Keith Guthrie

October 1, 2017October 1, 2017

Ask “why?” five times…. Proximate causes vs root causes, Narrative fallacy and Mental Models

Great post for people in the investment field: Farnham Street is an amazing blog dedicated to discussing mental models and they do a great job of explaining the challenges of proximate vs root causes and how to deal with the deductive problems that can occur when we jump to conclusions too quickly. https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/05/proximate-vs-root-causes/ In investments … Continue reading Ask “why?” five times…. Proximate causes vs root causes, Narrative fallacy and Mental Models

September 2, 2017September 7, 2017

Improving decision making in committees

A review of decision making literature from UCL on what makes for good decisions in committees is particularly relevant for investment committees: 1. Diversity of participants (functional diversity) with different independent expertise or knowledge makes optimal decision making more likely (finding global rather than local maxima more likely with different starting points for the mathematical … Continue reading Improving decision making in committees

August 12, 2017September 7, 2017

Creative Constraints

I was listening to a podcast which reminded me of a really interesting counterintuitive truth: we are more creative when we have constraints. People think creativity will happen when “I make enough space in my life and have this perfect zen moment and can unleash my creativity.” But creativity seems to come better when we … Continue reading Creative Constraints

July 1, 2017September 4, 2017

How do we learn? How should we learn?

The fun bit is there are many ways to learn. Books, podcasts, videos, lectures, demonstrations, and doing it yourself. I have learnt that the optimal approach to learning is different for different people. Personally I find my self quite visual and auditory, if I can visualise a problem or listen to an explanation I can … Continue reading How do we learn? How should we learn?

May 28, 2017October 28, 2017

The Introspective Fool

What’s this blog all about? Acquiring knowledge and acquiring wisdom. Why is that important? Why learn? How do we learn? What do we want to learn? What impact do we hope to have through sharing these insights? Read on and join me on the journey. Continue reading The Introspective Fool