Doing On The Job

Business to me is bottom of the barrel
There's no actual skill called business
It's too generic of a thing
It's like a skill called relating, like relating to humans, that's not a skill, it's too broad
So a lot of what goes on in business is essentially just anecdotes
They call it case studies, but it just anecdotes
And they're trying to help you pattern match by throwing lots of data points at you, but the reality is, you will never understand them fully until you're actually in that position yourself
(Until you're actually in that position yourself)

[Chorus]
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job

Even then you will find that basic concepts from game theory and psychology and big mathematics, computers, and logic will serve you much, much better
I would focus on the foundations
I would focus with a science bent
I would develop a love for reading
That is a foundation for your self-education
When it comes to your learning curve, if you wanna optimize your learning curve, one of the reasons I don't love podcasts, even though I'm a generator of podcasts, I like to consume my information very quickly
I can read very fast but I can only listen at a certain speed
And it's hard to go back, it's hard to highlight, it's hard to pinpoint snippets and save them in your notebook
A lot of people think they can become really skilled at something by watching others do it, or even by reading about others doing it
You're gonna learn a lot more by operating your own lemonade stand, that is how you're gonna learn, on the job
Because a lot of the subtleties don't express themselves until you're actually in the business
You know, I've learned that tit-for-tat iterated prisoner's dilemma is the piece of game theory that is worth knowing the most
The best way to learn game theory is to play lots of games
I never even read game theory books, I consider myself extremely good at game theory
I've never opened up a game theory book and found a result in there where I was like, "Oh, yeah, that's common sense."
I just grew up playing all kinds of games and so it's just second nature to me

[Chorus]
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job

[Chorus]
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job

But doing is a subtle thing
That word "doing" encapsulates a lot
If I start a business where I go in every day and I'm doing the same thing
Let's say I'm running a retail store, stocking the shelves with food and liquor every single day, I'm not gonna learn that much, I'm repeating things a lot
So I'm putting in thousands of hours, but they're thousands of hours doing the same thing
Thousands of iterations, that would be different
The learning curve is across iterations, if I was trying new marketing, changing up the inventory, branding and the messaging, changing the sign
It's the number of iterations that drives the learning curve
The more iterations, the more shots on goal, the faster you're gonna learn
It's not just about the hours put in
The way we're built, the way the world presents itself, offers us very easily the opportunity to do the same thing over and over
Really, we'd be better served if we went off and found ways to do new things
Doing something new the first time is painful, and high odds are that you will fail
So you just have to get very, very comfortable with frequent small failures
So you just have to get very, very comfortable with frequent small failures

[Chorus]
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job

[Chorus]
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
You can always learn better by doing it on the job
By doing it on the job
By doing it on the job

Nassim Taleb made his wealth by being a trader, he relied upon black swans
Losing little bits of money every day and then once in a blue moon he would make a lot when the unthinkable happened for other people
Most people want to make little bits of money every day, in exchange they'll tolerate lots of blow-up risk, they'll tolerate going completely bankrupt
We're not evolved to bleed a little every day
If you're out in the natural environment, and you get a cut, you will eventually die
You have to stop that cut
We're evolved for small victories all the time but that becomes very expensive
That's where the crowd is, that's where the herd is
So if you're willing to bleed a little bit every day but in exchange you'll win big later, you will do better
That is, by the way, entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs, bleed every day
They're not making money, they're losing money, they're constantly stressed out, all the responsibility is upon them, but when they win they win big
On average they'll make more