Introduction
Welcome to The ContraMind Code.
The ContraMind Code provides you with a system of principles, signals, and ideas to aid you in your pursuit of excellence.
The Newsletter shares the source code, through quick snapshots, for a systems thinking approach to be the best in what you do.
The Code helps you reboot and reimagine your thinking by learning from the best and enables you to draw a blueprint on what it takes to get extraordinary things done.
Take a journey to www.contraminds.com. Listen and watch some great minds talking to us about their journey of discovery of what went into making them craftsmen of their profession to drive peak performance.
From the History Books: The Rethinking of the International Monetary System
Atish Rex Ghosh
In the recent past, the value of the US dollar has been going through the roof and is creating mayhem for many currencies worldwide. This article from the IMF traces the history of how the International Monetary System adopted the US dollar as a reserve currency in 1971. And what International Monetary system would the future hold?
Here is a summary of some interesting historical facts and resulting implications:
The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the United States, Canada, Western European countries, Australia, and Japan after the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement. The Bretton Woods system was the first example of a fully negotiated monetary order intended to govern monetary relations among independent states.
The Bretton Woods system required countries to guarantee the convertibility of their currencies into U.S. dollars to within 1% of fixed parity rates, with the dollar convertible to gold bullion for foreign governments and central banks at US$35 per troy ounce of fine gold (or 0.88867 gram fine gold per dollar).
On 15 August 1971, the United States terminated the convertibility of the US dollar to gold, effectively bringing the Bretton Woods system to an end and rendering the dollar a fiat currency.
While countries were no longer required to declare and maintain a fixed parity for their exchange rate to prevent possible competitive devaluations/depreciations or other currency manipulation, the IMF was charged with exercising “firm surveillance” over its members’ exchange rate policies.
Today, fundamental transformations are accelerating digital money's development, deployment, and adoption. Could a digital transformation of the international monetary system soon be underway?
Read the entire article here.
The Chris Yeh Experience: On Design, Leadership and Blitzscaling
In this conversation, Chris Yeh, a seasoned investor and well-known writer and entrepreneur, talks about:
How it is important to choose 'the most interesting choice’ when it comes to a career and a job, as those are the ones that provide hidden opportunities to learn and build value.
His life at Stanford and how some of the courses like creative writing, theatre, and communication helped him shape his career.
The importance of design thinking, storytelling, art & design for engineers
Embracing ambiguity and uncertainty when you’re creating something new
Watch or Listen to the entire episode here:
Marc Andreessen on Learning to Love the Humanities
In this brilliant hour-long conversation between Tyler Cowen and Marc Andreessen, probably the most influential investor and thinker in Silicon Valley, they talk about many things, from his childhood to his ever-growing appreciation for the humanities, which books he’s reread the most etc.
In this chat, Marc Andreessen discusses how he discovered that the real challenge to building in new territory is not in the practicalities of learning a trade but in developing a savviness for what makes people tick. He asks, “Without understanding the deep patterns of human behaviour, how can you know what to build, or who should build it, or how?”
Just click and watch this conversation.
Engineering and Humanities Fusion
Listening to Chris Yeh and Marc Andreessen, one thing that came out starkly was the need for engineers or technology folks to focus on the humanities side of learning and education. Our view is more broad-based, and we believe it is essential that humanities should be a part of every professional’s learning plan.
Be it Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy, History, Politics or Economics, these subjects seemed to have brought out a sense of possibilities, wonder, exploration and spatial thinking in these great thought leaders. Similarly, when pursuing creative writing, theatre, communication, and public speaking, it also looks like these courses significantly impact how one thinks and handles ambiguity and uncertainty. Also, it builds the muscle for articulating problems very well.
What was also interesting was the number of times Marc Andreessen used the term ‘human behaviour’ in the conversation with Tyler Cowen. If engineers have to design, build great products and write software codes that power them, understanding human behaviour is the fundamental foundation. This understanding can only come from studying a range of humanities subjects, as it reveals a lot about how great civilisations were built, how empires were governed, how revolutions transformed societies, how leaders influenced masses with their ideology, how inventions changed widely held theoretical beliefs etc. In fact, Marc Andreessen goes on to say, ‘Investing is the last liberal art’. One would have thought investing is a rational act- Look at IRRs, Cost of Capital etc. But that is not the whole truth. It’s an art and science.
If an idea needs a breakthrough adoption, fundamental human behaviour understanding is essential. This is an often neglected skill in an engineer’s skill priorities and every other function like Accounting, Sales, Marketing, R&D, Production, Supply Chain etc. Each must invest time and effort in preparing for these skills, which can come only from a firm grounding in humanities.
Some of the lessons we learnt from this week’s mission:
Digital Money is a transformation in the making. One should closely watch how the International Monetary System will change or adapt to this new currency. We are at an exciting stage in our society where we will be in the midst of this change which happens only once in 75-100 years.
Embracing design thinking, storytelling, and art& design are essential skills in an engineer’s arsenal.
A few outstanding founder characteristics include - How they behaved in crisis or stressful situations, How many people who worked for them are willing to work for them again, and how many great people they have worked for - Look for these traits when you look at or evaluate a founder.
“I spent the first 25 years of my life trying to understand how machines work. Then I spent the second 25 years, so far, trying to figure out how people work. It turns out people are a lot more complicated.” - Marc Andreessen.
Add a fair share of humanities subjects and reading to your learning mix.