Sensemaking

One of the best books of the year so far for me. Madsjberg really thread the needle here; this is technically a business book, but it has almost none of the often un-useful tropes is a business book.

That is because of its scope: a highly intellectual and at times contrarian argument for why we dangerously over-rely on quantitative data, continue to under-rely on experiential, philosophical and contextual experience, and why this matters. . He makes a clear distinction between the two: “thin data” – viewing animals in a zoo, and quantifying them as numbers in an algorithm, and “thick data” – spending months with the lions in the wild.

The best route forward is to be a combinatory master of both. Madsjberg invokes Aristotle’s concept of “Phronesis” — a “synthesis” of knowledge and experience. It’s when a practitioner of a craft works as hard as possible to compile and make use of the quantitative data available, while simultaneously “living” the craft. . The examples he included, from winemakers to hedgefunders to architects and corporate CEOs, all fit that thread of phronesis. . Really excited for friends to read this, and would highly recommend.