a break to check social media, but a strategic pause to think. This “minute to think” allows you to separate the signal from the noise, regain strategic clarity, and make better decisions.

The Art of Laziness (Library Mindset)

1. Redefining Laziness: The book’s title is provocative, but its core message is about the difference between unproductive laziness (procrastination, avoidance) and strategic laziness (efficiency, doing only what matters). It’s an argument against “hustle culture” and “busyness” for its own sake.
2. Urgency through Mortality: To overcome unproductive laziness, the book advocates for using mortality as a motivator (e.g., the “Death Calendar” concept). By confronting the finite nature of your time, you create the urgency needed to stop procrastinating, take responsibility for your life, and focus on the few things that truly matter.

Row 6

Apple in China (Wei-Ting Yen)

1. A Symbiotic but Vulnerable Relationship: The book details the deep, symbiotic relationship between Apple and China. Apple gained access to an unparalleled manufacturing ecosystem and a massive market, while China used Apple to build its own technological capabilities and create millions of jobs.
2. The “Bait and Switch”: A key argument is that this relationship has become a vulnerability for Apple. China has “used” Apple’s investment to build up its own homegrown competitors (like Huawei) and now holds immense leverage, potentially able to “kill” Apple’s production overnight, leaving the company inextricably bound to an authoritarian state.

Change is the Only Constant (Ben Orlin)

1. Calculus as a Language for Life: The book’s main idea is that calculus is not just a dry set of rules but a powerful “language” for describing the human experience. It’s a way of thinking about love, risk, and time.
2. “Moments” and “Eternities”: Orlin makes calculus accessible by relating its two core ideas to life. The derivative (“Moments”) is the study of instantaneous change (how you feel right now), while the integral (“Eternities”) is the summing up of all those moments to see the big picture of your life.

Decisions Over Decimals (Christopher Frank, et al.)

1. The Problem vs. The Data: Argues that in the age of big data, we have become obsessed with “decimals” (data) rather than “decisions” (the problem we are trying to solve). We often start by gathering data instead of first asking, “What decision are we trying to make, and why?”
2. Intuition as a Data Point: The book advocates for balancing data with human intuition and experience. It argues that leaders should “interrogate” their data, check it against their common sense, and not be afraid to make a good decision with imperfect data rather than wait for a “perfect” answer that never comes.

Starry Messenger (Neil deGrasse Tyson)

1. The Cosmic Perspective: The book’s central theme is that a “cosmic perspective” is a necessary antidote to tribalism and division. By contemplating the vastness of the universe, our earthly conflicts and differences appear insignificant, fostering a greater sense of shared humanity.
2. Scientific Literacy as a Unifier: Tyson argues that the process of scientific inquiry—which is based on empirical data, verifiable truth, and a willingness to be wrong—is a powerful framework for resolving conflict and building consensus. He posits that a scientifically literate public is essential for a functional democracy.

The World Is Flat (Thomas L. Friedman)

1. The Ten “Flatteners”: The book’s thesis is that a combination of technological and political forces (the “10 flatteners,” such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rise of the internet, outsourcing, and supply chaining) have “flattened” the global playing field.
2. Globalization 3.0: This “flattening” has created “Globalization 3.0,” a new era where the key agent of change is no longer countries (1.0) or corporations (2.0), but individuals. Anyone, anywhere, can now collaborate and compete globally, which fundamentally changes economics, politics, and society.

The 9/11 Commission Report (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks)

1. A Failure of Imagination: The report’s most famous and damning conclusion was that the primary failure was not one of intelligence collection, but of imagination. U.S. agencies had the “dots” (the data) but failed to connect them, unable to imagine that Al-Qaeda would or could mount an attack of such scale on U.S. soil.
2. Systemic Institutional Failure: The report revealed deep, systemic failures in communication and coordination between government agencies, particularly the CIA and FBI. This finding led directly to the largest restructuring of the U.S. intelligence community in 50 years, including the creation of the Director of National Intelligence.

My ongoing Goodread list

though the year coming to end, the reading will continue, you can join me on Goodreads, to share your reading list as well as inspire me for more wisdom seeking reads.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/36302373-sumit

Sumit’s books

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When Passion Becomes Perilous: The Hidden Leadership Lessons from the Titan Tragedy

I couldn’t look away from the Titan documentary. As someone who’s spent years building teams and pushing technological boundaries, watching Stockton Rush’s (CEO OceanGate, died in his last submarine dive) journey felt uncomfortably familiar. The relentless drive, the impatience with bureaucracy, the absolute conviction that you’re revolutionizing an industry—I’ve been there. But somewhere in that familiar entrepreneurial passion, Rush crossed a line that cost five people their lives.

The Seductive Power of Visionary Thinking
Rush wasn’t a villain—he was a visionary who lost his way. His dream of democratizing deep-sea exploration was genuinely inspiring. For decades, only government-funded missions could reach the Titanic’s depth of 12,500 feet. Rush wanted to change that, making the impossible accessible to civilians willing to pay $250,000 for the experience.
The problem wasn’t his vision; it was how completely he became it.
The Data Tell the Story: According to maritime safety records, properly certified deep-sea vessels have a failure rate of less than 0.1%. Experimental, uncertified vessels? The numbers are staggeringly different—failure rates approach 15-20% in extreme depth applications. Rush knew these statistics but convinced himself his carbon fiber innovation would beat the odds.
This is what psychologists call “optimism bias”— (Read more) the tendency to overestimate positive outcomes while underestimating risks. Research by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman shows that entrepreneurs exhibit this bias at rates 3-4 times higher than the general population. It’s what makes us start companies against impossible odds, but it’s also what can make us ignore flashing red warning lights.
The Regulatory Rebellion: Understanding Both Sides
I get Rush’s frustration with certification bodies. I’ve watched brilliant innovations die slow deaths in regulatory purgatory. The FDA takes an average of 12 years to approve breakthrough medical devices. Aviation certification can stretch beyond a decade. When you’re burning through investor capital and your team is depending on you, these timelines feel like innovation killers.
Rush chose to operate in international waters specifically to avoid U.S. Coast Guard oversight. His argument? “Innovation doesn’t happen when you have to follow restrictive regulations.” On the surface, it’s compelling.
But here’s what the data actually show: Industries with robust safety regulations don’t just save lives—they often accelerate long-term innovation. The aviation industry, heavily regulated since the 1950s, has achieved remarkable safety improvements while continuously advancing technology. Commercial aviation fatality rates have dropped 95% since 1970, even as air travel increased 10-fold.
Companies like SpaceX prove you can work within regulatory frameworks while still pushing boundaries. SpaceX conducted over 50 successful launches before their first crewed mission, working closely with NASA throughout. Their approach: “Regulation as a design constraint, not a roadblock.”
When Expertise Becomes the Enemy
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of Rush’s story was his systematic dismissal of expert warnings. Multiple deep-sea engineers, including his own employees, raised concerns about the Titan’s carbon fiber hull design. Industry veterans warned that carbon fiber, unlike steel or titanium, doesn’t fail gradually—it fails catastrophically, with no warning.
Rush’s response? He fired critics and publicly stated that industry experts were “uninspiring” and stuck in old ways of thinking.
The Psychology Behind This: Research from Harvard Business School shows that as entrepreneurs become more successful, they increasingly discount external advice. It’s called “expert blindness”—the more passionate we become about our vision, the less we hear dissenting voices. In a study of 847 startup failures, 34% could be traced directly to founders ignoring critical technical feedback from domain experts.
This hits close to home for any leader who’s ever built something from scratch. You become so emotionally invested in your creation that criticism feels like personal attacks. But in safety-critical applications, this emotional attachment can literally be deadly.
The Success-Fame Convergence Trap
What struck me most about Rush’s interviews was how intertwined his personal identity had become with OceanGate’s success. He wasn’t just building a submersible company—he was becoming the visionary who would change deep-sea exploration forever. His LinkedIn described him as a “Innovator, explorer, and entrepreneur revolutionizing ocean access.”
The numbers paint a clear picture: According to venture capital data, founder-led companies where the CEO maintains more than 60% equity ownership have 40% higher failure rates in safety-critical industries. When personal wealth and reputation become completely tied to a single product’s success, rational risk assessment becomes nearly impossible.
Jeff Bezos spoke about this phenomenon at a leadership conference in 2019: “The moment you think you are your company, you stop making decisions in the company’s best interest. You start making decisions to protect your ego.”
Building Better Safety Cultures: What Actually Works
So how do we maintain entrepreneurial drive while protecting the people who trust us with their lives? I’ve seen effective approaches across multiple industries:

1. Institutionalize Dissent
   Intel’s legendary CEO Andy Grove required every major decision to have a designated “devil’s advocate”—someone whose job was to find flaws in the proposal. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos implemented “disagree and commit” culture, where team members are expected to challenge decisions before implementation.
2. Separate Technical Decisions from Business Pressure
   Boeing’s 737 MAX crashes happened partly because business timelines overrode engineering concerns. Companies like Tesla learned from this by creating independent safety review boards that report directly to the board of directors, not the CEO.
3. Embrace “Productive Paranoia”
   Jim Collins, in Great by Choice, studied companies that thrived in uncertain environments. The most successful leaders exhibited what he called “productive paranoia”—constantly asking “What could kill us?” SpaceX’s Elon Musk famously requires three independent failure analyses before any crewed mission.
4. Make Safety Metrics Visible
   Netflix revolutionized streaming by making system reliability metrics public internally. Every employee could see real-time failure rates, response times, and safety margins. Transparency creates accountability.
   The Data-Driven Path Forward
   Research from MIT’s Sloan School shows that companies implementing these practices see:
   • 67% fewer safety-related incidents
   • 23% faster time-to-market (due to fewer late-stage redesigns)
   • 31% higher employee retention in technical roles
   • 45% better investor confidence scores
   The most compelling statistic? Safety-focused companies in high-risk industries achieved 15% higher long-term revenue growth than their risk-taking competitors.
   The Uncomfortable Truth About Titan
   Rush’s tragedy forces us to confront an uncomfortable question: How many of us have made decisions where our passion overrode prudent judgment? Maybe not life-or-death decisions, but moments where ego, timeline pressure, or financial stress caused us to dismiss valid concerns from our teams?
   The Titan documentary showed me that the line between visionary leadership and dangerous obsession isn’t as clear as I’d like to believe. Rush started with genuine intentions to advance human exploration. But somewhere along the way, his dream became more important than the dreamers willing to trust him with their lives.
   A Personal Commitment
   As leaders, we owe it to everyone who depends on us—employees, customers, investors, families—to maintain that uncomfortable balance between drive and responsibility. It means listening when experts tell us we’re wrong. It means working with regulators instead of around them. It means accepting that sometimes the most courageous thing we can do is pause, reassess, and admit we need help.
   The ocean doesn’t care about our timelines, our funding rounds, or our revolutionary visions. It only cares about physics, engineering, and preparation. In the end, that’s all that matters.
   Rush dreamed of making the impossible possible. Instead, he made the preventable inevitable. The difference between the two might just define what kind of leaders we choose to become.

The Titan wasn’t just an engineering failure—it was a leadership failure that cost five lives. As entrepreneurs and executives, we must learn from Rush’s mistakes before we repeat them in our own domains. Because in the end, no innovation is worth destroying the trust people place in our judgment.

Leaders, be like donkeys—literally!

The next time you see a leader who is calm, steady, and quietly resilient, give them the ultimate compliment: call them a donkey.

Today, I visited a petting farm and learned about the characteristics of donkeys. Contrary to popular belief, which often associates the term “dumb” with donkeys, I discovered that they are not only hardworking but also possess exceptional intelligence and discipline. Donkeys are meticulous creatures who take pride in maintaining a clean and organized environment. They naturally assume the role of leaders within their families, providing protection and guidance to their loved ones. When engaged in their tasks, donkeys exhibit unwavering focus and dedication, demonstrating their remarkable capabilities. This made me curious about what I can learn from them.

While lions get the glory and eagles soar in leadership metaphors, the donkey, often mischaracterized as stubborn, embodies the most practical and effective leadership traits. This misunderstood animal demonstrates systematic thinking, unwavering focus, and methodical execution that modern CXOs and executives desperately need.

What Donkeys Teach Us About Leadership

1. Systematic Thinking Over Impulsive Action

Donkeys never just charge forward. They pause, assess the terrain, calculate the load, and check if the path is safe. Once convinced, they move forward with calm assurance.
For leaders:
• Build decision frameworks instead of relying on gut calls.
• Use tools like pre-mortems and go/no-go gates before committing resources.

2. Relentless Focus on the Mission

Once a donkey commits to a path, it doesn’t get distracted. No noise, no glamour—just step after step until the goal is reached.
For leaders:
• Set clear, measurable objectives each quarter.
• Use OKRs to keep teams aligned.
• Create “mission filters” so you only pursue what truly matters.

3. Methodical Progress Over Speed

Donkeys don’t sprint. They move steadily, balancing energy and endurance. And because of that, they rarely burn out.
For leaders:
• Prioritize sustainable pace over short-lived bursts.
• Focus on compound growth, not just hockey-stick projections.
• Adopt Kanban or continuous delivery to encourage steady progress.

4. Load-Bearing Leadership

Donkeys carry impressive loads for their size—but they know their limits. If overloaded, they simply refuse to move. That’s not stubbornness; it’s wisdom.
For leaders:
• Protect your team from being overburdened.
• Define capacity clearly and say “no” when necessary.
• Delegate wisely instead of piling work on the same shoulders.

Leadership isn’t about charisma or brute force. It’s about focus, resilience, and knowing your limits. In other words, leading like a donkey.

Donkeys aren’t impulsive. They pause, assess the ground, and only move when it’s safe. They don’t burn themselves out sprinting, but they keep going, step after step—until the job is done. They carry heavy loads, but they also know when to stop and refuse more. That isn’t stubbornness; it’s wisdom about limits. And when they lead, it’s not through noise or force, but through presence, protection, and quiet guidance.

In a world where leaders often confuse speed for progress and noise for impact, we could use more donkey-like qualities: patience, focus, endurance, and balance.

So yes—when you meet a leader like that, don’t flatter them with the usual metaphors. Look them in the eye and give them the highest praise you can: “You lead like a donkey.”

AI-Powered Drug Discovery: The Race to Market

The race to “solve all diseases” has begun, and AI is leading the charge.

A Historic Moment in Medicine

Something remarkable is happening in pharmaceutical labs around the world. For the first time in history, drugs designed entirely by artificial intelligence are about to be tested in humans. Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs will begin these groundbreaking trials in 2025, marking a potential turning point in how we discover new medicines.

Think about it: after decades of painstaking trial-and-error in drug discovery, we’re now watching AI systems design potential cures in a fraction of the time. Demis Hassabis, the Nobel Prize-winning CEO behind this breakthrough, believes we’re finally within reach of “solving all diseases.”

Why This Matters: The Old Way vs. The New Way

Here’s what traditional drug discovery looks like:

Imagine you’re searching for a needle in a haystack—except the haystack is the size of a football stadium, and you’re not even sure what the needle looks like. That’s essentially what pharmaceutical companies have been doing for decades.

The Traditional Timeline:

• Discovery phase: 2–4 years of searching
• Preclinical research: 2–3 years of testing
• Total time before human trials: 4–7 years

Now picture having a super-intelligent assistant that can scan the entire haystack in minutes, identify exactly what you’re looking for, and even suggest improvements. That’s what AI is doing for drug discovery.

Isomorphic Labs compressed this entire process to about four years—and they’re just getting started.

The New Players Are Moving Fast

While Isomorphic Labs grabbed headlines, they’re not alone in this race. Other companies are achieving even more dramatic speed improvements:

The Speed Leaders:

• Insilico Medicine: Created new cancer drugs in under 3 years
• Exscientia: Developed cancer treatments in less than 12 months
• Institute of Cancer Research: Cut early development from 3 years to just 3 months

What used to take nearly a decade now happens in 1-4 years. In some cases, it’s even faster. This isn’t just incremental improvement—it’s a complete transformation of how medicines are discovered.

How AI Actually Works Its Magic

The secret isn’t just faster computers—it’s smarter approaches. AI transforms drug discovery in three powerful ways:

1. Smart Target Hunting
Instead of researchers spending years in labs testing thousands of compounds, AI analyzes massive datasets to predict which molecules will work—often in just weeks.

2. Virtual Testing
Before expensive animal testing, AI can simulate how drugs will behave in the body. Think of it as a sophisticated video game that predicts real-world results.

3. Rapid Learning Cycles
Traditional research moves slowly: test, analyze, redesign, repeat. AI systems can run thousands of these cycles simultaneously, learning from each iteration.

This is how AlphaFold 3 and similar platforms are changing the game—they’re not just tools, they’re intelligent partners in the discovery process.

Market Implications

For Pharmaceutical Companies:

• Competitive pressure: Traditional 10–15 year development cycles face disruption
• Investment strategy: R&D budgets shifting toward AI capabilities
• Partnership opportunities: Major pharma partnering with AI-first companies (Novartis, Eli Lilly with Isomorphic)

For Patients:

• Faster access: Potentially 50% reduction in overall R&D timelines
• Targeted treatments: AI enables precision medicine approaches
• Cost reduction: Lower development costs may reduce drug prices

The Reality Check: It’s Not All Magic

Before we get too excited, let’s address the elephant in the room. Despite these impressive timelines, some things simply can’t be rushed:

Regulatory Requirements Don’t Disappear
The FDA still requires extensive safety testing. Animal studies are mandatory. Long-term effects must be studied. No amount of AI can change these fundamental safety requirements.

Biology Is Still Complex
Cancer drugs, especially new ones, require extensive validation. The human body is incredibly complex, and AI is still learning to predict how drugs will actually behave in real patients.

Technology Is Still Maturing
These are first-generation AI platforms. They’re impressive, but they’re still evolving. Regulatory agencies are also still figuring out how to evaluate AI-designed drugs.

The good news? Even with these constraints, AI is already delivering meaningful speed improvements. As the technology matures, we can expect even better results.

What’s Next: The Strategic View

For Technology Leaders:
The question isn’t whether to invest in AI drug discovery, it’s how fast you can move. This represents a fundamental platform shift, similar to how the internet transformed commerce. Early movers are building sustainable advantages.

For Business Strategy:
Watch the partnerships. Traditional pharma companies are racing to ally with AI-first companies. The successful combinations will likely dominate the next decade of drug discovery.

For Market Watchers:
Isomorphic Labs’ human trials in 2025 represent a crucial test case. Success could accelerate investment and regulatory acceptance. Failure might slow the entire field.

The Bottom Line

Isomorphic Labs’ upcoming human trials, mark more than just another drug study they represent a potential inflection point in medicine. While the company’s four-year timeline isn’t dramatically faster than optimized traditional development, it’s what comes next that matters.

As AI platforms mature and regulatory pathways streamline, we’ll likely see even more dramatic accelerations. The companies and countries that master this technology first will have enormous advantages in addressing humanity’s greatest health challenges.

The race to “solve all diseases” isn’t just a bold vision anymore—it’s becoming a measurable reality. And AI is leading the charge.

Beyond Numbers: What Tokyo vs Bengaluru Transportation Really Tells Us

A LinkedIn comparison sparked a deeper reflection on transportation, culture, and what it means to build sustainable cities.

A recent LinkedIn post comparing Tokyo and Bengaluru’s transportation systems has been making rounds, showing stark differences in their mass transit networks, ridership numbers, and private vehicle usage. While the data is factual, the comparison itself reveals something more profound about how we think about urban mobility and social development.

The Unfair Comparison Problem

Comparing Bengaluru directly with Tokyo is like comparing a promising startup with a Fortune 500 company. Tokyo’s transportation system is the result of decades of systematic investment, urban planning, and cultural evolution. With over 150 years of railway history and post-war reconstruction that prioritized public transit, Tokyo’s current state represents generational thinking and investment.

A more apt comparison would be Mumbai with Tokyo – both are financial capitals with comparable population densities and similar economic pressures. Mumbai’s suburban rail network, though strained, serves millions daily and represents a more mature Indian transportation ecosystem.

The Prestige Factor: Transportation as Status Symbol

But here’s where the comparison becomes truly interesting. In Bengaluru, and much of India, private vehicle ownership isn’t just about mobility – it’s about social signaling. The 1.1 crore private vehicles in Bengaluru represent more than transportation choices; they represent aspirations, status, and perceived success.

This stands in stark contrast to mature economies like Japan, where you’ll find CEOs and janitors sharing the same train compartment without a second thought. In Tokyo, the efficiency and reliability of public transport have made it the preferred choice across all economic strata. There’s no stigma attached to taking the train – if anything, it’s seen as the smart choice.

The Economics of Self-Containment

What Tokyo demonstrates beautifully is the concept of ikigai – finding purpose and contentment in life’s simple, efficient systems. The city’s transportation network embodies this philosophy: it’s not about showcasing wealth through individual car ownership, but about creating a system that serves everyone efficiently.

In mature economies, the wealthy don’t feel the need to differentiate themselves through transportation choices. They’ve moved beyond conspicuous consumption in basic utilities. A millionaire in Tokyo takes the same train as a student because both recognize it’s the most efficient way to navigate the city.

The Hidden Costs of Private Vehicle Dependence

Bengaluru’s 73% private vehicle usage rate comes with hidden costs that don’t appear in simple comparisons:

• Environmental impact: More vehicles mean more emissions and pollution
• Infrastructure strain: Roads designed for thousands now serve millions
• Economic inefficiency: Individuals bearing the full cost of transportation instead of sharing it
• Social segregation: Different economic classes using different transport modes

What This Means for Indian Cities

The real lesson isn’t that Bengaluru should simply copy Tokyo’s model. Instead, it’s about understanding the deeper cultural and economic shifts required for sustainable urban mobility:

1. Redefining Success

Moving away from private vehicle ownership as a status symbol requires cultural change, not just infrastructure investment.

2. Quality Over Quantity

Building public transport that’s so efficient and comfortable that choosing it becomes a matter of preference, not necessity.

3. Integrated Planning

Tokyo’s success comes from decades of coordinated urban planning where transportation, housing, and commercial development work in harmony.

The Path Forward

Bengaluru and other Indian cities don’t need to replicate Tokyo exactly. They need to develop their own version of transportation ikigai – finding purpose and efficiency in shared mobility solutions that work for their unique context.

This might mean:

• Investing in Bus Rapid Transit systems that are more feasible than extensive metro networks
• Creating integrated mobility solutions that combine multiple transport modes
• Most importantly, fostering a cultural shift where using public transport is seen as civic responsibility rather than economic compromise

Conclusion

The Tokyo-Bengaluru comparison isn’t just about transportation – it’s a mirror reflecting our values, aspirations, and understanding of what makes a city truly livable. Until we address the prestige factor in transportation choices and embrace the efficiency of shared mobility, we’ll continue to build cities that serve vehicles rather than people.

The question isn’t whether Bengaluru can build Tokyo’s transportation system. The question is whether Bengaluru can build a transportation culture that serves its people as effectively as Tokyo serves its own.

What are your thoughts on transportation as a status symbol in Indian cities? How can we shift the conversation from ownership to access?

The 4S Framework: Lessons from Origami for Life and Business

How the ancient art of paper folding teaches us Thomas Sterner‘s principles of discipline and focus

There’s something magical about watching a master origami artist transform a simple sheet of paper into an intricate crane, dragon, or flower. What starts as a flat, unremarkable square becomes something beautiful and complex through nothing more than strategic folds. This transformation embodies a profound truth about learning, growth, and achievement—one that Thomas M. Sterner captures brilliantly in his book “The Practicing Mind” through what I call the 4S Framework: Simplify, Small, Slow, and Short.

The 4S Framework Explained

Sterner’s framework offers a counterintuitive approach to mastery in our fast-paced, instant-gratification world. Let’s explore each element through the lens of origami, then see how these principles revolutionize business thinking.

1. Simplify: The Power of Reduction

In origami, every complex creation begins with the same foundation: a single square of paper. No glue, no scissors, no elaborate tools—just paper and intention. The art lies not in adding complexity, but in finding the elegant simplicity within complexity.

Master origami artists don’t start by imagining the final crane; they focus on the next fold. Each fold is a simple action: valley fold, mountain fold, inside reverse fold. The complexity emerges from the accumulation of simple, deliberate actions.

The Business Connection: The most successful businesses often have the simplest core concepts. Amazon started with one idea: sell books online. Google began with one mission: organize the world’s information. Netflix simplified entertainment: movies by mail, then streaming. They didn’t launch with dozens of features—they perfected one simple value proposition first.

2. Small: Starting with Minimal Viable Actions

Every origami journey begins with a modest square of paper—often just 6 inches by 6 inches. You don’t need expensive materials or vast resources. The constraint of size actually enhances creativity and forces precision. Small paper means small mistakes, quick learning cycles, and lower stakes for experimentation.

When learning origami, you don’t start with a 1,000-step dragon. You begin with a simple boat or paper airplane. These small projects build fundamental skills while providing immediate satisfaction and confidence.

The Business Connection: The startup world has embraced this through the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) concept. Instead of spending years building the perfect product, successful entrepreneurs start small. Facebook began as a simple directory for Harvard students. Airbnb started with air mattresses in the founders’ apartment. Twitter emerged from a simple question: “What are you doing?”

Small beginnings allow for rapid iteration, reduced financial risk, and faster market feedback. They also make the seemingly impossible feel achievable.

3. Slow: The Paradox of Patient Progress

Here’s where origami reveals its deepest wisdom: going slow actually makes you faster. When you rush through folds, you create imprecision that compounds throughout the model. A valley fold that’s slightly off becomes a major structural problem twenty steps later. You end up starting over, taking much longer than if you’d been deliberate from the beginning.

Experienced origami artists move with methodical precision. They study the diagram, understand the intended result, make the fold carefully, and ensure it’s correct before proceeding. This “slow” approach leads to flawless execution and faster overall completion.

The Business Connection: In business, “slow” means taking time to understand your market, validate assumptions, and build solid foundations. Companies that rush to scale often collapse under their own weight. Those that move deliberately—like Patagonia’s careful expansion or In-N-Out Burger’s methodical geographic growth—build sustainable, lasting enterprises.

Slow also means giving your team time to understand strategy, your customers time to adopt your product, and yourself time to develop genuine expertise. The paradox is that this patient approach ultimately accelerates long-term success.

4. Short: Bite-Sized Learning Sessions

Origami mastery doesn’t come from marathon folding sessions that leave you frustrated and fatigued. It comes from consistent, short practice periods. Fifteen minutes of focused folding is more valuable than two hours of distracted attempts.

Short sessions maintain engagement, prevent mental fatigue, and allow for better retention. Each brief practice builds on the previous one, creating steady progress without burnout. You might learn one new fold per session, but those folds compound into increasingly sophisticated models over time.

The Business Connection: The most effective business development happens in short, focused sprints rather than endless work marathons. The Pomodoro Technique, agile development cycles, and regular brief check-ins all reflect this principle.

Short also applies to goal setting. Instead of aiming to “transform the industry,” successful businesses set short-term, achievable milestones. Weekly objectives, monthly targets, and quarterly goals create momentum and maintain motivation while building toward larger visions.

The Compound Effect: How 4S Creates Mastery

The magic happens when these four principles work together. In origami, you simplify complex forms into basic folds, start with small projects and small pieces of paper, work slowly and deliberately, and practice in short, focused sessions. This approach doesn’t just create paper art—it develops patience, precision, spatial intelligence, and the ability to see complex systems as sequences of simple steps.

The same compound effect occurs in business. Companies that simplify their core offering, start small with their market, move slowly enough to build solid foundations, and focus on short-term achievable goals often outperform those that try to do everything at once.

Practical Applications for Your Business

For Entrepreneurs:

• Simplify your business model to one clear value proposition
• Start with a small, well-defined target market
• Move slowly enough to gather meaningful customer feedback
• Set short weekly goals rather than only focusing on yearly objectives

For Teams:

• Simplify project scope to essential features
• Break large initiatives into small, manageable components
• Allow time for thorough planning and execution
• Work in short sprints with regular review cycles

For Personal Development:

• Simplify skill development to one core competency at a time
• Start with small daily practices
• Progress slowly enough to build solid foundations
• Commit to short, consistent learning sessions over sporadic marathons

The Origami Mindset in Leadership

Perhaps the most profound lesson from origami is about the nature of creation itself. Every fold matters. Every decision has consequences that ripple through the entire structure. There are no shortcuts, but there is elegance in the process when you embrace the 4S principles.

Great leaders, like master origami artists, understand that transformation happens one fold at a time. They resist the urge to force outcomes and instead focus on perfecting the process. They know that rushing leads to structural weaknesses, while patience creates strength.

Conclusion: The Art of Disciplined Progress

In our age of instant everything, origami offers a different path—one that mirrors Sterner’s insights about developing a practicing mind. The art teaches us that complexity emerges from simplicity, that small beginnings enable great achievements, that slow progress is often the fastest route to mastery, and that short, focused efforts compound into extraordinary results.

Whether you’re building a business, developing a skill, or pursuing any meaningful goal, the 4S framework provides a sustainable path forward. Like the origami artist who transforms a simple square into something beautiful, you can transform your aspirations into reality—one deliberate fold at a time.

The next time you feel overwhelmed by the complexity of your goals, remember the origami master. Pick up that simple square of paper. Make one fold. Then another. Trust the process, embrace the principles, and watch as something extraordinary emerges from the most humble beginnings.

What will you create with your next fold?

Reasons are bullshit.Reasons are often just excuse, however, we use them to hide our shortcomings from ourselves.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to effortlessly turn their dreams into reality while others remain perpetually stuck in the planning phase? Bernard Roth’s “The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life” offers a refreshingly honest answer: achievement isn’t about having the best ideas or the most talent, it’s about developing the right habits and taking consistent action.

The Core Message: Achievement Is a Learnable Skill

Roth, a Stanford professor and co-founder of the renowned d.school, brings decades of design thinking expertise to personal development. His central thesis is revolutionary in its simplicity: achievement is a habit that can be learned, practiced, and strengthened like a muscle. Drawing from real student transformations in his Stanford class “The Designer in Society,” Roth demonstrates that the same design thinking principles used to solve complex organizational problems can redesign your entire life.

The book’s power lies in its practical approach. Rather than offering feel-good platitudes, Roth presents a systematic method for breaking through self-imposed limitations and creating lasting change.

Three Game-Changing Takeaways

1. Your Perspective Creates Your Reality

One of the book’s most profound insights is that meaning is entirely subjective—we assign significance to everything in our lives, and these assignments shape our actions and outcomes. Roth argues that changing how you label and view situations can unlock creativity and positive transformation.

This isn’t just positive thinking; it’s strategic reframing. When you recognize that your interpretation of events—not the events themselves—determines your response, you gain tremendous power to change your experience. The practical exercise here is simple but transformative: regularly question your assumptions and consciously relabel familiar situations to open new possibilities.

2. Reasons Are Just Sophisticated Excuses

Perhaps the book’s most controversial chapter tackles our relationship with excuses. Roth boldly states that most reasons we give for our actions are simply sophisticated excuses designed to protect our self-image. While this might sound harsh, it’s liberating once you embrace it.

The author isn’t advocating for social rudeness, externally, reasons may still be necessary. But internally, questioning every reason forces honest self-assessment. If something truly matters to you, your actions should reflect that priority without elaborate justification. This shift from explanation to action is where real change begins.

3. Doing Beats Trying Every Time

The distinction between “trying” and “doing” runs throughout the book like a golden thread. Roth emphasizes that real achievement comes only through committed action, not good intentions or endless discussions. There’s a fundamental difference between someone who says “I’ll try to exercise” and someone who simply exercises.

This connects to his advocacy for prototyping, taking small, experimental steps to build momentum. Rather than waiting for the perfect plan, start with imperfect action. Small wins build confidence and break the inertia that keeps most people stuck in perpetual preparation mode.

Why This Book needs recommendation?

In our age of endless information and analysis paralysis, “The Achievement Habit” offers a refreshing antidote. Roth’s background in design thinking brings practical structure to personal development, moving beyond motivation to methodology. The book doesn’t just inspire—it instructs.

What makes this particularly relevant is how Roth addresses modern challenges like overthinking, perfectionism, and the tendency to substitute planning for action. His emphasis on collaboration and asking for help counters our increasingly isolated approach to personal growth.

The Bottom Line

“The Achievement Habit” succeeds because it treats personal development as a design problem rather than a motivation issue. Roth shows that achievement isn’t about having the right personality or waiting for inspiration, it’s about building systems and habits that consistently move you forward.
The book’s real strength lies in its integration of mindset shifts with practical action. It’s not enough to change how you think; you must change what you do. And it’s not enough to take random action; you must align that action with an empowering self-image and clear purpose.

If you’re tired of books that make you feel good but don’t create lasting change, “The Achievement Habit” offers something different: a proven framework for turning intentions into results. Roth’s message is both challenging and hopeful, you have more control over your outcomes than you think, but only if you’re willing to stop making excuses and start taking consistent action.

The question isn’t whether you can achieve more in your life. The question is whether you’re ready to make achievement a habit.

🧠 Navigating the Maze of Cognitive Biases: A Comprehensive Guide

Cognitive biases subtly shape our perceptions and decisions, often without our awareness. Understanding these mental shortcuts is crucial for leaders aiming to make informed, rational choices. This guide distills insights from ten detailed explorations of prevalent biases, each accompanied by a link to delve deeper.

1. Non-Response Bias

The Silent Distorter of Data

When certain groups don’t respond to surveys, the resulting data can misrepresent the whole.

🔗 Read More

2. Survivorship Bias

Learning from History’s Hidden Failures

Focusing only on successes can lead to overestimating probabilities and ignoring critical lessons from failures.

🔗 Read More

3. Optimism Bias

Where Good Vibes Wreck Good Plans

Overestimating positive outcomes can result in inadequate preparation for potential challenges.

🔗 Read More

4. Implicit Bias

The Hidden Influence Shaping Our Business Decisions

Unconscious attitudes can affect decisions, leading to unintended discrimination or favoritism.

🔗 Read More

5. Information Bias

When More Data Clouds Better Decisions

Seeking excessive information can delay decisions and obscure key insights.

🔗 Read More

6. Anchoring Bias

How First Numbers Shape Our Decisions

Initial information can disproportionately influence subsequent judgments and decisions.

🔗 Read More

7. Conservatism Bias

When We Fail to Update Our Beliefs

A reluctance to revise beliefs in light of new evidence can hinder growth and adaptation.

🔗 Read More

8. Selective Attention Bias

Why You See Your New Car Everywhere

Focusing on specific stimuli can make them appear more prevalent, skewing perception.

🔗 Read More

9. Availability Bias

When What Comes to Mind Isn’t What Matters

Recent or memorable events can disproportionately influence decision-making.

🔗 Read More

10. Plan Continuation Bias

When Staying the Course Becomes Dangerous

Persisting with a plan despite new risks can lead to adverse outcomes.

🔗 Read More

🎯 Key Takeaways

Awareness is Crucial: Recognizing these biases is the first step toward mitigating their impact. Continuous Reflection: Regularly question assumptions and seek diverse perspectives. Informed Decision-Making: Integrate checks and balances to counteract potential biases.

For leaders and decision-makers, understanding and addressing cognitive biases is essential for effective strategy and operations. Explore each article to deepen your insight and enhance your decision-making acumen.

Feel free to share this guide with your network to promote awareness and understanding of cognitive biases in professional settings.

Non-Response Bias: The Silent Distorter of Data

Introduction

When we conduct surveys or studies or ask for feedback, we often focus on the responses we receive—analyzing patterns, drawing conclusions, and making decisions based on this data. However, what about the voices we never hear? The participants who decline to respond, hang up the phone, ignore the email, or simply cannot be reached? Their absence from our data can tell an important story of its own—one that might significantly alter our conclusions if we knew it.

This is the challenge of non-response bias, a systematic error that occurs when those who respond to a survey differ in meaningful ways from those who don’t respond. Unlike sampling error, which can be addressed through larger sample sizes, non-response bias can persist or even worsen as you collect more data if the underlying pattern of non-response remains consistent.

What Exactly Is Non-Response Bias?

Non-response bias occurs when people who don’t respond to surveys or studies have characteristics that differ from those who do respond, leading to skewed results that don’t accurately represent the target population. In statistical terms, it’s a type of selection bias where the selection process is driven by the subjects themselves rather than the researchers.

For example, imagine a university sending out a satisfaction survey to all its graduates. Those who had particularly positive or negative experiences might be more motivated to respond than those with moderate experiences. If the survey concludes that 40% of graduates were extremely satisfied and 30% extremely dissatisfied, this might represent a distorted picture compared to the true distribution.

Real-World Examples of Non-Response Bias

The Literary Digest Poll of 1936

Perhaps the most famous historical example of non-response bias occurred during the 1936 U.S. presidential election. The Literary Digest, a respected magazine, conducted what was then the largest political poll in history, mailing out surveys to over 10 million Americans. Based on the 2.4 million responses they received, they confidently predicted that Republican Alf Landon would defeat incumbent Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in a landslide.

Instead, Roosevelt won in one of the most lopsided victories in American electoral history, carrying 46 of 48 states.

What went wrong? The Literary Digest had compiled their mailing list from telephone directories, club memberships, and magazine subscriptions—all indicators of higher socioeconomic status during the Great Depression. Additionally, those who responded were more likely to be politically engaged and opposed to Roosevelt’s New Deal policies. The combined effect of this sampling bias and non-response bias led to a spectacular polling failure that effectively ended the magazine’s reputation.

Modern Health Surveys

Health surveys frequently suffer from non-response bias. People with serious health conditions may be too ill to participate in surveys, while those who are health-conscious might be overrepresented in responses. This can lead to underestimating disease prevalence and overestimating healthy behaviors in the general population.

A striking example comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which has seen declining response rates over time. Research comparing early BRFSS data to subsequent health records found that respondents were generally healthier than non-respondents, leading to potentially optimistic assessments of population health.

Employee Satisfaction Surveys

Corporate employee satisfaction surveys often suffer from non-response bias. Employees who feel extremely negative about their workplace may fear retaliation despite promises of anonymity. Conversely, highly satisfied employees might not feel motivated to respond because they see no problems needing attention.

Additionally, the busiest and most overworked employees—whose feedback might be particularly valuable regarding workload issues—often don’t have time to complete voluntary surveys, creating a systematic gap in the data.

Online Product Reviews

The dramatic bimodal distribution of online product reviews (many 5-star and 1-star reviews, fewer in the middle) is a classic example of non-response bias in everyday life. Customers with strong positive or negative experiences feel motivated to leave reviews, while those with average experiences typically don’t bother. This creates a “J-shaped” or “U-shaped” distribution that may not reflect the true customer experience.

Why Does Non-Response Bias Occur?

Several factors contribute to non-response bias:

Accessibility Issues

Some potential respondents simply cannot be reached or face barriers to participation:

• Lack of internet access for online surveys
• Language barriers
• Physical or cognitive disabilities that make participation difficult
• Technological literacy limitations
• Time constraints due to work or family responsibilities

Topic Sensitivity

The subject matter itself can influence who responds:

• People may avoid surveys on stigmatized topics (mental health, financial struggles, etc.)
• Those with strong opinions on a topic are more likely to participate
• Surveys on specialized topics may only draw responses from those with relevant experience

Survey Fatigue

As people are increasingly bombarded with requests for feedback:

• Response rates have declined across virtually all survey methods
• Those who do respond may be unusual in their willingness to complete surveys
• Longer surveys tend to have higher abandonment rates, creating another layer of bias

Trust and Privacy Concerns

In an era of data breaches and privacy concerns:

• People may distrust how their information will be used
• Certain demographic groups may have historical reasons to distrust researchers
• Questions perceived as too personal may be skipped or cause survey abandonment

Detecting Non-Response Bias

How can researchers determine if non-response bias is affecting their results? Several approaches can help:

Compare Respondents to Known Population Characteristics

If demographic information about the target population is available from reliable sources (like census data), researchers can compare the demographic profile of respondents to that of the overall population. Significant differences may suggest non-response bias.

Analyze Early vs. Late Responders

Research suggests that late responders often share characteristics with non-responders. By comparing those who responded immediately to those who only responded after multiple reminders, researchers can estimate the direction and magnitude of non-response bias.

Conduct Non-Response Follow-Up Studies

The gold standard approach is to conduct intensive follow-up with a sample of non-respondents, using additional incentives or different contact methods to secure their participation. The responses from this group can then be compared to the original respondents to identify systematic differences.

Wave Analysis

By analyzing how survey results change as additional waves of responses come in (after reminders or follow-ups), researchers can extrapolate what the results might look like if everyone had responded.

Strategies to Minimize Non-Response Bias

While it’s impossible to eliminate non-response bias entirely, several strategies can help mitigate its effects:

Design User-Friendly Surveys

• Keep surveys concise and focused
• Use clear, simple language
• Ensure accessibility across devices and for people with disabilities
• Provide support for multiple languages when appropriate

Offer Multiple Response Channels

• Combine online, phone, mail, and in-person collection methods
• Allow respondents to choose their preferred contact method
• Implement methods appropriate for the specific population being studied

Use Incentives Strategically

• Offer appropriate compensation for participation time
• Consider non-monetary incentives like donation to charity
• Be careful that incentives don’t introduce their own biases

Implement Persistent Follow-Up

• Send reminders through multiple channels
• Schedule follow-ups at different times and days
• Use increasingly strong incentives for hard-to-reach participants

Build Trust with Potential Respondents

• Clearly explain how data will be used and protected
• Partner with trusted community organizations
• Provide examples of how previous survey results led to positive changes

Statistical Adjustments

• Use weighting techniques to adjust for known demographic differences
• Apply propensity score adjustments based on response patterns
• Implement multiple imputation for missing data when appropriate

The Ethics of Pursuing Non-Respondents

While reducing non-response bias is important for research validity, there’s an ethical balance to strike. Persistent follow-up can cross the line into harassment, and excessive incentives may become coercive. Researchers must consider:

• Respecting the right to decline participation
• Setting appropriate limits on follow-up attempts
• Ensuring incentives are not exploitative of vulnerable populations
• Being transparent about potential non-response limitations when reporting results

Case Study: Non-Response in COVID-19 Research

The COVID-19 pandemic created unique challenges for researchers studying the disease’s spread and impact. Early studies relied heavily on voluntary participation, potentially missing:

• Those too ill to participate
• Communities with limited internet access
• People working essential jobs without time to participate
• Those with language barriers or technology limitations
• Individuals distrustful of medical research

Some research teams addressed these issues by:

• Combining multiple data sources (administrative, clinical, and survey data)
• Using community health workers to reach underrepresented groups
• Implementing targeted sampling in areas with known low response rates
• Working with trusted community organizations as intermediaries

These efforts revealed important disparities in COVID-19’s impact that might have been missed with conventional approaches.

Implications for Data Consumers

For those who use data rather than collect it, awareness of non-response bias is equally important:

Ask Critical Questions

When presented with survey results, ask:

• What was the response rate?
• Who might be missing from this data?
• How might the conclusions change if non-respondents were included?
• What steps were taken to address potential non-response bias?

Look for Transparency

Quality research will acknowledge limitations and potential biases. Be skeptical of results that claim perfect representativeness with low response rates.

Consider Multiple Data Sources

No single data source is perfect. Triangulate information from different sources with different methodological strengths and weaknesses.

Be Wary of Extreme Claims

If survey results seem dramatically different from expectations or other data sources, non-response bias may be a factor worth considering.

Conclusion: Embracing the Challenge

Non-response bias represents one of the most persistent challenges in survey research, and its importance has grown as response rates have declined across countries and methods. Rather than seeing it as merely a methodological nuisance, we should view addressing non-response bias as an opportunity to hear diverse voices and understand the full spectrum of human experiences.

By acknowledging who might be missing from our data, implementing strategies to include them, and remaining humble about the limitations of our methods, we can work toward research that more accurately represents the populations we study.

The story told by silence—by those who don’t respond—can be as important as the story told by those who do. In the pursuit of truth and understanding, we must listen carefully to both.