Newsletter #13 - Business strategy and meeting interesting people

Hello everyone,

I hope you are doing well in the November darkness. I have had an intense fall with a lot of thesis work, a part-time job, and a lot of job applications, all of this to say I have neglected writing and posting here. In this newsletter, I will not focus too much on my day-to-day here but you can always find what I am up to over at my "now"-page which is also linked at the top of this page under "What I'm Doing Now". Excited to get back to writing I hope to be able to publish my next book note probably next week.

In today's newsletter, I share my plan for some new book notes that will be published in the next few months on the topic of business strategy, I will also share a great interview with a famous actor and a quote I am trying to embrace.

📚Books I am Reading and introducing “Business Strategy”-Winter

I have recently finished reading Good to Great by Jim Collins which is one of the most highly recommended business books I have come across. In the coming weeks, I will publish my book notes. Next on my list to read is 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer, a book I initially heard about in one of my favorite podcasts AcquiredFM. The final book in the series will be Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt which I was recommended during my strategy work this summer at Vattenfall. I look forward to reading the other books and sharing more of the concepts with you all. These three books are some of the most highly recommended business strategy books I have come across. If you feel like I am missing out on some other great business strategy book please let me know!

Here is one of my big takeaways from reading Good to Great. It is about the concept that Jim Collins calls the “Hedgehog Concept”. It comes from an essay written by Isaiah Berlin called The Hedgehog and the Fox, here is a short excerpt from the essay:

“There is a line among the fragments of the Greek poet Archilochus which says: ‘The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.’”

• There are two types of people:
  • Hedgehogs = “For there exists a great chasm between those, on one side, who relate everything to a single central vision, one system, less or more coherent or articulate, in terms of which they understand, think and feel – a single, universal, organising principle in terms of which alone all that they are and say has significance”
  • Foxes = “those who pursue many ends, often unrelated and even contradictory, connected, if at all, only in some de facto way, for some psychological or physiological cause, related to no moral or aesthetic principle.”

According to Jim Collins for companies to be able to go from good to great they must crystallize their own hedgehog concepts where the three circles overlap. Finding this area in the middle and creating a concise hedgehog concept is key to becoming a great company. Collins writes that it can be used for individuals as well by adapting the circles somewhat. First of all, you should aim to work at something you have a penchant or talent for, secondly, you should be well-paid for what you do, and finally, it should be something you enjoy doing where you enjoy the process of the work and not only the outcome. I think this is a powerful concept for both business and personal careers to keep in mind. Below you can see an image of the circles Jim Collins used.

A Hedgehog Concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best, an intention to be the best, a plan to be the best. It is an understanding of what you can be the best at. The distinction is absolutely crucial.
- Jim Collins in Good to Great

🖋Quote of the Week

“The most efficient way to meet interesting people is to become someone they already want to meet”
-Julian Shapiro

This week's quote comes from writer and investor Julian Shapiro who has a great page where he shares how he learns new things and helps you master new skills. I think this quote is powerful because it gives you agency and puts the ball in your court. You can't sit around and wait for interesting people to want to meet you, then you will forever be stuck waiting, instead, you have to take action and do interesting things. It reminds me of the saying "To be an interesting person you have to do interesting things" which I can't remember where I heard at first, but similarly puts the onus on you to act. For me, it is a great reminder to do interesting and exciting things and then great things will come.

🎧Recommended podcast

This podcast recommendation is a long-form interview with actor Tom Holland on The Rich Roll Podcast. Rich Roll is an endurance athlete, former lawyer, and currently a podcast host. He interviews people on the topic of wellness which can center around fitness, mental health, entrepreneurship, and other wellness topics. In this interview, he talked to Tom Holland the famous actor from Spider-Man. Much of the podcast was focused on rest, recovery, and a lifestyle without alcohol. Tom has decided to step away from alcohol and recently started a non-alcoholic beer brand while Rich has been living a sober lifestyle for many years. I found it a great chat and insightful on topics like hard work, recovery, and the paradox of choice. I think this episode gave me a much deeper insight into who Tom Holland is, his career, and what has set him up for success. Rich has a very calm and philosophically minded podcast which I enjoy from time to time.

I hope you enjoyed this week's post. Have a great week and you will hopefully hear from me soon again!

All the best,

Oskar