Episode description

Alex Komoroske has spent his career studying, writing about, and working in complex adaptive systems. He has published multiple essays on topics like Schelling points in organizations, why debate should be collaborative, and how to ensure resilient growth in harsh environments. Alex has also worked as a product manager and in corporate strategy at Google and Stripe.

Alex joins the show to discuss how to escape busyness, why heroism is overrated, the different types of magic, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Alex’s Website
• Alex’s Twitter
• Alex’s LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• The Parable of the Builder & the Gardener
• Against Heroism
• Noise is Good
• Complex Adaptivity All the Way Down
• Information Flow, Context Switching and Luck Surface-Area
• Escaping Busyness
• Paradigm Shifts & the Importance of Uncertainty
• The Self-Transcending Mindset
• The Power of Compression & The Virility of Memes
• Order From Chaos
• The Iterative Adjacent Possible
• Saruman & Radagast Magic
• The Illusion of Certainty
• Alex as Emperor of the World
• MORE!

Books and Articles Mentioned:

• The Magic of Acorns; by Alex Komoroske
• The Sarumans and The Radagasts; by Alex Komoroske
• The Iterative Adjacent Possible; by Alex Komoroske
• Crossing the Bridge of Nihilism; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• Adult Development Primer; by Dimitri Glazkov
• The Mower against Gardens; by Andrew Marvell
• Being There; by Jerzy Kosinski
• Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment; by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony & Cass R. Sunstein
• Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century; by Howard Bloom
• Zorba the Greek; by Nikos Kazantzakis
• Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny; by Robert Wright
• The Fifth Science; by Exurb1a
• A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction; by Christopher Alexander