the foundations // our eternal prerequisite
why returning to our most elementary lessons unlocks structural breakthrough
over the last year, i’ve fallen back in love with the educational basics and not for obvious reasons. from world-sculpting shakespearean literature, peter thielisms, and life-defining quotes from socrates to rudimentary algebra, classical music and untimed chess — I’m led to believe my retreat to foundational learning is more than a nod at my appetite for a refresher. I’ve realized that many of my most innovative, creative, and thought-provoking ideas were best iterated on and conceived following a review of truly basic, foundational material.
my most common use-case this year → two-variable graphical relationships.
yes, your simple x & y-axis chart. i’ve found that many of the problems i need to solve for myself, my job, my peers or my family can often be boiled down to two core relational trade-offs. to humor you, take romantic relationships for example //
in an innately personal capacity, throughout the year, i’ve graphed my present appetite for such a convening several times (the dot is trending downwards for what that is worth…), and found the “quadrant” approach to be quite helpful in applying some quantitative measure to my qualitative dilemmas. obvious enough, it is clear that i don’t want to be ready, and have some work to do to reach a (5,5) equilibrium at this point (sorry, mom). candidly, consistent data tracking for previously “untracked” datapoints in my life has provided a sense of clarity for me as i continued to refine my decision-making skillset.
my unenviable perspective aside, I think that applying evaluative labels on rating scales helps conceptualize and humanize many of our most fundamental problems.
as i reflect on my network of founders and VCs alike, I’m reminded that many new market players are products of time themselves. often stewards of social and financial capital looking to deploy into a moment and ultimately susceptible to two of the most common failure factors: fear & interest.
my influencing factor behind this initial blog post is shown above (thanks, @hamptonism). i absolutely adore this chart. why? for me, it is the story behind the words. my interpretation tells me that the world’s most perfectly insidious conundrums are impossible to solve through one moment, one person or one emotion. rather, it is a combination of each of these entities, working in concert with each other, to create the most quintessential path to resolution (e.g. flow state).
but, tell me, how else would you know your “interest” appetite or quantify your anxiety levels, if not by creating your own personalized rating system for each and every qualitative aspect of your own life? i’ve tried it and you should too.