Shit You Don't Learn in School

We all accumulate possessions throughout our lives, but how often do we evaluate whether or not all that stuff is helping or hurting us? In this episode, Steph and Calvin talk about what they learned from living out of backpacks for 4 years, how expensive items carry a psychological burden, and how to think about what you buy over time.

No matter how talented you are, you'll inevitably be a victim of imposter syndrome. But, there's a flipside to every coin and for imposter syndrome, it's the compulsion to always be better. Is is possible to get the upside and limit the downside?In this episode, Calvin and Steph discuss how they've managed imposter syndrome and balance their ambition to improve, with the tendency to compare yourself to others.

Most of us walk around thinking that the world is getting worse. But is this actually true? In this episode, Steph and I walk through a quiz that shows us just how wrong our instincts are about the state of the world and why we consistently believe that things are far worse than they actually are.

As technology becomes more ingrained in our daily lives, the question must be posed: how important is it for people to “keep up” technologically. In this episode, Steph makes a case for the importance of tech literacy and how she believes that with time, technical literacy will be viewed in a similar vein to written and oral literacy today. Calvin and her walk through how people can start dipping their toes into technology, why it matters, and discuss what skills may fade with time.

Whether we'd like to admit it or not, finances have such a significant impact in our lives, both in micro and macro decision making. We also can't ignore how people have different relationships with their wealth, even at the same level of income.In this episode, Calvin and Steph talk through the concept of being "post-economic", how they think about their "f*** you money" number, and how they manage their relationship with money.

Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix & Google (FAANG) have dominated and become integrated parts of all of our lives in the software era. But if you look at history, time and time again, the leading companies of the present aren't the leading companies of the future. In this episode, Steph and I explore the areas of innovation that might produce companies that displace FAANG and how those companies may approach attracting the best talent.

Among the many biases that we can fall prey to, one of Calvin's favorites is the fundamental attribution error. The bias, sometimes known as the "correspondence bias", is your tendency to assume that someone's behavior is due to the "kind" of person they are, rather than the circumstances impacting them.In this episode, Calvin and Steph discuss the cognitive bias, why it matters, and how we can combat it.

With 7 billion people on Earth, it's incredibly hard to be at the absolute top of any field. In this episode, Steph and Calvin discuss what they learned from their brief stints of being "world-class" in chess and golf, respectively. They also dive into the 10,000-hour rule, mastering skills in adulthood, and managing your psychology along the way.

In most companies, there are two major role types: individual contributors and managers. The career track goes one way and not the other; IC upleveling to a manager. But is that the best way? Calvin and Steph share their stories as both ICs and managers, and think through how companies can get the most from their uniquely talented individual contributors.

As a follow up from episode 14, Calvin and Steph debate what work life will be like post-pandemic. Will people rush back to the office? Or will they bask in their newfound flexibility?Listen in to find out how they think both companies and individuals may progress over the coming years!