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The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

#28 Michael Mauboussin: A Decision Making Jedi

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

Farnam Street

Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.72.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2018

⏱️ 77 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Michael Mauboussin returns for a fascinating encore interview on the Knowledge Project. We geek out on decision making, luck vs. skill, work life balance, and so much more.

***

Michael Mauboussin is back as a returning guest on the Knowledge Project!

He was actually the very first guest on the podcast when it was still very much an experiment. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to continue with the show. (If you missed his last interview, you can listen to it here, or if you’re a member of The Learning Community, you can download a transcript.)

Michael is one of my very favorite people to talk to, and I couldn’t wait to pick up right where we left off.

In this interview, Michael and I dive deep into some of the topics we care most about here at Farnam Street, including:

  • The concept of “base rates” and how they can help us make far better decisions and avoid the pain and consequences of making poor choices.
  • How to know where you land on the luck/skill continuum and why it matters
  • Michael’s advice on creating a systematic decision-making process in your organization to improve outcomes.
  • The two most important elements of any decision-making process
  • How to train your intuition to be one of your most powerful assets instead of a dangerous liability
  • The three tests Michael uses in his company to determine the health and financial stability of his environment
  • Why “algorithm aversion” is creating such headaches in many organizations and how to help your teams overcome it, so you can make more rapid progress
  • The most impactful books that he’s read since we last spoke, is reading habits, and the strategies he uses to get the most of every book
  • The importance of sleep in Michael's’ life to make sure his body and mind are running at peak efficiency
  • His greatest failures and what he learned from them
  • How Michael and his wife raised their kids and the unique parenting style they adopted
  • How Michael defines happiness and the decisions he makes to maximize the joy in his life

Any one of those insights alone is worth a listen, so I think you’re really going to enjoy this interview.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello listeners, welcome to the Fernum Street podcast called The Knowledge Project.

0:13.0

I'm your host Shane Parish, the curator behind the Fernum Street blog, which is an online

0:17.9

community focused on mastering the best of what other people have already figured out.

0:22.8

The Knowledge Project is where we talk with interesting people to uncover the frameworks

0:26.7

that you can use to learn more in less time, make better decisions, and live a happier,

0:31.8

more meaningful life.

0:33.4

On this episode I have Michael Musapin.

0:36.3

Michael is one of my favorite people to talk with.

0:39.0

This dude is a true polymath.

0:40.9

He's the director of research at Blue Mountain Capital Management.

0:44.6

Part of that, he was the head of Global Financial Strategies at Credit Swiss and the chief

0:49.4

investment strategist at leg mason capital management.

0:52.9

He's also the author of three books, including one of my favorite multi-disciplinary reads,

0:57.2

more than you know, Finding Financial Wisdom in unconventional places.

1:01.8

As you'll see, when the two of us get together, we geek out over decision making.

1:06.4

This conversation will not disappoint.

1:15.8

Before I get started, here's a quick word from our sponsor.

1:19.4

This episode is brought to you by InkTel.

1:22.4

Every business needs great customer service in order to stand out and gain a competitive

1:26.7

advantage.

1:27.7

Yet many businesses struggle with how to provide their customers with world-class customer

1:31.8

service.

...

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