Author: Reid

The Process is More Important Than The Results

In this year’s NFL draft, the Seahawks had a decision to make with pick number 5. They badly needed to upgrade their defensive line–and the most talented defensive linemen, Jalen Carter (and some argued the most talented player in the draft regardless of position) was available. However, Carter had a lot of red flags relating to his commitment to the game and legal issues, among other things. A cornerback, Devon Witherspoon, who Pete Carroll said was a rare talent and compared his instincts and understanding to Troy Polamalu, was also available. Additionally, Witherspoon checked off all the boxes in other areas. But cornerback wasn’t a position of need. The Hawks chose Witherspoon.

I agree with this decision, even if Carter turns out to a great player and Witherspoon does not. To me, the rationale behind the decision is sound, and this is what I care about and focus on. Results matter. If Carter is great and Witherspoon is not, that has serious ramifications for the Seahawks. But the team can’t control the results, not completely. They have more control over their decision making–and the process they rely on for making decisions (which includes the way the gather and analyze information). I believe process is more important not only because one has the most control, but if the process is good, that increases the likelihood for good results.

This not only applies to the NFL, but almost anything. (I wonder what it doesn’t apply to.) Here are some other examples:

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Movies You’ve Always Wondered About

Back in the day, when video rental stores existed, one memory I have is relatively long time to choose a movie–especially, when this involved a group of friends. (The same dynamic has moved over to streaming sites.) During this process, I recall certain films that would look intriguing–either because of the cover design and blurb or because of the cast and director–but for whatever reason, I (we) would never choose the film.

In this thread, I want to discuss some of those films. Please share some of these films, and give some comments if you eventually got around to watching them; or, if you didn’t, why you think you never did. I actually have three that are streaming now, and I just saw one of them. I’ll talk about the film (and hopefully the other two, when I see them) in this thread.

Alternative to College, Part 2

While writing a post about alternates to college (part 1), a thought occurred to me that I wanted to write about here. Let me quickly lay it out. Colleges are valuable because they are markers for a person’s suitability of employment. The more prestigious the college, the more powerful the marker. I think this is a flawed approach, and I think many would agree. But given the absence of a viable alternative, it’s something we have to live with.

In this post, I want to suggest a possible alternative. Here’s my idea:

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Trump Indictment Thread

There is news that the Manhattan District Attorney may indict Trump next week for paying hush money to a porn star (who I assume is Stormy Daniels). Trump could be indicated and prosecuted for several other crimes–crimes related to election interference (in Georgia) and refusing to return classified information. And there may be more. This is a thread track all of this.

One recommendation: when following these stories, to decide if an indictment is political, ask yourself the following questions: If any president behaves in the similar way, what would and should the reaction be?

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Notes on The Analects of Kong Fuzi

I just finished reading two translation of The Analects, or Lun yu in Chinese–one by D.C. Lau (Penguin books) and the other by David H. Li. (The quality of the second one might be questionable.) The book is a collection of sayings by Kong fu zi or Kongzi, otherwise known as Confucius in the West. In this thread, I plan to jot down some notes, starting with some general impressions. These comments draw not only from the Lun yu, but what I learned from a Great Courses series on Kongzi, as well as what I learned from school.

Here are some random thoughts and impressions:

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