Here is some of what I have been reading since December 6th:

• Trials and Errors: Why Science Is Failing Us
  "searching for correlations is a terrible way of dealing with the primary subject of much modern research: those complex networks at the center of life. While correlations help us track the relationship between independent measurements, such as the link between smoking and cancer, they are much less effective at making sense of systems in which the variables cannot be isolated."
• To Know, but Not Understand: Science and Big Data
  "the massive amounts of data necessary to deal with complex phenomena exceed any single brain's ability to grasp, yet networked science rolls on"
• SpeakerFile
  Great Toronto-based startup: "Speakerfile is the better way for keynote speakers & public speakers to find speaking engagements."

Here is some of what I have been reading since August 3rd:

• How to Create a Million-Dollar Business This Weekend
  Noah Kagan is brilliant, and every startup entrepreneur should read this article.
• Evolutionary Psychology Applied to Marketing & Cosumer Behavior | Evolvify
  “…it really astonished me in reading consumer behavior textbooks, advertising textbooks, and course syllabi from business schools that people were still using Myers-Briggs, they were still talking about Jungian archetypes. They were still using all of this psychology that’s been out of date for at least 30 or 40 years as if it’s still valid and as if we can’t do any better”
• Keynotopia
  If you're comfortable in PowerPoint, you now have the tools to prototype mobile and web apps
• The Start-Up Act: Blueprint for an Innovation Recovery – Brink Lindsey – Business – The Atlantic
  "The proposals contained in the Startup Act represent a kind of 'greatest hits' collection picked from a far broader set of promising reform ideas."
• Consumers Find Ways to Spend Less and Find Happiness
• A Richter Scale for Markets
  Econophysics is the study of markets through the lens of physics, particularly earthquakes.

Here is some of what I have been reading since July 12th:

• How Reframers Unleash Innovation in Their Companies (And Beyond) – Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, Prasad Kaipa, Simone Ahuja – The Conversation – Harvard Business Review
  "A select group of smart leaders are reframing their mental models — i.e., radically shifting their perception of the world — to conjure up disruptive business model innovations that could rewrite the rules of the game in your industry."
• The Neuroscience of Leadership
  Interesting article from Strategy+Business magazine
• Phys Ed: The Men Who Stare at Screens – Well Blog – NYTimes.com
  Yikes, too close to home. "The men worked out, then sat in cars and in front of televisions for hours, and their risk of heart disease soared, despite the exercise. Their workouts did not counteract the ill effects of sitting."
• When it comes to research, we live in interesting times
  "Those of us who tell ourselves we are curious about the world are actually swimming in 'evidence' that has been filtered again and again in favour of interestingness."
• The Tenacious Buzz of Malaria
  Innovative mosquitos & their malarial parasites, and our own underestimating have made malaria responsible for 1/2 of human deaths in history

Here is some of what I have been reading since June 22nd:

• Why Canada needs a Great Reset
  Richard Florida makes a great case for why and how "Canada should be taking advantage of its enviable economic condition — its stable banks, rising housing prices, great cities, high levels of education and abundant natural resources — to lay the groundwork for an improved economic future."
• The dark side of the new theories of success
  "Maybe we don't have to become magnitudes more frenetic than we already are—just a whole lot more focused…"
• In Praise of Tough Criticism
  I prefer receiving it myself, but not everyone does…"We need to grow thicker critical skin. Why? Because critical behavior that always results in a chorus of affirmation is nothing more than conformity; because allowing views to persist that need to be challenged is nothing less than critical mediocrity; and because failure to tell our colleagues what we truly think about their work is simple dishonesty."
• Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?
  Have "a simple, clear, succinct strategy statement that everyone can internalize and use as a guiding light for making difficult choices."
• Profitable sweet spot
  A sublime use of overlapping circles

• The Politically Incorrect Guide to Ending Poverty
  "In the 1990s, Paul Romer revolutionized economics. In the aughts, he became rich as a software entrepreneur. Now he’s trying to help the poorest countries grow rich – by convincing them to establish foreign-run 'charter cities' within their borders."
• The Blame Game: Will Maths Apologize to Finance?
  French mathematicians defend themselves: “The models worked perfectly well, even during the heart of the 2008 crisis. Each morning they predicted the amount that we would be losing during the day with great accuracy."
• Why We're So Bad at Managing Risk
  " the oil industry would do well to take two lessons from the aeronautics community. First: anything mechanical can and will break — and that includes back-up systems. Count on it. Second: expect the unexpected. And plan accordingly."
• Twitter in 1935
• Recession 2.0 – Why Canada Won't Escape This Time
  Government debt-to-GDP is at 82.5% and we have "the most overextended households among the top 20 developed nations"
• The Problem with Derivatives, Quants, and Risk Management Today
  An interesting interview with the man who trains more quants than anyone else on the planet, Paul Wilmott