Weekly Question & Framework: June 7, 2024

Hello and welcome to the Curiosity Chronicle Weekly Question and Framework. In three minutes or less, I will give you one question and one framework to get you thinking going into the weekend. Without further ado, let's dive right into it. A question on Rejecting the status quo Is it time you start living outside the box? There's a passage from Nassim Taleb's the Bed of Procrustes that hit me hard. They are born, then put in a box. They go home to live in a box. They study by ticking boxes. They go to what is called work in a box where they sit in their cubicle box. They drive to the grocery store in a box to buy food in a box. They go to the gym in a box to sit in a box. They talk about thinking outside the box. And when they die, they are put in a box. All boxes. Euclidean geometrically smooth boxes. End quote. Harsh Truth the world wants you to consent to a life of sameness. A life of stasis. The world wants you to settle. Living inside the box is your natural state. It's easy and comfortable to conform with the path given to you. Believe in your limits. Accept the default settings of meaning bestowed upon you. Allow life to rapidly pass you by. It's easy to stay in the box, but your best life is lived outside it. Maybe it's time you start questioning those boundaries placed around you. Maybe it's time you start practicing pressing on those walls. Maybe it's time you start living outside the box A framework for strengthening your arguments the Steel Man Technique the Straw Man Fallacy is a common logical fallacy in which a person distorts their opponent's argument in order to make it easier to refute. They create a strawman that is flimsy version of the other person's argument and then proceed to tear it down. This is an all too common occurrence in political debates. The Steelman technique is the logical antidote to this fallacy. Create the strongest form of the opponent's argument. Understand the merits of the argument in depth. Engage with the steel man version of the argument. This technique is particularly useful in a variety of business situations. 1. Making high stakes decisions when faced with important decisions, it is critical to understand the merits of different pathways. Strategic ignorance via presenting the strawman version for a given choice is dangerous in business. Evaluate the steel man version of each potential direction. 2. Navigating competitive tension when you fail to take your competitors seriously, you fail in your mission as a leader. If you were the CEO of your main competitor, how would you be positioning your case to relevant stakeholders, customers, investors, etc. Engage with that version of the competitor, not the weak, flimsy version. And three Addressing key business risks Every business faces risks, but when you write them off as inconsequential or irrelevant, they become more dangerous. The Steel man forces you to conduct a pre mortem of each key business risk to understand how it creates a significant business disruption. In doing so, you are better prepared for managing these risks. An ostrich will bury its head in the sand to avoid danger. A lot of humans behave in the same way when they encounter new information that challenges their existing beliefs or views. Don't be an ostrich. Face the best version of the opponent and use it to strengthen yourself. That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you learned something, and I hope you'll share it with others. As always, until next time, stay curious. Friends.