The year end is always an interesting time. A transition – the crossing from one now familiar space into another, unfamiliar space. The winter solstice is behind us, and we are heading from the prolonged darkness into the light. I find it fruitful. I’m not one for resolutions or the formality of year ahead specific goal setting, but I do enjoy looking back in the period between Christmas and the unfolding of the new year. I think scouring the pan of the year passed is an inherently creative, and therefore useful, act. In reflecting on a turbulent year of change, hopefully there’s something here that may be entertaining or of use.
Firstly, a welcome and a thank you to the 64 new subscribers that have joined in since the last newsletter. I hope to provide something of interest or value to you in these offerings. Typically, they come out once a month but that will likely increase to twice a month during 2025, with the occasional extra morsel here and there as well. I am most appreciative that you have entrusted me with your attention, and I will never take it for granted. I really enjoy the email back and forth that follows, so please do be in touch with any observations, corrections, criticism or contrary opinions. I primarily write to clarify and challenge my own thinking and as I said back in June’s edition, I regard it as a privilege to have my mind changed.
Something a little different today. I’ve always enjoyed the year end highlights thingies the broadsheet newspapers do in their Sunday supplements, so in that spirit here’s my alcohol-free brew of some reflections from a lively 2024. An early warning – it’s a long-one but hopefully worth ploughing all the way through. Thank you for your attention and a happy new year.
Five thoughts on entrepreneurship
1. Entrepreneurship is like walking through a dark wood at night, a wood you’ve never walked in before, with no torch, no map and no idea where you are, whilst constantly hearing very scary noises, half-convinced you are going in the right general direction but with no way of actually knowing;
2. The idea of hacks and shortcuts are stupid. Learning that means anything is learning that comes through hard, repetitive actions that challenges our thinking, our beliefs and our resilience. Hacks are like granulated sugar. The energy is short lived. Shortcuts are like pissing too much Tomorite all over your San Marzano’s – they might look good, but they’ll never develop the depth of flavour that a Neapolitan insists upon. Much of what is being flogged on the socials about business is donkey shit;
3. Flexibility is a key requirement of the entrepreneur. Why? Because the more flexibility you have the less you need to know what happens next and the more uncertainty you can tolerate;
4. Uncertainty is a feature in business just as it is in life. The natural world requires natural selection, and thus failure, for evolution to work. Companies are not immune. The safest approach is to assume that we are wrong and strive to be less wrong or as ‘un-wrong’ as possible;
5. Culture defeats motivation every time. Culture bubbles up and appears as the result of the consistent behaviours and actions of team members. Poor behaviours or values that don’t go unchecked create bad patterns, and low expectations that require superhuman levels of motivation to overcome, to allow a business to survive them.
Three thoughts on failure
1. It is easy to forget, in a cheap debt-fuelled VC hustle culture that lionises failure, that human mindsets and inner confidence are harder to repair than the cash-flows of the Silicon Valley LP’s and GP’s. (Psst - their business model is built on accepting mountains of failure for very occasional goldmine strike successes);
2. Following from 1. above, we can and do learn from failure, but only if it isn’t terminal. I highly recommend Nassim Taleb’s Incerto - I’ve learned more about this from him than every other business book put together;
3. What if schools didn’t use the word failure in relation to a student not having achieved a prescribed standard, but ‘not yet’ instead?
Three thoughts on success
1. For any game-changing breakthrough, just like true success in science, it is no good just being right, you need to be right when everyone else is wrong (modified from Paul Graham);
2. How should we define success? How should we define wealth? I used to say wealth is everything we have left when all the money and all the possessions have gone, and I still kind of believe that. But I also believe wealth and success are inextricably a product of the extent to which we have control over our choices and our time. And inside time our ability to deeply control what we give up our attention to. It’s about freedom. Naval Ravikant said something like you might be earning millions annually but if someone else gets to tell you what to wear or when to be in the office then you will never be truly free. I think he’s onto something. One thing’s for sure – it might be bloody hard - but you can always make more money, you can never make more time.
3. To be truly free-spirited and free-thinking are diamond qualities. The extraordinary Auschwitz survivor, Dr Edith Eger, was damn right when she told us “the greatest prison you’ll ever live in is the prison you create inside your mind.”
Two things I learned from Kevin Taylor – one of the UK’s most experienced hostage negotiators (this one is for all you coaches out there)
1. Active listening is actually about keeping a conversation going without asking questions. Questions steer a conversation to your agenda but true active listening is allowing the conversation to be kept on the other conversant’s terms, addressing their values, their fears, their dreams;
2. In dealing with someone else’s difficulties don’t say “I know how you feel.” You have no idea how they feel – they have different values and beliefs to yours. Offer instead “I’ve been through something similar” as a way to show real empathy.
Twelve crucial things that should have been obvious but only became so this year as things got tricky
1. Storytelling. Storytelling has the transformative power to connect us beyond all else. We have to do more of it. I don’t know if the insatiable desire for connection is uniquely human, I suspect not, but we can’t share stories with the apes and the monkeys and the dolphins, so we have to do it with each other. I’m told I’m obsessed with nostalgia. It’s true that I’m constantly drawn back to my childhood for inspiration. I think the truth is, this is when all the best stories were told. Under the oak tree at Hayes School with Mrs Drabble, around the fire at cub camp with Stuart Cheeseman, lying in Betts Mead with my best mate Alan Nowers in the late 70’s dreaming of flying spitfires. Stories are where our shared humanity resides, our shared meaning and our shared sense of belonging. 2025 will have more storytelling in it;
2. Asking for help. I’ve never been any good at it. Therapists have paid off mortgages excavating why. But here’s the thing. It’s wonderful. Away with the sense of imposition. Away with the fear of rejection. Away with the dislike of showing vulnerability. People love to be asked to share their learning, tell their story, or use their connections, on condition of course that motives are good, and respect is absolutely foremost. I should have learned this long ago from my incredible wife, Camilla Bowry, given the way she founded and built Sals Shoes, improving millions of lives along the way, more of which later;
3. Great questions. More beautiful and interesting questions are much more important than good answers. I’ve gone all Richard Feynman this year – what a truly amazing man – and I’m with him - “I’d rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” More scientists need to heed this advice and the world would be a far safer place;
4. Uncommon solutions. For uncommon solutions look in uncommon places. Nothing interesting comes from following trends or reading all the stuff everyone else is reading;
5. Attention. The undivided attention we give to those we care about most, rather than the quantity of time spent, is the most basic form of love (aka don’t take the kids to the park with an iphone, and no the camera isn’t a legitimate excuse);
6. Competence and character. Competence is important but its not as important as character. Competence is how good you are when there is something to gain, character is how good you are when there is nothing to gain;
7. Serendipity. Serendipity is wonderful but you have to stay in the game long enough for serendipity to strike. Serendipity is not simply happy accident, it is the making of discoveries by combining accidents with sagacity – keen discernment and good, penetrative judgement;
8. Contradiction and paradox. All the things that make people wonderful spring from what it is within us that appears contradictory. It is our paradoxes and our innermost contradictions that make us interesting. These are the things that we should build our personal and corporate stories around. I was told at a recent meeting with a potential partner that they wanted a “vanilla solution.” I offered them my “raspberry ripple” and suddenly vanilla didn’t seem quite so exciting. Raspberry ripple it is;
9. Conflict. Conflict often unearths purpose. Conflict is never what we are fighting about, it is what we are fighting for;
10. Cynicism. I don’t like it but I get why it’s prevalent. Cynicism is easy, but the world is enhanced by optimists and romantics. Where are the poets, where are the visionaries? (that’s the closing line from the fabulous Fugazi by Marillion which is 40 years old – just goes to show nothing changes just as everything changes). Listen to some Marillion please Starmer;
11. Choice. In a world of infinite choice, focusing on one thing is a revolutionary act. My one thing is, paradoxically, not focusing on one thing;
12. Trust. If it needs a second meeting to decide to work together, there is not enough trust.
Four breakthrough questions which have unlocked entangled thinking
1. What’s missing?
2. What should we attend to first?
3. What have you experienced that I haven’t that makes you believe what you do? (and thereafter the internal question to oneself - would I think about the world the way they do if I’d had the experiences they’ve had)?
4. What do you value most that can’t be measured?
Two thoughts on the beautiful simplicity and importance of nature (as guide and teacher and home)
1. “A culture is no better than its woods.” WH Auden (as I was saying… where are the poets?);
2. “Organisms in nature have survived and thrived for three and a half billion years, and they've done it without any kind of planning or predicting…” Rafe Sagarin
2 rules from physics (that I should have memorised at school) that I’ve learned the hard way this year are crucial to the entrepreneurial journey
Rule 1: The Law of Inertia
An object at rest will stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force
Rule 2: The Law of Momentum
An object in motion will stay in motion until it meets a resisting force
Three design awakenings
1. All problems are design problems;
2. Es Devlin is fabulous;
3. Wabi-sabi is true luxury. The beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. The beauty of things modest and humble. The beauty of things unconventional. Wabi-sabi is a fragile aesthetic ideology – very un-western – but endlessly interesting - multi-dimensional, elusive – the perfect antidote to slick, anodyne, insincere, saccharine corporate design. It's challenging. Which is why it’s good.
Three things I’ve changed my mind about
1. Ideas are easy, execution is hard. I don’t know who said it, maybe Edison or someone equally clever and successful, but they were right;
2. We massively under-value the significance of luck in decision making. There are essentially 4 possible combinations – good decision - good outcome, good decision - bad outcome, bad decision – good outcome, bad decision – bad outcome. Annie Duke is the Queen on this. Notwithstanding the rant later on, I will be re-reading her brilliant book Thinking in Bets in 2025. In short, we are wise to be very careful about attributing good outcomes to good decisions and vice versa. We are in control of very little at the end of the day. Becoming anti-fragile means pulling change forward in time and analysing things that have gone well, as carefully as those that have gone badly. Problem solving and post-mortems need to be applied to near misses and things that had a good outcome as well as bad. If change (to process or systems or beliefs) is only applied in relation to what’s gone wrong you are guaranteed to get hurt at some future point, and it could be terminal;
3. Disagreement has less to do with what people actually know about something - less to do with the specific facts - and more to do with what they’ve experienced in the past.
Two thoughts on meditation
1. My teacher John Tarrant recently said something I found really helpful. He said “meditation isn’t something we do, it’s a vessel we are in that carries us forward.” So, the secret is not to disapprove of, or judge anything that arises in meditation, but simply to notice it, acknowledge it, let it be and then let it go. And then go forward. And tomorrow do it all again. So it goes.
2. I was asked at a party what I gained from meditation. It is a difficult question to answer. I wasn’t able to articulate one very well. But reflecting on it since, I’ve decided the real power of meditation is reductive not additive. It is much less about what you might gain along the way, and more about what you might lose - (to varying degrees) – judgement, confusion, anger, fear, insecurity, the need to be grounded - in certainty and control, high blood pressure.
7 books that helped make sense of the world
I’ve read a fair bit this year – lots of good stuff, a fair bit of rubbish. I’m not sure about lists of what I’ve read – I wonder whether they are a bit preachy and self-satisfied? But here’s 5 that have been brilliant in their own ways. In the interests of brevity, I’ll avoid describing the reasoning but if there is any interest in a more comprehensive book newsletter, I’ll gladly prepare one.
1. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brönte (see below);
2. The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, Alan Sillito;
3. 1984, George Orwell (Jesus this was really disturbing);
4. How to Stay Smart in a Smart World: Why Human Intelligence Still Beats Algorithms, Gerd Gigerenzer
5. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
6. The Social Brain – the Psychology of Successful Groups, Tracey Camilleri, Samantha Rockey and Robin Dunbar
7. Through Forests of Every Colour, Joan Sutherland
One thought on what we read
“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumber for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”
After another year of reading endless reports, non-fiction books and so-called insight pieces, all in service of finding greater clarity of understanding, as a way to find more meaning in the world, in business but more so in life in general, I’ve come to the conclusion that all the best answers are to be found elsewhere.
In short, in art, philosophy and especially in literature. In the best stories (and as I was reminded by the very cool Mr Tom Farrand, in nature);
There is so much timeless wisdom in work that has held up for centuries, it amazes me we don’t honour it and rely on it much more. With that in mind, I’ve just finished having my mind blown by Emily Brontë’s 1847 masterpiece, Wuthering Heights.
Transgression, the dissolution of boundaries, the self as other, doomed love, ever present violence, the utter complexity and darkness of the human condition, it’s all here. You must read it.
All the self-help any of us need is on the shelves in the local library and in the galleries and museums all around us. And nature’s 3.85 billion years of R+D is a pretty good place to look for answers too. So my reading diet for 2025 will be heavily modified to 1 part fiction for every 2 parts non-fiction, from its current plate of 1 part fiction for every 8-10 parts non-fiction. And as much of it as possible to be read outdoors. What are you planning for 2025?
Seven specific thank-yous
1. Tracy Dodd. Tracy and I have been working together since 2005 and Haxted simply wouldn’t exist as a business without her. She is Haxted’s Operations Director, Financial Controller, Company Secretary, and my closest business confidante. She’s Tom Hagen, Connie and Luca Brasi all rolled into one, and I love her. Our world can be a wild ride, and she’s developed a rhino like hide, whilst maintaining a heart of gold. Rare. Every now and then she needs a 6-month sabbatical to re-fuel (and do the garden), and we’ve established that’s fine… assuming the next one isn’t for at least 24 months…
2. Richard Upton. Richard is a titan. Having built successful, transformative places throughout his career, which quite rightly led to successful companies, he is also now helping to build more successful real estate development graduates of the future. If everyone in our game had his vision, his sensibility and frankly his balls, our built environment would be an infinitely better thing. He is also incredibly kind, honest and direct in how he challenges complacent thinking. His friendship and support have been invaluable this year – confidence generating in a year where confidence has been in short supply. He’s helped me in deeper ways than he’ll ever know.
3. Ian Greenhalgh. Ian has been a pillar of support, wisdom and guidance this year. He is unfailingly honest and frank in all our discussions and he has that rare ability to always make you feel better after a call than you did before it. He writes good stuff too.
4. Jo Briggs. Jo is tirelessly amazing and has filled the tanks with so much artistic juice and creative ju ju this year I’m not sure where I’d be without her. She’s built such a lovely thing over at www.carlonavato.com – a vehicle for us to collectively hold ourselves to creative account in some small way. We’ve got some saucy things coming in 2025 too.
5. James Taplin. He knows why but I want to tell him again, and share it with you all anyway. James is a king. He encourages others consistently and generously, he has a thirst for graft and is tireless in leading by example. Anyone who has had a Do Lectures experience has had an immeasurably better one because James was there, behind the scenes. And he has more creativity inside him than your average art school class put together. But James often hides his light under a bushel. Pay heed James please, to Matthew 5.14-15 (King James Bible): “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill, cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel: but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.”
6. Siân Davey and Abbie Trayler-Smith. I mentioned the transformative impact of Siân’s Creative Body Process in Newsletter 15. Those 5 days shifted the gears in my heart and mind dramatically. I’m now making the photography book I started in 2016 and never got out of first gear with, and Abbie’s continued help has already proved invaluable. A totally unexpected added bonus was a poetry workshop with Cecilia Knapp and a rekindled love for poems and the start of a tentative apprenticeship in writing them. Thank you again ladies for re-lighting the furnace.
7. Michael Bednar-Brandt. Michael and I met at Henley Business School. He was wearing bright yellow trainers (sneakers for my American friends). To me they were the perfect counterpoint to his razor-like, analytic, Teutonic mind. There was craziness underneath the control. Just like my other favourite Austrian – the Kaiser - Franz Klammer, and who can forget his brilliance in yellow? Thank you for challenging everything this year Michael, and for making me think more clearly.
The highlight of 2024.
I mentioned my wife Camilla Bowry earlier. She’s done amazing things personally – managed me for 20 years, produced and nurtured two thriving kids and been a considerate step-mother to two more, whilst managing to care for, support and be on hand with compassion in abundance, to a large extended family scattered all over the globe. This year, however, was extra special for us as a family as the work she has done in creating and building a charity that has put shoes on more than 5 million children’s feet around the world got formally recognised by His Royal Highness King Charles III in his New Years Honours List. Camilla was honoured with an award of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)for services to young people, education and the environment. We had a magnificent day at Windsor Castle where Camilla was presented with her honour by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal. Blessed.
© Hugh McLeod
Finally, a couple of things on offer from me this year:
1. The Curiosity Dividend – space for 3 clients for a 6 month one to one coaching, mentoring or consultancy programme – February-July. We’ll meet once every two weeks on Zoom for 120 minutes, with regular support by email in between meetings.
2. Making Space Work II – more detail to follow in the next newsletter but early expressions of interest are welcome. Provisional plan - a cohort of 12 people. 26 weeks - 16 hours of exclusive material in 11 video learning modules with written further learning and guidance material. But the deep value will be in 10 x 90 minute live interactive sessions and the 4 in person meets where we’ll untangle everything space related. You’ll develop a philosophy for how to impart your unique signature on the most important spaces in your life - the spaces where you live work and play. The promise is valuable insights from the timeless principles of architecture, design, and building, and the lessons from a 35-year career in the trenches trying to make sense of it all. Perhaps most important of all, what’s on offer is how to avoid the expensive mistakes I’ve made, saving you colossal amounts of emotional and financial stress. For those keen to we’ll finish up with three days in Venice.
Please drop me a line at carlo@carlonavato.com for further information, or to challenge, add to or complain about any of the thoughts above. I really do appreciate the back and forth.
Thank you for lasting this long. I wish you and your families a fabulously engaged 2025 filled with a richness of new possibilities.