When everything is off-kilter, with too much going on (cf. troppo), we don’t want to just manage the conflicting and excessive forces; we want to change the situation. We’d rather be on the wave than managing our intake of sand and saltwater. Once upright, it’s lots of little adjustments that keep up upright, whether we’re standing or surfing (or unicycling). The balance […]
Lowering the cost of transactions can make it possible to have lots of small transactions, and these in turn can make it possible to have lots of small adjustments. If you are standing up, keeping yourself standing is easiest when you make lots of little adjustments. We call this balancing (though it’s a misleading word, because the constant […]
I know there are times when it takes “just a little bit more” to succeed. I think of finishing a degree program, a race, or a project. Then there are other times when any “pushing” is counterproductive. This seems to be the case with a person wanting to start a relationship with another, with thinking, […]
Photo: Michael Dunn! Success results from a good mix of will and sensitivity. Edison had the will to invent (from the Latin invenire, meaning “to find”) the incandescent lightbulb. Although thousands of his experiments failed to result in a working lightbulb, he persevered. His will helped him overcome setbacks and non-starters. Edison also had the sensitivity […]