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<title type="text">Aura Strategic</title>
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<updated>2018-01-01T19:06:29-05:00</updated>
<id>https://aurastrategic.com/</id>
<author>
  <name>Tim Jore</name>
  <uri>https://aurastrategic.com/</uri>
  <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
</author>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Relationship Between Communication and Trust]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/relationship-between-communication-trust/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/relationship-between-communication-trust</id>
  <published>2017-12-30T06:29:26-05:00</published>
  <updated>2017-12-30T06:29:26-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;As any married couple can testify, good communication is one of the most important factors in a healthy relationship. Strong trust in the motivations and intentions of the other is equally important. In my relationship with my wife, as well as with collegial relationships with co-workers and across organizational boundaries, I began to notice a consistent pattern that went something like this:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/trust-communication/defensive.png&quot; alt=&quot;Defensive&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This broken cycle may start spinning from any point, though in my experience, the point where it usually becomes evident is with &lt;strong&gt;unmet expectations&lt;/strong&gt;. From there, the cycle just keeps spinning, and can pick up speed rapidly:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unmet expectations&lt;/strong&gt; – What I wanted and expected did not come to pass, and the other person (not me) is to blame for failing me.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Broken trust&lt;/strong&gt; – Without realizing it, my trust in them takes a hit and unless I recognize what is happening and take immediate countermeasures, I will sink to a…&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Defensive posture&lt;/strong&gt; – In order to prevent the hurt of the unmet expectation from happening again, I put up my relational shields and wait for them to bring a flag of truce (apology).&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inadequate communication&lt;/strong&gt; – My defensive posture, of course, further diminishes the quality of communication, which is what caused the misalignment of assumptions and expectations in the first place, but due to the emotional fog of the present conflict, I am oblivious to the fact that my defensive posture is making things worse.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;False assumptions&lt;/strong&gt; – In the absence of good communication, assumptions get further misaligned, bringing us back to&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unmet expecations&lt;/strong&gt; – but this time with much more velocity for the next spin around this crazy cycle.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;breaking-out-of-the-spin&quot;&gt;Breaking out of the spin&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Good news! Reversing the cycle from a destructive spinout to a constructive building up &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; possible, but it requires that one of the parties do so unilaterally, not waiting for the other to do it first, and long before they feel like it. It seems to start at the point of graciously and patiently improving communication (which may be hard to do, depending on the intensity of the emotions involved). That can lead to recognition of false assumptions which then explains the unmet expectations. (Word to the wise: steer clear of the blame game at this point, no matter how clearly you can see where “they” fell short… in time, you will see where you also fell short!)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/trust-communication/partnership.png&quot; alt=&quot;Partnership&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Three passages from Scripture to keep in mind:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires” (James 1:19–20 NLT).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Listen well and assume the other person will fail you (so that you are not surprised by it when they do):&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful” (Colossians 3:13–15 NLT).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, and proactively love the other, with the same love that God loves you:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NLT).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Be the one to quietly, graciously wade into the raging current and humbly withstand it, in spite of what you feel. Eventually, by the grace of God, the tide may change.&lt;/p&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/relationship-between-communication-trust/&quot;&gt;The Relationship Between Communication and Trust&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on December 30, 2017.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[Why I Read eBooks Almost Exclusively]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/why-read-ebooks/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/why-read-ebooks</id>
  <published>2017-12-26T20:26:17-05:00</published>
  <updated>2017-12-26T20:26:17-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;I have a mind like a sieve. High school provided ample opportunity to become quite adept in the art of last-minute cramming, acing the exam, then being as ignorant a week afterward as the week before. Unfortunately, old ways die hard.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So now when reading, these are my two objectives:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Learn as much as possible while reading the book.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make recalling what was read as easy as possible.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Given my incredible ability to forget important information, and given the fact that research suggests retention of content is higher for printed books than digital texts (Szalavitz, 2012), and the decline of digital books (Alter, 2015), &lt;strong&gt;why do I read ebooks almost exclusively?&lt;/strong&gt; Five reasons (offered by way of testimony… descriptive, not prescriptive, and all that):&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Library Portability&lt;/strong&gt; — I &lt;em&gt;love&lt;/em&gt; paper. In a technology age, I joyfully use notebooks and pens because they are fast, effortless, and tangible. But when it comes to books and the copious amounts of literature that I need to read, the value of having my entire library with me on my Kindle Paperwhite far outweighs the beauty of physical books. I am frequently reading several books concurrently, including the Bible, a devotional book, a theology book (all usually first thing in the morning), as well as an audiobook when working out, and a handful of other books ranging from history to innovation to classics. (Full disclosure: that last one has proven to be more aspirational than actual fact.)&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Search&lt;/strong&gt; — When connecting the dots between research and findings from different domains, by many authors, across multiple books, the ability to search for a particular word or phrase is invaluable. Usually, I will remember enough of the topic to be able to search the book within the Kindle app, or the archived highlights.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Highlights&lt;/strong&gt; — When I read, I highlight extensively. My intent is to create a synopsis of the most important points of the book in a way that can be easily archived and searched. I highlight, extract, and archive highlights from all of my primary sources of digital text: &lt;a href=&quot;/blog/how-extract-kindle-highlights/&quot;&gt;Kindle ebooks&lt;/a&gt;, PDF documents using &lt;a href=&quot;https://zotero.org&quot;&gt;Zotero&lt;/a&gt; with &lt;a href=&quot;http://zotfile.com/&quot;&gt;Zotfile&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.instapaper.com&quot;&gt;Instapaper&lt;/a&gt;. This is very helpful for reviewing the key points and locating important concepts. When I need to review a book, it is easy to look through the highlights that are stored as a note with the corresponding record in Zotero.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Charts and graphics&lt;/strong&gt; — I also take screenshots of important charts and graphics and archive them with the extracted highlights.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notes&lt;/strong&gt; — I find it very helpful to be able to make (searchable) notes as I am reading, both for tying the concepts in the book to experiences in the real world, as well as noting down points of disagreement with the author’s assertions or conclusions.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In spite of all the advantage listed above, there are times that I miss reading paper books. I should probably do more of it… especially while my Kindle is rebooting.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;references&quot;&gt;References&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Alter, Alexandra. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/business/media/the-plot-twist-e-book-sales-slip-and-print-is-far-from-dead.html&quot;&gt;“The Plot Twist: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far From Dead.”&lt;/a&gt; The New York Times, 22 Sept. 2015.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Szalavitz, Maia. &lt;a href=&quot;http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/14/do-e-books-impair-memory/&quot;&gt;“Do E-Books Make It Harder to Remember What You Just Read?”&lt;/a&gt; Time, Mar. 2012.&lt;/p&gt;


    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/why-read-ebooks/&quot;&gt;Why I Read eBooks Almost Exclusively&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on December 26, 2017.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[On Writing Less, More]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/on-writing-less-more/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/on-writing-less-more</id>
  <published>2017-12-24T13:26:17-05:00</published>
  <updated>2017-12-24T13:26:17-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;The degree of friction in a given process has a significant impact on how long it can be sustained. Processes that are complicated will, understandably, consume more resources to sustain over time. This is particularly true for activities that are intrinsically rife with friction—like writing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;For some of us, writing is time-consuming and challenging. So it follows that, in order to sustain writing over time, the process of writing (and publishing) should be optimized. Even a small reduction of friction in the writing process may yield significant benefit in terms of endurance and ability to develop and maintain good writing habits.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This writing project (the Aura Strategic website) has languished this past year for a number of reasons, including the complicated publishing process. I realized that I needed to be more consistent, which requires &lt;strong&gt;writing less content, more frequently&lt;/strong&gt;. For that to happen, I intend to start practicing “free writing” (writing rapidly on a set topic without concern for format, style, or even quality of the content) and refining some of those topics into posts on this site.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I also realized that I needed to squeeze out as much of the overhead as possible in the publishing process. To that end, I have switched from publishing via Amazon S3 buckets and have started using &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com&quot;&gt;GitHub&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (to store the Jekyll-rendered static website) and &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://netlify.com&quot;&gt;Netlify&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; to serve the site.&lt;/p&gt;


    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/on-writing-less-more/&quot;&gt;On Writing Less, More&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on December 24, 2017.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[What Matters]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/what-matters/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/what-matters</id>
  <published>2016-09-05T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  <updated>2016-09-05T00:00:00-04:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;What matters is not the accomplishments you achieve, but &lt;strong&gt;the person you become&lt;/strong&gt;. —Dallas Willard Dallas Willard &lt;a href=&quot;#ortberg_soul_2014&quot;&gt;(Ortberg, 2014)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;ortberg_soul_2014&quot;&gt;Ortberg, J. (2014). &lt;i&gt;Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You&lt;/i&gt;. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/what-matters/&quot;&gt;What Matters&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on September 05, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[Ideas Are Like Leaves]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/ideas-are-like-leaves/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/ideas-are-like-leaves</id>
  <published>2016-08-04T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  <updated>2016-08-04T00:00:00-04:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;The ideas that occur to us and that lead to innovation and solutions to problems are like leaves that float down the stream of collective thought. A leaf may wash up on your shore, but to claim it as being your own is to forget that ideas do not exist in a vacuum, nor do they spontaneously generate. Through dialog and interaction with others our own thoughts are shaped and ultimately culminate into ideas. Peter Senge explains &lt;a href=&quot;#senge_fifth_2010&quot;&gt;(Senge, 2010)&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“In dialogue people become observers of their own thinking. …If collective thinking is an ongoing stream, ‘thoughts’ are like leaves floating on the surface that wash up on the banks. We gather in the leaves [and] misperceive [them] as our own, because we fail to see the stream of collective thinking from which they arise.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;senge_fifth_2010&quot;&gt;Senge, P. M. (2010). &lt;i&gt;The Fifth Discipline: The Art &amp;amp; Practice of The Learning Organization&lt;/i&gt; (Revised &amp;amp; Updated edition). Crown Business.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/ideas-are-like-leaves/&quot;&gt;Ideas Are Like Leaves&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on August 04, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[1% is Halfway]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/1percent-halfway/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/1percent-halfway</id>
  <published>2016-07-01T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  <updated>2016-07-01T00:00:00-04:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;The world is changing rapidly. The rate of change is itself changing—accelerating rapidly into a future we can scarcely imagine. This can be unnerving, because as humans, we are not very good at understanding exponential growth.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“Absolutely nobody has a gut-feel for what exponential growth is really like. We are just not wired for that sort of intuition. As human beings &lt;strong&gt;we are very good at comprehending trends that are linear&lt;/strong&gt; – like a steady hill, the trend keeps climbing in a straight line.&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;p&gt;…Likewise, if we are driving along the road at a fixed speed, we rely on the fact that in two seconds we will have moved twice as far as in one. That is the sort of prediction the human brain is intuitively amazing at. But we are terrible at imagining exponential explosions. When something explodes – not just gunpowder, but the popularity of a new toy, the number of people using the internet, a swineflu epidemic – it is a fundamentally different type of progression: &lt;strong&gt;The larger something is, the faster it grows even larger.&lt;/strong&gt;” &lt;a href=&quot;#scott-morgan_reality_2012&quot;&gt;(Scott-Morgan, 2012)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Peter Diamandis provides a helpful illustration of the massive difference in scale between linear and exponential progression:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“To give you a sense of the difference, if I take thirty linear steps (calling one step a meter) from the front door of my Santa Monica home, I end up thirty meters away. However, if I take thirty exponential steps (one, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and so on), I end up a billion meters away, or, effectively lapping the globe twenty-six times.” &lt;a href=&quot;#diamandis_abundance:_2012&quot;&gt;(Diamandis &amp;amp; Kotler, 2012)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Ray Kurzweil gives another example that shows how rapidly exponential change can creep up on those who are unprepared for it:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“Exponential growth is deceptive. It starts out almost imperceptibly and then explodes with unexpected fury— unexpected, that is, if one does not take care to follow its trajectory. Consider this parable: a lake owner wants to stay at home to tend to the lake’s fish and make certain that the lake itself will not become covered with lily pads, which are said to double their number every few days. Month after month, he patiently waits, yet only tiny patches of lily pads can be discerned, and they don’t seem to be expanding in any noticeable way. With the lily pads covering less than 1 percent of the lake, the owner figures that it’s safe to take a vacation and leaves with his family. When he returns a few weeks later, he’s shocked to discover that the entire lake has become covered with the pads, and his fish have perished. By doubling their number every few days, the last seven doublings were sufficient to extend the pads’ coverage to the entire lake. &lt;strong&gt;(Seven doublings extended their reach 128-fold.) This is the nature of exponential growth.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;#kurzweil_singularity_2005&quot;&gt;(Kurzweil, 2005)&lt;/a&gt;”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;One of the clearest indicators of how difficult it is for us to grasp exponential growth is this: &lt;strong&gt;In exponential systems, 1% is halfway.&lt;/strong&gt; This is illustrated in Kurzweil’s lily pad example above and in the table and chart below:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;table style=&quot;max-width:50%;&quot;&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;Generation&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Percent Complete&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;0.01%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;0.02%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;0.03%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;0.06%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;0.13%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;0.25%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;0.5%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;1%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;2%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;4%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;8%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;16%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;32%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;13&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;64%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;14&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;128%&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/1percent-halfway/1-1percent-halfway.png&quot; alt=&quot;1% is Halfway&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why are we so bad at understanding exponential growth and its implications?&lt;/strong&gt; Peter Diamandis suggests that it has to do with our predominantly local frame of reference:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“The issue, then, is that we are interpreting a global world with a system built for local landscapes. And because we’ve never seen it before, exponential change makes even less sense. …The disconnect between the local and linear wiring of our brain and the global and exponential reality of our world is creating what I call a “disruptive convergence.” Technologies are exploding and conjoining like never before, and our brains can’t easily anticipate such rapid transformation.” &lt;a href=&quot;#diamandis_abundance:_2012&quot;&gt;(Diamandis &amp;amp; Kotler, 2012)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So what?&lt;/strong&gt; What does it matter if we tend to be lacking in our default ability to understand exponential growth?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;First, it makes prediction of exponential trends very difficult. Not only does accurate prediction require recognizing the linear nature, but an accurate prediction may not seem believable to others:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;“…it is only linear predictions of the future that feel intuitively believable to their readers. Most people… simply cannot handle exponential.” &lt;a href=&quot;#scott-morgan_reality_2012&quot;&gt;(Scott-Morgan, 2012)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A related problem is that early stages of exponential growth look suspiciously like very shallow linear growth:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/1percent-halfway/2-trend-line.png&quot; alt=&quot;1% is Halfway&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Executives who do not recognize an exponential growth pattern and the vastly greater outcome that will occur in the last 2-3 generations of growth may attempt to correct the perceived shallow rate of linear growth. In so doing, they may increase production at the expense of investing in production capacity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/1percent-halfway/3-linear-too-steep.png&quot; alt=&quot;1% is Halfway&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Their good intent may doom the outcome, if they find they are unable to sustain an accelerated rate of linear growth and they achieve neither the exponential outcome (for lack of building exponential capacity) nor the linear outcome (for lack of production capacity).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;the-solution&quot;&gt;The Solution&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There are three key aspects of achieving the desired outcome in an exponential system.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be sure it is exponential&lt;/strong&gt; – Sometimes shallow linear growth is just that, and not the precursor to a “hockey stick-shaped” upturn at the end. Sometimes, the exponential growth pattern is possible but needs to be encouraged. This may require investing resources to build the capacity of a larger network working toward a common objective. This kind of intangible work and resource allocation can be risky, especially if investors and boards do not understand the need to build immense capacity in the network in order to achieve the massive win in the end.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be disciplined&lt;/strong&gt; – The lure of better numbers in the short term can be very strong. Producing more in the short term needs to be balanced against building capacity for an exponential finish—and both may not be possible.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay the course&lt;/strong&gt; – The only way to get to the exponential finish is to persevere to the end, past the tipping point. This requires leadership and unwavering confidence that the end is not only achievable but inevitable.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;diamandis_abundance:_2012&quot;&gt;Diamandis, P. H., &amp;amp; Kotler, S. (2012). &lt;i&gt;Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think&lt;/i&gt; (Reprint edition). Free Press.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;kurzweil_singularity_2005&quot;&gt;Kurzweil, R. (2005). &lt;i&gt;The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology&lt;/i&gt;. Penguin Publishing Group.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;scott-morgan_reality_2012&quot;&gt;Scott-Morgan, D. P. B. (2012). &lt;i&gt;The Reality of our Global Future: How five unstoppable High-Tech trends will dominate our lives and transform our world&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/1percent-halfway/&quot;&gt;1% is Halfway&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on July 01, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Adjacent Possible]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/adjacent-possible/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/adjacent-possible</id>
  <published>2016-06-05T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  <updated>2016-06-05T00:00:00-04:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;Try and imagine what the world was like before the wheel was invented. Human locomotion on land was limited to walking, running, or riding an animal. In this context, it would have been impossible to imagine (let alone build) a bicycle or car. This is because the bicycle and car were not yet adjacent possibilities—they were more than one innovation away. Because of this, they could not be conceived of before the invention of the wheel. Peter Diamandis explains it like this:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Before the invention of the wheel, the cart, the carriage, the automobile, the wheelbarrow, the roller skate, and a million other offshoots of circularity were not imaginable. They existed in a realm that was off-limits until the wheel was discovered, but once discovered, these pathways became clear. This is the adjacent possible. It’s &lt;strong&gt;the long list of first-order possibilities that open up whenever a new discovery is made&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;#diamandis_abundance:_2012&quot;&gt;(Diamandis &amp;amp; Kotler, 2012)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The concept of the “adjacent possible” is credited to Stuart Kauffman and has been described by Steven Johnson as “a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself” &lt;a href=&quot;#johnson_origins_2010&quot;&gt;(Johnson, 2010)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Johnson goes on to explain how the opening up of the adjacent possible expands the realm of the possible in a non-linear manner:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The strange and beautiful truth about the adjacent possible is that its boundaries grow as you explore them. &lt;strong&gt;Each new combination opens up the possibility of other new combinations.&lt;/strong&gt; Think of it as a house that magically expands with each door you open.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Many organizations and companies attempt to innovate with small groups of people behind closed doors (e.g., secret R&amp;amp;D labs). While this is understandable for those who have trade secrets to protect, closed environments can actually hinder the opening up of the adjacent possible:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The problem with these closed environments is that they make it more difficult to explore the adjacent possible, because they reduce the overall network of minds that can potentially engage with a problem, and they reduce the unplanned collisions between ideas originating in different fields &lt;a href=&quot;#johnson_origins_2010&quot;&gt;(Johnson, 2010)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So it is no surprise that the opening up of adjacent possibilities tends to happen most readily in open, collaborative contexts. This is apparent in the open-source software and open-access problem-solving world (e.g., Innocentive) where the free association of ideas and people with the broadest range of skills and needs can innovate and problem solve together.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;diamandis_abundance:_2012&quot;&gt;Diamandis, P. H., &amp;amp; Kotler, S. (2012). &lt;i&gt;Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think&lt;/i&gt; (Reprint edition). Free Press.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;johnson_origins_2010&quot;&gt;Johnson, S. (2010). The Origins of Good Ideas. &lt;i&gt;The Wall Street Journal&lt;/i&gt;. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703989304575503730101860838&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/adjacent-possible/&quot;&gt;The Adjacent Possible&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on June 05, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[Working with Git]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/working-git/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/working-git</id>
  <published>2016-02-07T00:00:00-05:00</published>
  <updated>2016-02-07T00:00:00-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://git-scm.com&quot; title=&quot;Git Homepage&quot;&gt;Git&lt;/a&gt; is an excellent distributed revision control tool. All my writing is done offline, using text files in Git repositories. This provides remote backup across any number of devices, with full revision control on all of them. If any device is lost, disabled, or broken, I can pick up without any loss (and with the complete revision history intact) from any of the other repositories.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I am far from proficient using Git. I only use about 20% of the total functionality of Git and usually manage my repositories with a client like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.git-tower.com/&quot; title=&quot;Tower Git Client&quot;&gt;Tower&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://desktop.github.com/&quot; title=&quot;Github Desktop app&quot;&gt;Github Desktop&lt;/a&gt;. That said, these are the Git commands that I use most frequently when working “under the hood”.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Set up an existing directory as a Git repository:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;git init &amp;lt;directory&amp;gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Set up a remote  Git repository (to sync with an existing repository):&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;git init --bare &amp;lt;directory&amp;gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: if a remote repository is setup without the&lt;/em&gt; &lt;code&gt;--bare&lt;/code&gt; &lt;em&gt;use this to change it to a bare repository:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;code&gt;git config --bool core.bare true&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Add a remote repository:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;git remote add myremote username@servername.com:directory/to/repository.git&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Push the master branch to the new repository&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;git push myremote master&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;


    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/working-git/&quot;&gt;Working with Git&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on February 07, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[What You See Is All There Is]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/wysiati/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/wysiati</id>
  <published>2016-01-31T00:00:00-05:00</published>
  <updated>2016-01-31T00:00:00-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;One of the mechanisms the human mind uses to manage the complexity of life is to construct cohesive stories that explain the information it encounters. Until such a story has been constructed, the mind experiences a degree of tension or dissonance that is uncomfortable. The tendency of the human mind is to resolve this cognitive tension as rapidly as possible and at any cost, even if the story that is constructed to that end might not reflect reality. The mind is less concerned about the possibility that its view of the world might not be accurate than it is with relieving the tension of information that does not fit with its view.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;To put it another way, the motivation of the mind toward preserving the cohesiveness of the story it believes and then placing great confidence in it tends to be stronger than the desire to know the truth at any cost. Daniel Kahneman in his excellent book &lt;em&gt;Thinking Fast and Slow&lt;/em&gt; calls this “What You See Is All There Is (WYSIATI)” and describes it like this:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;As the WYSIATI rule implies, neither the quantity nor the quality of the evidence counts for much in subjective confidence. The confidence that individuals have in their beliefs depends mostly on &lt;strong&gt;the quality of the story they can tell about what they see, even if they see little&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;#kahneman_thinking_2013&quot;&gt;(Kahneman, 2013, p. 87)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This motivation to avoid cognitive dissonance predisposes the human mind to make hasty, emotionally-driven, “knee-jerk” assumptions about new information in order to facilitate its fit into the existing story. When presented with new information, the mind is quick to assume that the story it uses to simplify life’s complexity is accurate and the information is suspect. The mind will attempt to fit the new information into the existing story (trimming or ignoring the parts that don’t) rather than questioning if the story itself needs to be revised or discarded. This desire to avoid cognitive dissonance is so strong that it can predispose people to &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; want to learn new information:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;It is the consistency of the information that matters for a good story, not its completeness. Indeed, you will often find that &lt;strong&gt;knowing little makes it easier to fit everything you know into a coherent pattern.&lt;/strong&gt; WYSIATI facilitates the achievement of coherence and of the cognitive ease that causes us to accept a statement as true. It explains why we can think fast, and how we are able to make sense of partial information in a complex world. &lt;a href=&quot;#kahneman_thinking_2013&quot;&gt;(Kahneman, 2013, p. 87)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The mind is so strongly predisposed to protect its beliefs and preserve its story that in addition to its natural tendency of coasting along in passive ignorance, it may actively attempt to suppress information that does not fit:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;We are confident when the story we tell ourselves comes easily to mind, with no contradiction and no competing scenario. But ease and coherence do not guarantee that a belief held with confidence is true. &lt;strong&gt;The associative machine is set to suppress doubt and to evoke ideas and information that are compatible with the currently dominant story.&lt;/strong&gt; A mind that follows WYSIATI will achieve high confidence much too easily by ignoring what it does not know. It is therefore not surprising that many of us are prone to have high confidence in unfounded intuitions. &lt;a href=&quot;#kahneman_thinking_2013&quot;&gt;(Kahneman, 2013, p. 239)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So what is the solution? Part of the solution may lie in recognizing that we only ever have incomplete information and that the gaps in our constructed story are therefore filled with assumptions that may or may not be true.  With the realization that the story itself is incomplete and in need of refinement, it may be helpful to seek out new information (especially when it conflicts with the story) and interact with others (especially those who hold contrarian views) in order to test the validity and improve the accuracy of the story. Dealing with the ensuing cognitive tension is a small price to pay for overcoming our own ignorance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;You cannot help dealing with the limited information you have as if it were all there is to know. You build the best possible story from the information available to you, and if it is a good story, you believe it. Paradoxically, it is easier to construct a coherent story when you know little, when there are fewer pieces to fit into the puzzle. Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: &lt;strong&gt;our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;#kahneman_thinking_2013&quot;&gt;(Kahneman, 2013, p. 201)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Read more about WYSIATI:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374275637/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0374275637&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;tag=towafree-20&amp;amp;linkId=P6NBXCLV5WE2MYUE&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;ASIN=0374275637&amp;amp;Format=_SL250_&amp;amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;amp;WS=1&amp;amp;tag=towafree-20&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=towafree-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0374275637&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border:none !important; margin:0px !important;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;kahneman_thinking_2013&quot;&gt;Kahneman, D. (2013). &lt;i&gt;Thinking, Fast and Slow&lt;/i&gt;. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/wysiati/&quot;&gt;What You See Is All There Is&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on January 31, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Two Sources of Failure]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/two-sources-failure/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/two-sources-failure</id>
  <published>2016-01-16T00:00:00-05:00</published>
  <updated>2016-01-16T00:00:00-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;Whenever a person or group of people attempt to accomplish an objective, there is the possibility that the attempt will end in failure. Given that their objective is within a realm where control is possible, there are only two potential sources of failure: &lt;strong&gt;ignorance&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;ineptitude&lt;/strong&gt;. Atul Gawande describes these two sources of failure like this (missing reference):&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The first is ignorance— we may err because science has given us only a partial understanding of the world and how it works. There are skyscrapers we do not yet know how to build, snowstorms we cannot predict, heart attacks we still haven’t learned how to stop. The second type of failure the philosophers call ineptitude— because in these instances the knowledge exists, yet we fail to apply it correctly. This is the skyscraper that is built wrong and collapses, the snowstorm whose signs the meteorologist just plain missed, the stab wound from a weapon the doctors forgot to ask about.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Failure may be due to &lt;strong&gt;ignorance&lt;/strong&gt;. The knowledge of what to do and/or how to do it is unknown to the ones undertaking the objective. Historically, this has been the most significant obstacle to achieving objectives.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In the Information Age and the rapid increase of knowledge globally, &lt;strong&gt;ineptitude&lt;/strong&gt; is becoming an equally significant factor. In the past, the amount of information that was available to a person was inadequate and predisposed them to failure due to ignorance. Increasingly, the information necessary to avoid failure is available, but the ability to apply it correctly to a given situation is lacking.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do we address both of these sources of failure?&lt;/strong&gt; Ignorance may be the easier of the two to overcome, as it simply requires increasing the availability of information. Open Educational Resources, Wikipedia, and internet search engines like Google are all increasing the availability of knowledge, as well as the ease of locating it. Overcoming ineptitude may be more challenging because of the increased (and increasing) complexity of the world today. Ineptitude may be overcome by the use of checklists (doing the basics right) and the use of rubrics to objectively assess the results.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Resources that provide more information:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312430000/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0312430000&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;tag=towafree-20&amp;amp;linkId=K5HYVXEHXRIQSZVW&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;ASIN=0312430000&amp;amp;Format=_SL250_&amp;amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;amp;WS=1&amp;amp;tag=towafree-20&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=towafree-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0312430000&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border:none !important; margin:0px !important;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374275637/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0374275637&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;tag=towafree-20&amp;amp;linkId=P6NBXCLV5WE2MYUE&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;ASIN=0374275637&amp;amp;Format=_SL250_&amp;amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;amp;WS=1&amp;amp;tag=towafree-20&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=towafree-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0374275637&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border:none !important; margin:0px !important;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/two-sources-failure/&quot;&gt;The Two Sources of Failure&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on January 16, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[Leaders, Technology, Tactics, and Trust]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/leaders-technology-tactics-trust/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/leaders-technology-tactics-trust</id>
  <published>2016-01-14T00:00:00-05:00</published>
  <updated>2016-01-14T00:00:00-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;To the degree that the leader does not or cannot understand the tools, tactics, and methods that enable the team to achieve the objective, they absolutely must rely on and trust the team. Thus, &lt;strong&gt;trust is the single most crucial aspect of a high performance team&lt;/strong&gt;, because in the increasingly complex and rapidly changing world of today, no leader can fully understand all the component pieces adequately in order to issue unilateral mandates. Milestones along the way to successful outcomes must be set, and achieved collaboratively.&lt;/p&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/leaders-technology-tactics-trust/&quot;&gt;Leaders, Technology, Tactics, and Trust&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on January 14, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[Excellence is Attributed By Others]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/excellence-attributed-others/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/excellence-attributed-others</id>
  <published>2016-01-06T00:00:00-05:00</published>
  <updated>2016-01-06T00:00:00-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;Many organizations and companies claim to be “committed to excellence.” This is a great concept, but unless there is evidence to back up the claim, it is nothing more than words. Furthermore, numbers and statistics can always be (and frequently are) skewed by organizations to tell the story their customers want to hear. So the “evidence” reported by the organization about their stated commitment to excellence is not necessarily trustworthy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Thus, excellence can only be attributed by others.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Companies constantly tell us about their commitment to excellence, implying that this means they will make only top-shelf products. Words like quality and excellence are misapplied so relentlessly that they border on meaningless. Managers scour books and magazines looking for greater understanding but settle instead for adopting a new terminology, thinking that using fresh words will bring them closer to their goals.&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;p&gt;To ensure quality, then, &lt;strong&gt;excellence must be an earned word, attributed by others to us&lt;/strong&gt;, not proclaimed by us about ourselves. It is the responsibility of good leaders to make sure that words remain attached to the meanings and ideals they represent. (missing reference)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/excellence-attributed-others/&quot;&gt;Excellence is Attributed By Others&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on January 06, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[Observations on Change and Those Who Cause It]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/observations-change-those-who-foment/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/observations-change-those-who-foment</id>
  <published>2015-11-11T00:00:00-05:00</published>
  <updated>2015-11-11T00:00:00-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;Throughout history, there have been those who have maintained the status quo, and those who have challenged it. Sometimes, the status quo desperately needs to be both challenged and changed. But many who correctly observe that change is needed inadvertently sabotage their own efforts to bring about meaningful and lasting change for entirely avoidable reasons, including some (or all) of the following.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. The persecution complex.&lt;/strong&gt;  Opposition from the establishment does not prove the validity of the argument for change. The vehement anger of the establishment against the proposed idea does not prove the veracity of the argument. Martin Luther was strongly opposed… but so was Joseph Arius (proponent of the heretical belief that Jesus was not fully divine). The fierceness of the established viewpoint against the new argument is not a reliable indicator of the truth of the argument.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Overswinging the pendulum.&lt;/strong&gt; Attempting to correct error by striving for equal and opposite error does not correct the error, it creates additional error. This should be self-evident, but it rarely is. Error is corrected by patiently persevering in the agonizingly-maintained balance in the center. Few who attempt to bring about change succeed, often because their error of over-correction (which may be evident to everyone but themselves and their fanboys) itself requires correction. It takes far greater strength, character, and leadership to maintain balance in the face of withering pressure to slide to the opposite extreme.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Blindness in expertise.&lt;/strong&gt; I am told that the most dangerous phase for a rock climber is not when they are first starting out. At the beginning, the new climber is so freaked out they pay careful attention to all the rules, use every protection, and take every precaution. It is when the climber considers themselves an expert that they start to miss things, overlooking them because “I got this.” This is the most dangerous phase they encounter… and not all of them get through it alive. Expertise may suggest all kinds of new solutions to old problems. But it may also result in myopia and an inability to look beyond the limits of what the “expert” has always seen.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Cessation of listening.&lt;/strong&gt; Working to bring about change requires increasing knowledge—knowledge about the depth and severity of the problem that needs to be fixed, and knowledge about the proposed solution. Together with the increase of knowledge comes (almost inevitably) a reluctance to really listen, especially to anyone or anything from the opposing camp. The solution to this fingers-in-the-ears-I’m-right-you’re-wrong problem might be as simple as adopting an attitude of &lt;em&gt;asking advice&lt;/em&gt;. It does not necessarily mean the advice will be taken (though it must be genuinely sought), but it assumes a posture of one who—no matter how right they believe themselves to be—still listens and learns… kind of like a disciple.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Confirmation bias.&lt;/strong&gt; Often tied to &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/danger-small-numbers&quot;&gt;early successes&lt;/a&gt;, it is easy to seek out and receive only the anecdotes and factoids that support the assumption of what is true. Everything else either does not compute or is quietly discarded, in the hope of making a more solid case for the change that is desired. Ironically, crucial evidence that &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; make the case stronger (or at least prevent train wrecks based on false assumptions) is missed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6. Poisoned by Attitude.&lt;/strong&gt; Maybe you have observed it: the clearly brilliant person who is well-read, speaks with authority that comes from years of experience, and provides new perspectives that have the ring of truth to them… but something is off. The words are right, but there is a sense that not all is as it should be. Then you see it. The subtle-yet-pervasive attitude that there is only one man—the Dear Leader—who has received truth (possibly believed to be &lt;em&gt;Truth&lt;/em&gt;) from the Divine, and there is not even a close second. What he says, goes. No one else need even be on the roster, why share the stage or have anyone else create original content or teach? They would be redundant, at best. The anointed one has everything covered, thank you very much. This attitude of self-centeredness is terribly crafty and has the disturbing effect of simultaneously eroding sight while promising greater vision.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7. Deformed by arrogance.&lt;/strong&gt;  Maybe it is inevitable, but following closely in the footsteps of an exclusive “One Dear Leader” attitude tends to be arrogance. Sometime subtle, sometimes flagrant. But as soon as success kicks in, the numbers go up, the testimonials pour forth with emotional gratitude, how could it not? In the Name of the King, another king is hailed. In the Name of the Kingdom, another kingdom is built. The Leader is still occasionally glimpsed behind the leader, but that view usually diminishes over time. Gradually, the teaching is increasingly mistaken for the Teaching. Love is distorted into strategy, and humility gives way to ambition. Slowly, but all too surely.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8. Pharisees under every rock.&lt;/strong&gt; — Not everyone who disagrees with the new idea—the new paradigm—is a Pharisee. They might simply disagree. The new ideas may well be a return to biblical truth that has been lost for centuries, but disagreement with them does not make someone a Pharisee.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;9. When change catches the changer unaware.&lt;/strong&gt; — It might be one of the saddest things you ever see. The self-proclaimed “paradigm-shifter” and “change-agent” is presented with evidence (sometimes just the mere suggestion) that they themselves may be “old school” or “traditional” in some aspect. For example, suggest to one of these people that—regardless of the innovative nature of their propositions—they may have overlooked a foundational aspect of their strategy and so are in the same camp as everyone they love to despise most. But stand back and be ready for vehement, angry, and possibly irrational pushback (sometimes multiple times in the middle of your presentation), as that is the one thing—the &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; thing—they cannot tolerate. To be discovered to have been a traditionalist all this time and not ahead of the pack in &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt; is absolutely unacceptable, regardless of how true it may be. They have built their entire legacy on being forward-thinking, advanced, innovative, disruptive, and altogether different from all the others. The possibility that they may have overlooked something and are “as weak as any other man” is simply intolerable. &lt;em&gt;Could it be that you don’t know who I am?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;when-you-serve-the-king&quot;&gt;When You Serve the King&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Thankfully, the solution to all this is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to ignore the need for change, but to remember that we are all together unworthy servants in need of God’s grace every day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.&lt;/strong&gt; Yep, those nasty bad guys did what nasty bad guys always do. In the same way that every one of us do what sinful people do &lt;em&gt;every day&lt;/em&gt;: sin against God and against others. Which is why we are taught in Scripture to forgive others. Failure to forgive others results in the failure of forgiveness for our own transgressions (Matthew 6:15).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;B. “If I understand all knowledge but have not love, I am nothing”&lt;/strong&gt; — Jesus has made it pretty clear that he desires mercy more than sacrifice (Matthew 9:13; 12:7, quoting Hosea 6:6 which uses a word for mercy that means “love”). Truth is extremely important. Holding fast to what is true in the face of the status quo is equally important. But doing so with selfless love for others is more important still. Speaking the truth is not the definition of love, the truth should be spoken &lt;em&gt;with&lt;/em&gt; love (Ephesians 4:15). And love, we are told, does not insist on its own way (1 Corinthians 13:5).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;C. Above all else, get humility.&lt;/strong&gt; Even the change-agent should call to mind the one thing that God desires, the one thing He has asked of us (Micah 6:8):&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do what is right.&lt;/strong&gt; Even when no one else is.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Love loving others.&lt;/strong&gt; Love &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; giving others what they deserve, even as our Heavenly Father loves to be merciful and gracious (Exodus 34:6).&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Walk humbly with God.&lt;/strong&gt; Humility is tough, especially when we are absolutely convinced of the rightness of our own position. It involves letting go of what is rightfully mine (Philippians 2:6-7), including acknowledgment and acceptance of the rightness of my ideas. At the end of the day, God is sovereign, He is on His throne, and He needs no help from you or me to bring about his purposes (Isaiah 46:10).&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;


    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/observations-change-those-who-foment/&quot;&gt;Observations on Change and Those Who Cause It&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on November 11, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Difference Between Rulers and Leaders]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/difference-between-rulers-leaders/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/difference-between-rulers-leaders</id>
  <published>2015-11-06T00:00:00-05:00</published>
  <updated>2015-11-06T00:00:00-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. —3 John 1:9-10 (ESV)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Diotrephes had ambition and drive, and he had made it all the way up the ladder and was now the ruler of the church. He loved being at the top of the organizational chart (the word used to describe him is φιλοπρωτεύω, which basically means “lover of being first”), where he was in command and could control others. He had big plans, and they did not include sharing the stage with or supporting visiting believers. He did his own thing, refusing to walk in humility under the authority of the apostles, and doing whatever he needed to maintain his power.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;John makes it clear that this is not doing good, it is evil. Not just a sinful slip-up, but evidence that Diotrephes actually has no clue about who God even is:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.  —3 John 1:11 (ESV)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Loving power, &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/shall-not-be-so-among-you&quot;&gt;ruling over others&lt;/a&gt;, and playing the political game to stay in control is dishonoring to God. Which makes the contrast of Diotrephes with Demetrius so stark:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true. —3 John 1:12 (ESV)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;If Diotrephes represents the top of a traditional power structure, Demetrius represents a hub in an open web of trust. He does not have organizational power of position, but what he does have is far more important: the trust of others. He has a good testimony—a “stamp of approval”—from everyone in the church, making him a leader and influencer.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Not only does Demetrius receive a good testimony from everyone who knows him, but he receives a good testimony from the truth itself. Meaning: what Demetrius teaches and does is done with integrity, in the open, where all can see that it is in line with the Truth of God’s Word. Demetrius is not playing a power game of withholding information to leverage power for his own advance. He lives openly, humbly, and honestly. So in addition to the testimony of the people who know him and the testimony of the truth itself, John adds the testimony of the apostles to the affirmation of Demetrius’ good character.&lt;/p&gt;


    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/difference-between-rulers-leaders/&quot;&gt;The Difference Between Rulers and Leaders&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on November 06, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Three Kinds of Networks (and Why They Matter)]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/three-kinds-networks/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/three-kinds-networks</id>
  <published>2015-11-05T00:00:00-05:00</published>
  <updated>2015-11-05T00:00:00-05:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;There are three different forms of networks in which nodes (whether people, computers, organizations, etc.) can be organized. Each of these forms has strengths and weaknesses, and any strategy that deals with connecting nodes will need to take into account the tradeoffs in the structure of each one.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;disconnected-nodes&quot;&gt;Disconnected nodes&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/nodes-networks/nodes-networks.001.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nodes&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;At the outset (and somewhat obviously), nodes that exist without any connection to other nodes are isolated and no network of any form exists.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;centralized&quot;&gt;Centralized&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/nodes-networks/nodes-networks.002.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Centralized&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The simplest form of a network involves a single, centralized “hub” node to which every other dependent node connects. The classic business model is a centralized network (one seller, many buyers), as are many online content providers (one server, many web browsers).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The advantages of a centralized network include being straightforward to create and ease of standardization and control (the single hub has all the power). An inherent and unavoidable disadvantage to a centralized network is that it creates a single point of failure. If the hub is blocked, destroyed, corrupted, or otherwise rendered inoperable, the entire network goes dark, as all the nodes are connected directly (and exclusively) to the hub.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;decentralized&quot;&gt;Decentralized&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/nodes-networks/nodes-networks.003.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Decentralized&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When more than one centralized network is connected through multiple links, the result is a decentralized network. Examples could include trade associations and computer server farms that provide redundancy and improved reliability. The Internet itself is a complex and decentralized mesh of networks, as there are many servers with hosts connected to them, but the servers are themselves connected to multiple other servers.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;distributed&quot;&gt;Distributed&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/nodes-networks/nodes-networks.004.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Distributed&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A distributed network is unique in that there are no dedicated hubs. Every node is also a hub, both connecting to other nodes and being connected to by them. Not every node is necessarily connected to every other node, but each node has the &lt;em&gt;ability&lt;/em&gt; to connect directly to any other node. This creates an extremely robust, fault-tolerant network. If any node is taken out of the mesh, the impact is minimal because not only are there built-in redundancies in link patterns (providing virtually infinite other routes to other nodes), but it is possible to establish a direct connection between any two nodes in the mesh.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This creates a far more complex network than either decentralized or centralized networks. It is difficult (in some contexts, impossible) to control a distributed network, at least using the traditional “command and control” approaches that are readily available in centralized and decentralized networks. But the absence of a centralized control mechanism does not necessarily result in chaos. Establishing common mission and shared parameters for achieving it enables a high degree of innovation and autonomy at the level of each individual node, while enabling the collective network to accomplish its purpose.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Examples of a distributed network include: ant colonies and Bitcoin. Ant colonies have no control structure: each ant is essentially free to make its own choices about whether to explore new horizons or follow a known trail to food, all for the common good of the colony. Bitcoin implements a completely flat, distributed network, with parameters in the software that enables any node to join the network and, collectively, to accomplish the objective of creating a cryptographically-derived currency.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;conclusion&quot;&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In an increasingly interconnected world, building and supporting networks of many kinds is essential to success. It is important for strategists and leaders to consider the tradeoffs and implications in network design.&lt;/p&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/three-kinds-networks/&quot;&gt;The Three Kinds of Networks (and Why They Matter)&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on November 05, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[Amazing? Yes. A Cure-all? Probably Not.]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/amazing-yes-cure-all-probably-not/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/amazing-yes-cure-all-probably-not</id>
  <published>2015-10-22T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  <updated>2015-10-22T00:00:00-04:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Only one word tells the story of penicillin: That word is ‘miracle.’&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;That is how reporter Walter Humphrey described what he saw after visiting a hospital in 1944 where the new drug was being tested &lt;a href=&quot;#shelton_hygienic_1944&quot;&gt;(Shelton, 1944)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;If you could… as I did, see series after series of before and after pictures of cases where the drug penicillin has been used, you [would] wonder no more.” &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He saw it with his own eyes and—regardless of the fact that he knew next to nothing about medicine and even less about the brand new field of antibiotics—he had (he assumed) all the evidence he needed. Penicillin was, without a doubt and without further need for study, a cure-all drug.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The word spread, the general public was elated! There was nothing it could not heal! Penicillin was made available over-the-counter and reports were issued claiming penicillin could cure everything from cancer to viral infections.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There are at least two important points to observe from the story of the discovery of penicillin. First, &lt;strong&gt;the supporters were blinded&lt;/strong&gt; by their optimistic belief that penicillin was so amazing it could miraculously cure anything. The detractors were equally blinded by their cynical belief that penicillin was a farce, and would be shown to be as worthless as every other discovery that had been prematurely hailed a cure-all. Neither side got it completely right.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Penicillin actually was a significant breakthrough &lt;em&gt;within the domain of what it could actually do&lt;/em&gt;. This was unknown at the time, as the drug had only just been discovered. The supporters blindly used it everywhere, the detractors alternately ignored and criticized it. Over time, it was discovered that as an antibiotic used against certain kinds of bacterial infections, penicillin is highly effective. As a miraculous cure-all that brought about near-instant healing from any and possibly every ailment, it was a disaster.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Second, &lt;strong&gt;blind ignorance created avoidable problems&lt;/strong&gt;. The perpetuation of the ignorant belief that penicillin was a cure-all led to the widespread over-the-counter availability of penicillin to anyone, for any reason. This irresponsible overuse, in turn, resulted in the emergence of penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria&lt;sup id=&quot;fnref:1&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#fn:1&quot; class=&quot;footnote&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;, which greatly diminished its usefulness by making the drug less capable &lt;a href=&quot;#freeman-cook_staphylococcus_2006&quot;&gt;(Freeman-Cook, Freeman-Cook, Alcamo, &amp;amp; Heymann, 2006)&lt;/a&gt;. Failure to do the hard, tedious, time-consuming work of understanding what it was actually able to do (rather than what seemed possible in the emotionally-charged context of blind optimism) and the parameters and variables that affected it resulted in a highly undesirable outcome.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;To put it another way: &lt;strong&gt;ignorance as to &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; the results of &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/danger-small-numbers&quot;&gt;initial tests&lt;/a&gt; exceeded expectations does not prove that what brought about the results is a miracle.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;freeman-cook_staphylococcus_2006&quot;&gt;Freeman-Cook, L., Freeman-Cook, K. D., Alcamo, I. E., &amp;amp; Heymann, D. L. (2006). &lt;i&gt;Staphylococcus Aureus Infections&lt;/i&gt;. Infobase Publishing.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;shelton_hygienic_1944&quot;&gt;Shelton, H. M. (1944). &lt;i&gt;Hygienic Review&lt;/i&gt; (Vol. V). Health Research Books.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class=&quot;footnotes&quot;&gt;
  &lt;ol&gt;
    &lt;li id=&quot;fn:1&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p&gt;Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin, wrote in 1945: &lt;em&gt;The greatest possibility of evil in self-medication is the use of too small doses so that instead of clearing up infection, the microbes [microorganisms] are educated to resist penicillin and a host of penicillin-fast organisms is bred out which can be passed to other individuals and from them to others until they reach someone who gets a septicemia [infection in the bloodstream] or a pneumonia which penicillin cannot save.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;#shelton_hygienic_1944&quot;&gt;(Shelton, 1944)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;#fnref:1&quot; class=&quot;reversefootnote&quot;&gt;&amp;#8617;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/amazing-yes-cure-all-probably-not/&quot;&gt;Amazing? Yes. A Cure-all? Probably Not.&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on October 22, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Alignment of the Church, Bible Translations, and Sound Doctrine]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/alignment-bible-translations-sound-doctrine/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/alignment-bible-translations-sound-doctrine</id>
  <published>2015-10-16T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  <updated>2015-10-16T00:00:00-04:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;Determining who has the authority to determine the quality of a Bible translation in a given language is decidedly complicated.&lt;sup id=&quot;fnref:1&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#fn:1&quot; class=&quot;footnote&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; On the one hand, the assessment of the quality of a translation of the Bible is &lt;strong&gt;the responsibility of each local congregation that speaks the language&lt;/strong&gt; of the translation. One could argue, based on the biblical role of each individual church body (, the fellowship of believers), that they have the authority to determine for themselves what is and what is not a good quality translation of the Bible. In this regard, it is important for the freedom and authority of the local Spirit-led body of Christ to not be hindered by “outsiders.”&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, it is equally important that translations of the Bible align with the original texts of the Bible &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; the sound doctrine of the Church historic and universal. That is, the local body of Christ is not separate from the whole body of Christ. Both their doctrine and their assessment of the quality of a Bible translation should align with sound doctrine as established in the Word of God and confirmed by the Church through time. This is especially important (and complicated) when the translation of the Bible has been made by a local congregation into their own language—an increasingly important consideration in light of the increasing Bible translation activity in many of the ~7,000 languages in the world.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This “both-and” pattern of local churches being both free to make their own choices and also needing to ensure those choices align with sound doctrine is modeled in the New Testament. Paul placed Timothy in Ephesus to ensure the doctrinal alignment of the Ephesian church:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus &lt;strong&gt;so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine&lt;/strong&gt;, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. —1 Timothy 1:3-4 (ESV)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Why did Paul do this? Was it because he was on an autocratic power trip and liked bringing in outsiders to rule over the local congregation? On the contrary, he did so because he loved the Church at Ephesus:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The aim of our charge is love&lt;/strong&gt; that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. —1 Timothy 1:5 (ESV)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The approach Paul used in Ephesus by establishing Timothy to teach sound doctrine was almost identical to the approach he took in Crete with Titus for the same purpose:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you… [An overseer] must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give &lt;strong&gt;instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;p&gt;For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. &lt;strong&gt;They must be silenced&lt;/strong&gt;, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach… Therefore rebuke them sharply, &lt;strong&gt;that they may be sound in the faith&lt;/strong&gt;, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of &lt;strong&gt;people who turn away from the truth.&lt;/strong&gt; —Titus 1:5-14 (ESV)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When writing to the Church in Corinth, Paul directly appealed to the pattern of the rest of the churches as evidence for why the Corinthians should change their practices:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. &lt;strong&gt;This is my rule in all the churches.&lt;/strong&gt; —1 Corinthians 7:17 (ESV)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And again:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—&lt;strong&gt;as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.&lt;/strong&gt; —1 Corinthians 14:33 (NIV)&lt;sup id=&quot;fnref:2&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#fn:2&quot; class=&quot;footnote&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;These passages suggest that while local congregations have significant freedom, as part of the body of Christ, this freedom does not extend to the departure from sound doctrine. Thus, it would seem that while a local body of Christ has the right to translate the Bible for themselves and assess the quality of a translation for themselves, it is also important to affirm the need for the translations of the Bible to be faithful to the intent of the original texts, and also to align with sound doctrine as confirmed by the Church historic and universal. That is, no local body of Christ is an island, but part of the greater body of Christ that spans time, ethnic identities, and geography.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;After all, if it is clear from Scripture that &lt;strong&gt;the teaching of the Word of God must align with sound doctrine&lt;/strong&gt; as confirmed by the Church historic and universal, &lt;strong&gt;how much more must translations of the Bible itself&lt;/strong&gt;, which are the only means by which the local body of Christ could discern unsound doctrine in the first place?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class=&quot;footnotes&quot;&gt;
  &lt;ol&gt;
    &lt;li id=&quot;fn:1&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p&gt;The term “quality” is used here to refer to the degree of value of a translation to the Church that speaks the language, in terms of its naturalness, clarity, and accuracy (faithfulness to the original). &lt;a href=&quot;#fnref:1&quot; class=&quot;reversefootnote&quot;&gt;&amp;#8617;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li id=&quot;fn:2&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p&gt;Note that the phrase “as in all the congregations…” could also be translated as the start of the following sentence, as in the ESV: 1 Corinthians 14:33-34 (ESV). The point here is the existence of the phrase itself, regardless of which sentence it is a part. &lt;a href=&quot;#fnref:2&quot; class=&quot;reversefootnote&quot;&gt;&amp;#8617;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/alignment-bible-translations-sound-doctrine/&quot;&gt;The Alignment of the Church, Bible Translations, and Sound Doctrine&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on October 16, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Next One Will Be More Average]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/next-one-will-be-more-average/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/next-one-will-be-more-average</id>
  <published>2015-09-23T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  <updated>2015-09-23T00:00:00-04:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;What should you conclude when you host a new event, try a new tactic, or field test a new product and the initial results are extremely good? Is this evidence of a paradigmatic shift of such proportions that the established way of doing things will forever change?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Maybe.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But even if it does, the “off the charts” nature of the event that was experienced may skew your ability to see what is coming next: &lt;strong&gt;a regression to the mean.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The concept is fairly straightforward and simply states that extreme results will tend—on average—to be followed by (“regression”) less extreme results (“the mean”). Imagine the launch of a new product, into which the company has sunk a lot of money. Great care is taken in all aspects of design and development. On launch, the initial results are simply mind-blowing. Never before in the history of the company (or industry) have there ever been results like these!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;All the excitement generated by a wildly successful outcome is both understandable and potentially dangerous, if it is not recognized for what it is. The exceptional result may well indicate a new opportunity and “the wave of the future” for the company. But good leaders will not be distracted by the emotion of the highly desirable outcome or confused into thinking that all or most outcomes will be similarly wonderful.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The next one will be more average.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This is a statement that is true over time, simply due to the inherent statistical probabilities of the possible outcomes. So it is important to avoid attaching “a causal interpretation to the inevitable fluctuations of a random process” &lt;a href=&quot;#kahneman_thinking_2013&quot;&gt;(Kahneman, 2013)&lt;/a&gt;. Your brilliant strategy, amazing engineering, and incredible marketing may have delivered a stunning result, but even so, you should expect that you merely achieved an outcome on the right of the normal distribution—not necessarily a new normal (see the chart below).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/regression-mean/normal-distribution.png&quot; alt=&quot;Normal Distribution&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The excitement of a highly favorable outcome early on may predispose you to overestimate your prediction of what this means for you (or your company, the industry, etc.) As Kahneman explains:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;…it is natural for System 1 [the emotionally-driven part of our minds] to generate overconfident judgments, because confidence, as we have seen, is determined by the coherence of the best story you can tell from the evidence at hand. &lt;strong&gt;Be warned: your intuitions will deliver predictions that are too extreme and you will be inclined to put far too much faith in them.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The solution? &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/danger-small-numbers&quot;&gt;Larger sample sizes&lt;/a&gt; and brutal assessment of reality are good places to start.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For more on this:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374275637/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=0374275637&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;tag=towafree-20&amp;amp;linkId=P6NBXCLV5WE2MYUE&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;ASIN=0374275637&amp;amp;Format=_SL250_&amp;amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;amp;WS=1&amp;amp;tag=towafree-20&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=towafree-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=0374275637&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; style=&quot;border:none !important; margin:0px !important;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;kahneman_thinking_2013&quot;&gt;Kahneman, D. (2013). &lt;i&gt;Thinking, Fast and Slow&lt;/i&gt;. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;


    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/next-one-will-be-more-average/&quot;&gt;The Next One Will Be More Average&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on September 23, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[How to Avoid Being Incompetent and Unaware of it]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/how-avoid-being-incompetent-unaware/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/how-avoid-being-incompetent-unaware</id>
  <published>2015-09-19T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  <updated>2015-09-19T00:00:00-04:00</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;How do you know, for certain, that you are not incompetent at something? Or, to put it another way: how can you know what lies on the other side of the farthest reaches of your competence, and where the line is? What are the implications if you are blissfully unaware of your own incompetence?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A recent study looked into this question &lt;a href=&quot;#dunning_why_2003&quot;&gt;(Dunning, Johnson, Ehrlinger, &amp;amp; Kruger, 2003)&lt;/a&gt;, and the results are not encouraging:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Successful negotiation of everyday life would seem to require people to possess insight about deficiencies in their intellectual and social skills. However, &lt;strong&gt;people tend to be blissfully unaware of their incompetence.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What this means is alarming. It implies that merely having a sense of confidence, excitement, and a strong intuition that all is well does not actually prove competence or predispose a successful outcome. In short, it merely suggests a conundrum:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We do not know how much we do not know.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;…if people lack the skills to produce correct answers, they are also cursed with an inability to know when their answers, or anyone else’s, are right or wrong. They cannot recognize their responses as mistaken, or other people’s responses as superior to their own. In short, incompetence means that people cannot successfully complete the task of metacognition, which, among its many meanings, refers to the ability to evaluate responses as correct or incorrect.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As if to make things worse, the study also indicates that poor performers tend to &lt;em&gt;overestimate&lt;/em&gt; their performance (while those who are more competent tend to &lt;em&gt;underestimate&lt;/em&gt; their performance.)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;all-hope-is-not-lost&quot;&gt;All hope is not lost!&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Thankfully, the study suggests that there is a solution to the “ignorant but unaware of it” problem: increased knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;This double-curse explanation also suggests a crucial hypothesis: If poor performers are given the skills necessary to distinguish correct from incorrect answers, then they would be in a position to recognize their own incompetence.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This solution could seem obvious to the point of being absurd. The solution to ignorance is increasing knowledge? Isn’t that self-evident?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Perhaps it should be, but it is fascinating to see how readily we tend to stagnate in a comfortable mix of some knowledge and plenty of assumption. Pushing through this stagnation by increasing knowledge and skill in applying it will enable us to recognize our own incompetence, and eventually overcome it. This diagram&lt;sup id=&quot;fnref:1&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#fn:1&quot; class=&quot;footnote&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; may be helpful to illustrate the stages of knowledge:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/incompetent/knowledge-expertise.png&quot; alt=&quot;Knowledge Expertise&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There are some important principles that can be applied to minimize the likelihood of winding up in the “blissfully ignorant” category:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Humility&lt;/strong&gt; — “Pride goes before a fall.” Approaching life from the perspective of a learner that simultaneously has unique insights and also needs the insights of others creates a context that welcomes corrective input—input that may shed light on previously unrealized incompetence.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cultivating a thirst for knowledge&lt;/strong&gt; — One of the surest ways to perpetuate ignorance is (wait for it…) to cease learning. The objective should not be to simply consume more information, but to critically engage with new concepts and ideas in a meaningful search for truth—especially when what is discovered conflicts with cherished assumptions.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Peer review&lt;/strong&gt; — “In an abundance of counselors, there is wisdom.” Blind spots are less likely to remain unrecognized when many people are looking at the problem (and your proposed solution to it) &lt;em&gt;with the freedom to speak freely&lt;/em&gt; about the shortcomings or “gaps” they are seeing from their own perspective.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seeking out dissenting opinions&lt;/strong&gt; — Intentionally seeking out the input from those who disagree—especially if they do so vehemently—may help highlight faulty logic, undeclared assumptions, and missing variables. In that regard, dissenting opinions may prove to be some of the greatest assets when attempting to solve complex problems with innovative solutions.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Accepting criticism&lt;/strong&gt; — If what I believe to be true &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; true (or at least, a perspective that is not in conflict with the truth), then criticism should not be threatening.  I should be able to learn everything I can from criticism, because the truth is independent of my ability to defend it. Not only that, it may be that, buried in the criticism, is a perspective I had not previously seen that may decrease my degree of ignorance accordingly. If I have ears to hear it.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;blockquote class=&quot;superquote&quot;&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;It is not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, that is the death of knowledge. —Alfred North Whitehead&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol class=&quot;bibliography&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;dunning_why_2003&quot;&gt;Dunning, D., Johnson, K., Ehrlinger, J., &amp;amp; Kruger, J. (2003). Why People Fail to Recognize Their Own Incompetence. &lt;i&gt;Current Directions in Psychological Science&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;12&lt;/i&gt;(3), 83–87. http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.01235&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class=&quot;footnotes&quot;&gt;
  &lt;ol&gt;
    &lt;li id=&quot;fn:1&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p&gt;Made available under &lt;a href=&quot;http://creativecommons.org/by-sa/3.0&quot;&gt;CC BY-SA&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.gardeviance.org&quot;&gt;Simon Wardley&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;#fnref:1&quot; class=&quot;reversefootnote&quot;&gt;&amp;#8617;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/how-avoid-being-incompetent-unaware/&quot;&gt;How to Avoid Being Incompetent and Unaware of it&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on September 19, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>


<entry>
  <title type="html"><![CDATA[How to Extract Kindle Highlights]]></title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://aurastrategic.com/blog/how-extract-kindle-highlights/" />
  <id>https://aurastrategic.com/blog/how-extract-kindle-highlights</id>
  <updated>2018-01-01T00:00:00-00:00</updated>
  <published>2015-09-15T00:00:00-04:00</published>
  
  <author>
    <name>Tim Jore</name>
    <uri>https://aurastrategic.com</uri>
    <email>timjore91@gmail.com</email>
  </author>
  <content type="html">
    &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Update: Amazon has changed the online location of the highlights in your Kindle library and (thankfully!) made it easier to copy-and-paste them: &lt;a href=&quot;https://read.amazon.com/notebook&quot;&gt;read.amazon.com/notebook&lt;/a&gt;. Most of the steps below are identical, or require self-evident adjustment.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When I read ebooks (usually from the Amazon Kindle store), I highlight large amounts of text. Rather than simply highlight a phrase here or there, I intentionally highlight enough of the text so that the highlights create &lt;strong&gt;a condensed version of the essential aspects of the entire book&lt;/strong&gt;. It takes a little more time to get through the book, but I consider the value in increased retention of the content (and the ability to review over time) to more than make up for it. And Kindle makes extracting highlights easy. Here’s how:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;1-browse-to-the-online-kindle-web-app&quot;&gt;1. Browse to the online Kindle web app&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Browse to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://kindle.amazon.com&quot; title=&quot;Amazon Kindle web app&quot;&gt;kindle.amazon.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and log in using the same account you use on your Kindle.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;2-locate-the-book-you-want-to-view&quot;&gt;2. Locate the book you want to view&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;It may be easiest to search for it, then click the link that tells you how many highlights you have.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/kindle-highlights/kindle-highlights-1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Locate the book&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;3-copy-all-the-highlights&quot;&gt;3. Copy all the highlights&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Select all the highlights for the book and copy them to your clipboard.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/kindle-highlights/kindle-highlights-2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Copy the highlights&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: if you are an Evernote user, you may find it easiest to use the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://evernote.com/webclipper/&quot; title=&quot;Evernote web clipper&quot;&gt;Evernote web clipper&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and clip the selected text into a new note. I use an intermediate step to clean things up a bit before archiving in Evernote (see next step).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;4-paste-the-highlights-in-a-note-or-document&quot;&gt;4. Paste the highlights in a note or document&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;At this point, you can simply paste the highlights into a document or note.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I recommend pasting the copied text into a good text editor&lt;sup id=&quot;fnref:1&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#fn:1&quot; class=&quot;footnote&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; and running three “find-and-replace” operations to clean it up:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Find &lt;code&gt;Read more at&lt;/code&gt; and replace with “”.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Find &lt;code&gt;   • Delete this highlight&lt;/code&gt; and replace with “”.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Find &lt;code&gt;Add a note&lt;/code&gt; and replace with “”.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/kindle-highlights/kindle-highlights-3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Replace text&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Now your highlights should look like this:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;shadow&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/images/blog/kindle-highlights/kindle-highlights-4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Plain text&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Select all the text in the text editor, copy it, and paste the notes and highlights into Evernote or a document. This provides unformatted notes with the Kindle location number so you can reference it again if needed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;hr /&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div class=&quot;footnotes&quot;&gt;
  &lt;ol&gt;
    &lt;li id=&quot;fn:1&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p&gt;If you are a Mac user, &lt;a href=&quot;http://macromates.com/&quot; title=&quot;Textmate text editor&quot;&gt;Textmate&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sublimetext.com/2&quot; title=&quot;Sublime Text 2 text editor&quot;&gt;Sublime Text 2&lt;/a&gt; are great text editors. If you are a Windows user, &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt;, under &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; circumstances use Notepad for &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt;. It is not a real text editor and was apparently created to increase the suffering of humanity. Use &lt;a href=&quot;https://notepad-plus-plus.org/&quot; title=&quot;Notepad++ text editor&quot;&gt;Notepad++&lt;/a&gt; instead. &lt;a href=&quot;#fnref:1&quot; class=&quot;reversefootnote&quot;&gt;&amp;#8617;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com/blog/how-extract-kindle-highlights/&quot;&gt;How to Extract Kindle Highlights&lt;/a&gt; was originally published by Tim Jore at &lt;a href=&quot;https://aurastrategic.com&quot;&gt;Aura Strategic&lt;/a&gt; on September 15, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  </content>
</entry>

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