BlogSat

This started out as a very different post on Father's Day that I couldn't actually finish... but here goes a more rambling one that  I think I can. :-) Father's Day: Last Sunday was Father's Day. I never remember celebrating Father's Day - I may have wished my Dad once, because we were on the phone and my mom told me there were TV ads for Father's Day running. But this was the first one, where as I heard the ads and marketing, I was reminded that I couldn't wish my father even if I wanted to - and I regretted all the times I felt I could or should have. As is often my (annoying) habit, I started thinking about what this meant and why the right thing to do is to live life in a way that there are no such regrets, but that's just not possible, is it? No regrets:  is not possible. We're conditioned to make satisificing  decisions, and even with perfect information and rational decisions and incredible decision-making discipline, chance/luck etc.

I sent this in an email earlier in the week and it felt like one of those Sundays when reading these again might be the thing to do. :-) If you're feeling all reflective and such - and missing some product inspiration, I can also recommend some light reading :-) the classic  Good PM, Bad PM   - ( shorter, better version here )   the recent, but still good quora answer by Ian McAlliser to What  does a 1% PM  look like?

I'd heard it often enough, but I didn't know it had a name too: the " Lake Wobegone effect ." " a  cognitive bias  that causes people to overestimate their positive qualities and abilities and to underestimate their negative qualities, relative to others. " You've likely encountered it often as well: perhaps its the stat that 80% of all drivers think they're above average, perhaps it was in poll data where most people expect their peers to be worse off than their parents, but expect to do better than their own. The bias is important to recognize - on an average its likely you're not as that much better than everyone else at something as you think you are. But on the other hand, unless you believe that you are (or will be) better than everyone else its hard to actually be better than everyone else. So recognize the effect, but sometimes recognize that the belief is necessary.