FS | BRAIN FOOD
March 22nd, 2026 - #673 - read online - Free Version
Welcome to Brain Food, your weekly signal in a world full of noise.
Tiny Thoughts
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90% of success is not getting distracted.
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So many advantages in life come from being willing to look like an idiot in the short term.
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And a timely reminder from Clear Thinking:
"A good position allows you to think clearly rather than be forced by circumstances into a decision. One reason the best in the world make consistently good decisions is they rarely find themselves forced into a decision by circumstances. You don’t need to be smarter than others to outperform them if you can out-position them. Anyone looks like a genius when they’re in a good position, and even the smartest person looks like an idiot when they’re in a bad one."
Insights
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Greek philosopher Aristotle on listening but not agreeing:
“It is the mark of an educated man to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
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Playwright George Bernard Shaw on why we need unreasonable people:
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
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The late (and great) Charlie Munger on how to assure yourself a life of misery:
“[If you want to guarantee a life of misery], be unreliable. Do not faithfully do what you have engaged to do. If you will only master this one habit you will more than counterbalance the combined effect of all your virtues, howsoever great. If you like being distrusted and excluded from the best human contribution and company, this prescription is for you. Master this one habit and you can always play the role of the hare in the fable, except that instead of being outrun by one fine turtle you will be outrun by hordes and hordes of mediocre turtles and even by some mediocre turtles on crutches.”
The Knowledge Project
Connor Teskey is one of the least-known people in asset management. And yet, at 38, he just took over as CEO of Brookfield Asset Management from Bruce Flatt.
Few people have as wide a view of the global economy and what's happening in it as Connor.
We discuss:
- The lessons he learned working with Bruce Flatt and how they differ
- His meteoric rise in a highly competitive firm
- What's changing and what's staying the same with the backbone of the global economy
- How he isolates variables to de-risk decisions
- Why waiting for perfect information is futile
- Betting against the crowd
- Using AI to increase value, not cut people
And so much more.
A few of the Tiny Lessons I took away:
- Working hard is 100% in your control.
- When you stop asking for permission, you start to trust yourself.
- You can’t eliminate risk, but you can contain it.
- In a crisis, don’t mourn the damage. Instead, focus on capitalizing on the opportunity that just opened up.
- “There is no limit to how much you can care about things.”
+ Listen and Learn: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Web/Transcript | X
Want more?
- All the Tiny Lessons from this episode.
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Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week.
— Shane Parrish
P.S. Giraffes have nowhere to go in a storm
P.P.S. If you're looking for a grad present for a high school or college student.
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