Doug’s Blog

The human brain is quite remarkable. They are all similar and so different at the same time, so complex and so simple.

I think I mentioned that I play the fiddle in an earlier post. Today I was sitting in my office humming a tune over and over. You know how it is, you hear something catchy and then it sticks in your head. Well in this case it was a tune called "Forgetting the Lesson" that I had heard a couple of times at a session, but not recently.

Thing is, my brain memorized it. I didn't spend any effort […]

Watching the political race in both Canada and the US is a sad thing.

All the parties basically try to put each other down. They go way back in history and try to dig up any dirt that can be thrown around… mudslinging. This happens all the time but is heightened during the campaigns.

Over the short-term a scandal or negative campaigning can have the desired effect of making you seem better than your opponent, supposing you are actually cleaner. Hey, they are much worse than me!

Have you ever noticed that in a mud fight, everyone gets covered in mud! 

At the end […]

From the previous post I did on Investment Risk one might conclude that it’s best to invest all your efforts in one venture, one big potential payoff. But there is risk to having all your eggs in one basket… what happens if the basket drops?

A number of years back I read a good book on investing and in it they covered investment diversity. Basically the premise is that you should find and invest in good companies with solid management teams. Finding these companies requires time and effort. But after finding them, the work doesn’t end there. You need to […]

What is a better investment:

1. Investing $1 million to make $10 million, or

2. Investing $30,000 to make $50,000?

Certainly, $1 million is way bigger than $30,000. Let's say for the sake of argument that you have both sums of money to invest and your spouse will not kill you for doing so. Also assume that you are an entrepreneur and will have a significant influence in the outcome of both scenarios, i.e. similar chance of a positive outcome.

Worst case you could loose it all, $1 million or $30,000. Best case you would earn $9 million or $20,000.

I think it's pretty obvious that if you are going […]

A while back I wrote a short piece on Fortune Telling.

Well hindsight says the negative forecast was more correct. Stock markets are plunging due to the sub-prime meltdown and other factors, the price of oil is dropping, real estate prices are dropping, there is a federal election in Canada, and a presidential race in the US.

Uncertainty is the word of the day for businesses.

It’s at times like these that leadership is truly tested. It’s easy to be a leader during good times. Everything you do is likely to turn out ok… even going with the crowd works.

During uncertainty, stress […]