http://coconutheadsets.com Rob May's Blog About Business, Finance, and Critical Thinking Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:14:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true. -- DemosthenesKool-aid is a wonderful thing. It tastes excellent. It comes in pretty colors. If everyone else is having some too, it becomes a bonding point with friends. The ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/06/21/my-business-magazines-lied-to-me/ I knew I wouldn't blog nearly as much when I started this site, but I thought it would be a little more frequent that it has been over the past two months. I still have lots of ideas. I still have plenty to say. Honestly, I even ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/05/20/still-here-still-thinking/ I recently started a new group blog with some very talented writers. Money and Minds focuses on investing and personal finance from the perspective of neuroscience. Why does our brain cause us to make lousy decisions sometimes? Read the site and find out. The writers are ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/04/24/money-and-minds-how-the-brain-affects-financial-decisions/ I logged into Bloglines today for the first time in weeks. 1000+ posts. That is how many I missed among the 63 feeds that I now read, or, did read. At one time, just a few years ago, I read overt 300 RSS feeds almost daily. ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/03/31/why-i-gave-up-blogs-to-read-more-books/ When I first began blogging back in 2003, it almost felt like a form of media disobedience. We were called "amateurs" but we felt more like "revolutionaries." The Cluetrain Manifesto had set us free. We were going to talk about what mattered, the stuff the main stream ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/03/08/content-populism-blogs-are-not-conversations-they-are-echo-chambers/ Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in antinuclear demonstrations. Based on this description, which of the following is more likely to be true? a) Linda ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/02/08/too-much-information-can-lead-to-worse-decisions/ Sometimes people ask me about the name of this blog. The term "coconut headsets" refers to a behavior of the Cargo Cults. These cults are usually tribal people who were exposed to military forces of major countries during a war.Famous examples of cargo cult activity include the setting ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/01/18/what-are-coconut-headsets/ Joseph Schumpeter used to record a daily score in his diary for how hard he worked that day. He was not kind to himself and frequently gave himself low grades even as he churned out famous works like Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. He felt like he spent too ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2008/01/11/using-the-hedonic-treadmill-to-be-more-productive/ Have you ever seen a strap wrench? It's a useless tool most of the time. It can't turn a screw, hammer a nail, solder, saw, measure, cut, sand, or do any of the things you spend most of the time doing on home improvement projects. But, on ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2007/12/27/picking-the-right-tool-why-there-absolutes-arent-the-path-to-success/ Andy Swan left an interesting comment on my post about MBAs.The strategic thinking aspect of an MBA is worthless. Why? Because it is EXACTLY the same strategic thinking that your competitors are using. Think of business like a poker game or trading the stock market...if most people are playing based ... http://coconutheadsets.com/2007/12/20/how-to-become-a-better-blogger-by-not-reading-blogs/