On information noise, anomalies and the big things that matter
Hi, troublemakers! đź‘‹
Here’s a powerful quote I’ve highlighted this week, along with a thought for you to reflect this weekend.
Take care and unwind!
Tom
1 Quote
From my old notes:
“We live in a world where we are bombarded with information before we even get out of bed. I’d venture to say that before we brush our teeth, we consume more data than our grandparents did in days. Today, the art lies in distinguishing what’s important from the noise.”
Source: 2022 notebook
1 Thought
A few weeks ago, I participated in an incredible workshop for the founders’ community, led by Michal Sadowski from Brand24. If you haven’t heard of Michal, he’s the guy who isn’t afraid to ’talk about the hard things’, as Ben Horowitz would say. He’s also a data enthusiast who elevates analytics to an art form. During the workshop, Michal shared great strategies from his company’s growth. My focus shifted extremely when he emphasized the importance of not analyzing every single event or anomaly. He explained:
“As founders, we often fall into the trap of apocalyptic thinking. Sometimes, all it takes is a week of slow sales or a day without new users, and we start to feel like the ground is falling beneath our feet.” (paraphrased)
Let it sink.
I think that being a founder is the toughest job in the world, and it’s incredibly emotional. That’s why, from some time now, I train myself to be aware that, in most cases, I will overreact emotionally to noise. If you’ve ever tried investing (that’s gambling) on Forex, you’ll know what I mean. The moment you make a decision driven purely by fear, you’ve already lost.
The best way is to only pay attention to big changes in data or situations, not the small ones.