Curt Doolittle

Form: Short Note

  • MORE ON LIBERTARIAN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: the attention economy Attention is a re

    MORE ON LIBERTARIAN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: the attention economy

    Attention is a resource just like time and money. People calculate what they devote their attention to. People seek to minimize the attention and calculation that they devote to the interests of others.

    Although women, because of greater Oxytocin levels, are more so, they also tend to err in favor of consensus while men because of testisterone err on competitive innovation.

    The problem then is in creating a social environment in the work place that maintains the focus of their attention on calculating excellences instead of efficiencies by creating incentives that are social rather than remunerative.

    If I could distill the libertarian organizational strategy to one lesson I think this would be it.

    Efficiency in human organizations is a dirty word. :).

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-17 22:58:00 UTC

  • DWEEB ALERT : A COMMISSION SYSTEM THAT COULD EVEN SATISFY JIM BEEBE 🙂 My friend

    DWEEB ALERT : A COMMISSION SYSTEM THAT COULD EVEN SATISFY JIM BEEBE 🙂

    My friend Jim is notorious for concocting elaborate commission schemes in an effort to provide just the right incentives. Unfortunately, human beings have to actually calculate these formula manually. If they cant understand it, then they can’t be incentivized by it. And worse, complexity and lack of transparency create doubt about management’s honesty in the sales organization.

    So, twenty years of working with him and I finally got the chance to design something insane enough to accomodate his creativity, while maintaining transparency. It took me all day. And it turns out, it’s pretty easy to use, override, and just plain old play with. It can even call custom rules if there’s something I haven’t thought of.

    Maybe the next CEO won’t have to look into the eyes of a sales guy and say “I love to pay commissions. They represent success. And everyone here is honest. I’m pretty sure it’s right. And if it isn’t. We’ll fix it. I promise.” or to your board “I can’t even figure out how to calculate this myself. How the hell will one of the sales guys?”

    </Tech Geek Off>

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-17 14:53:00 UTC

  • CULTURAL OBSERVATIONS: (UPSETTING) DIETS AND HUNGER I have met an absurd number

    CULTURAL OBSERVATIONS: (UPSETTING) DIETS AND HUNGER

    I have met an absurd number of people here, and it may be the circle of people I’m meeting, that eat only once a day, and compensate with cigarettes and coffee.

    Now, I’m pretty thrilled at the physical appearance of men and women here, even if the smoke is brutal on my lungs. But if these random observations are backed by some kind of confirming data (not the BS that we get in the states) then it’s just painfully sad.

    I mean, in the states, most of us try to avoid obesity. Our poor especially. But here, they eat less, what they eat is less processed, they walk, and they smoke. It’s no wonder they’re so fit. Seriously.

    I heard another story the other day about a couple with a child who only eats once a day so that they can afford clothes for the kid. And if you watch the lunch counter lines even here downtown, it’s suspicious how little food, and how cheap it is, that a lot of people put on their plates.

    In the states we see people bring lunch to work. That makes sense. But usually it’s so that they can save up for something like a house or car. Or because it’s just so offensive when you add up what you spend for lunches, compared to your entire food budget for the family. I can understand those things. Or maybe you just want to eat healthy, which is impossible even in the most socially conscious cities.

    These people are not so much preyed upon by corruption, as the corrupt ignore them and let them either leave the country or hunger.

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-17 06:00:00 UTC

  • WANT ONE (Hat tip to Josh Brantley) General argument is that no one will build a

    http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/16/mercedes-benz-ener-g-force-concept-is-a-g-class-for-the-future/I WANT ONE

    (Hat tip to Josh Brantley)

    General argument is that no one will build anything for popular consumption with tires that large. Because it means a larger axle, larger breaks, higher center of gravity, and very expensive wheels and tires. The Jeep Forty concept has met with the same criticism from the factory: no one will build it because even as an option it will be priced out of the market. Although, given what a G-wagon costs, I don’t think that’s a good argument for a mercedes. And given that it could be released in a military version, I think it’s worth building.

    Keep hope alive.

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-17 02:59:00 UTC

  • TAXIOMA : AMAZING TAXI APP FOR KIEV. I can’t speak russian or Ukrainian. Taxioma

    TAXIOMA : AMAZING TAXI APP FOR KIEV.

    I can’t speak russian or Ukrainian. Taxioma for the iPhone and google translate and I can get a cheap cab in minutes easily.

    Google translate has a phonetic option that will display Russian in roman characters ( like the signage for the streets here do ). the dispatcher seems to understand it. And using the application, even with my disability seems to be faster that native speakers using the phone. 😉

    I

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-15 14:05:00 UTC

  • FOOD IN KIEV (Worst Price)

    http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294474-d1952868-r145179602-Stefano_s_Fine_Food_Factory-Kiev.htmlBEST FOOD IN KIEV

    (Worst Price)

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-11 16:41:00 UTC

  • SPORT CLOTHES FOR FAT PEOPLE The fashion scene here in Kiev is much more interes

    SPORT CLOTHES FOR FAT PEOPLE

    The fashion scene here in Kiev is much more interesting than in the states. While NY may have the runway shows, the stores in the urban centers in Europe have greater variety. Better quality. More ability to demonstrate your identity and taste. And class ‘uniforms’ are not as varied here as they are in the states.

    Everyone used to complain about the prevalence of the “Gap” look – clothes that will tolerate being washed in the permanent press cycle repeatedly.

    But what I’ve notice lately is that there is no ‘fitness’ status symbol. There doesn’t have to be. Almost nobody is ‘fat’ thanks to sushi as a junk food, poverty that keeps 80% of the people from overeating for entertainment like we do in the states, pervasive cigarette smoking, and a lot of plain old walking. People are pretty fit and thin.

    Because there isn’t any fitness symbolism, there really isn’t the same tendency to use sport clothes or casual clothes with sport affectations here.

    Which, of course, simply draws one’s attention to the fact that north americans are a bunch of fat people in faux-fitness clothing. And fitness clothing, being loose and comfortable, is pretty useful clothing for fat people.

    sigh.

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-06 03:22:00 UTC

  • NATIONS FAIL: INSTITUTIONS I want to counter Subramanian’s criticism of Acemoglo

    http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1334WHY NATIONS FAIL: INSTITUTIONS

    I want to counter Subramanian’s criticism of Acemoglou and Robinson. In his review, he states that ” …the inability of Acemoglu and Robinson to explain the development trajectories of [India and China] is a fault not of their rich and excellent book but of the sui generis, uncooperative reality of Chinese and Indian history. “

    Their book fails to account for the difference between creating new technical advancements and ‘consuming’ them. India and china are consumers of knowledge capital created elsewhere. Their growth will run out when they have consumed those marginal differences. If they manage to ‘repair’ their cultures and governments (institutions) by using the profits from this consumed knowledge, then they might have a chance at innovating in the future. It is not hard to take risks on known methods of production of known products. But it is much harder to use fragmentary knowledge and relationships dispersed throughout an economy, and to take risks on those subjects than it is on those that are more established.

    I don’t really think Subraminian has much of a criticism here. I disagree with Acemoglu and Robinson’s argument that representative democracy is superior to alternatives. I agree that institutions can establish the norms needed for a high trust society. I also agree that it is difficult to establish those institutions if there is not support for the norms that they would impose in the population.

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-05 18:46:00 UTC

  • SORTING IN SOCIAL GROUPS Online dating sites are a gold mine for social science.

    http://www.temple.edu/ipa/events/documents/MalhotraPoliticalSortinginSocialRelationships.pdfPOLITICAL SORTING IN SOCIAL GROUPS

    Online dating sites are a gold mine for social science.

    (ht: Cowen )

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-04 08:36:00 UTC

  • THE MARKET FOR AFFECTION : RANDOM THOUGHTS Yes, ladies, you can manipulate us. Y

    THE MARKET FOR AFFECTION : RANDOM THOUGHTS

    Yes, ladies, you can manipulate us. Yes, we understand that you can manipulate us. Yes, we know when you are manipulating us. Yes, we pretend that we don’t know you are manipulating us. The fact is, we like it. It’s attention. And attention from women is almost always good (except nagging). It’s a mutually beneficial game if played well. Understand? Good. I’m glad we got that out of the way. Now lets get back to the game. OK?

    🙂

    Source date (UTC): 2012-11-04 04:09:00 UTC