Learn from Chess

Scott Galloway, Jerry Seinfeld, The Masters, Viktor Frankl, Hiring & More

"Greatness is not intelligence. Greatness comes from character. And character isn’t formed out of smart people, it’s formed out of people who suffered." - Jensen Huang

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First, take 2 minutes and enter the raffle for The Masters.

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✍️ Articles

Chess Teaches the Power of Sacrifice: This is an excerpt from a new book by a chess grandmaster about why it takes courage to be comfortable with uncertainty, both in chess and real life (if that link is behind a paywall, try this).

Spielmann draws a clear distinction between what he calls a “sham sacrifice” and a real one. A sham sacrifice is one where one can easily see that the piece being given up will return concrete benefits that can be clearly calculated. Any player would be happy to part with their queen if they see that they can checkmate the opponent’s king within a couple of moves.

However, in the case of a real sacrifice, giving away a piece offers gains that are neither immediate nor tangible. The return on investment might be controlling more space, creating an assailable weakness in the opponent’s position, or having more pieces in the critical sector of attack.

Taking a chance doesn’t mean there will be a successful outcome, nor does it require it. If the reasons are sound, the risk should be taken almost reflexively. The more often we trust our judgment, the more confidence we gain in our decision-making capacity. The courage to take risks becomes a worthwhile end in itself.

🎙️ Podcast

The Rich Roll Podcast: Scott Galloway. If you coach/work with young me, this is a must-listen. Scott Galloway talks about healthy masculinity and what’s wrong with young males in a way that’s more succinct than anyone else I’ve come across. [4/15/24 - 120 minutes] Apple | Spotify | YouTube

💭 Miscellaneous

Viktor Frankl on Success

“Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication…In the long run—in the long run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.”

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Every new hire creates more complexity than capacity.

📺 Video

Jerry Seinfeld - 2024 Duke Commencement Speech: Seinfeld’s recent speech is phenomenal - he urges you to navigate life with humor, pursue fascination over passion, and more. Start here if you want to skip the local references at the start.

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