Blog
Options and the Risk of Missing Out
In graduate school, I conducted research on managing risk in the forest industry. My working assumption was and remains that vigorous management of organizations requires the deliberate identification, assessment, and management of ...
Framing Disruptions
Simple approaches can focus the mind. When thinking through the means and mechanisms by which disruptions could affect my business, my community, or the economy, I often ask two simple questions rooted in economic ...
Developing and Hiring Managers: Values Come First
A new manager, whether promoted from within or hired from abroad, must learn to communicate and model the values and expectations of the organization. For the internal hire, that person has the advantage of in-house experience and a ...
Brooks Writes Stories: How Did It Go in 2023?
In mid-2017, I started submitting and tracking my fiction writing, and have since posted updates in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. How did it go with my short stories in 2023? Meh.
In 2023, I ...
Data, Technology, and Judgment
We homo sapiens seem overwhelmed by information, technology, and choices. We sadly struggle to manage the daily deluge, cycling through frustration, indignation, anger, and melancholy. A simple scan of news headlines, op-eds, and ...
Brooks on Books: More on Tennis
In September, I was in Corpus Christi, Texas watching a tennis match and taking notes, when a smiling, clear-eyed gentleman in tennis clothes sat next to me. We chatted about the game and tennis strategies, and then introduced ...
Keep It Simple: Another Lesson from the MIT Baseball Team
My Dad taught me and my brother, “There is no premium for complexity.” He emphasized the value of keeping it simple, focusing on the most important things you can control, and getting it done. You don’t get paid more to ...
Cybersecurity Simplified: Best Practices to Reduce Risk
After delivering the keynote at AgWest Farm Credit’s “2023 Forest Products Summit” in Portland, I parked myself in a seat on the side to listen and take notes during presentations on geopolitics, macroeconomics, and cybersecurity. ...
Brooks on Books: Interested in Tennis?
Books are magical and the most powerful of technologies. The fact that lines of ink on flattened pulp can transmit ideas, information, and inspiration to our minds remains remarkable to me. This post, one in the periodic “Brooks on ...
Four Qualities of Effective Coaches
A friend of mine, a former professional baseball player, recently asked, “who is the best coach you ever had?” I played multiple sports growing up and baseball in college, and this question brought back a double-header of memories, ...
How to Conduct Analysis and Think for Yourself
Recently, I wrote a two-part series at Forisk on “Forest Products and the Economics of Timber Markets.” It focused on (1) the practical connection between the things we use and where they come from and (2) methods for organizing ...
Ode to Weighted Averages
Several years ago, in the essay Average is the Enemy, I wrote about the “false shortcuts offered by averages” for making decisions. Averages give a sense for where the middle lies within a group. They offer a starting point for ...
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