by Brooks Mendell | Sep 28, 2025 | Thinking/Analysis, Forestry, Learning
How important is new information? How do we know? Often, we don’t, according to a study in a September 2024 paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Professors Eben Lazarus, Ned Augenblick, and Michael Thaler found evidence in sports betting, financials markets,...
by Brooks Mendell | May 31, 2025 | Leading/Managing, Books, Communication Skills, Forestry, Learning, Sports, Thinking/Analysis
As a kid, I learned that the “knee bone connected to the thigh bone” thanks to the School House Rock song “Them Not So Dry Bones.” The lyrics remind us how things “really fit” and “it’s a framework… holding you together.” This idea, that we are combinations of...
by Brooks Mendell | Feb 28, 2025 | Thinking/Analysis, Communication Skills, Forestry, Leading/Managing
Introduction When it comes to managing positive and negative risks, I think in terms of “transparency” and “competence.” Many risks are relative, and we have the abilities to enhance resilience, mitigate unwanted exposures, and leverage our best opportunities. Years...
by Brooks Mendell | Nov 30, 2024 | Thinking/Analysis, Forestry
The economist Mohamed El-Erian, in his book The Only Game in Town, writes about the importance of having and revisiting frameworks to support clear thinking. He tells a story from the 1980s when the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for whom he worked at the time,...
by Brooks Mendell | May 8, 2024 | Communication Skills, Forestry, Thinking/Analysis
The growth of ESG investing – which screens investments and firms based on environmental, social, and governance criteria – and markets for forest carbon and other environmental “services” highlight the importance of clear communication skills and the value of those...
by Brooks Mendell | May 9, 2023 | Forestry, Thinking/Analysis
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 understanding a situation but, like...
