Life Is All About the Dash

September 9, 2022

This month, I’m taking a little detour from the usual subject matter.

In a futile attempt to declutter my basement, I was going through some files recently and stumbled upon an old manila folder. Back before everything became electronic, I accumulated a stack of articles and notes. The parts I found insightful were underlined or highlighted in yellow. In some cases, the highlights were just single sentences that captured an important philosophical idea. I thought a few were worth sharing:

“Don’t mistake activity for achievement.”

I use this all the time. It’s from John Wooden, the late UCLA basketball coach. At times, it seems like everyone is in a big contest to see who is (or at least looks) the busiest or who has the fullest calendar. There is nothing wrong with being busy. It’s usually a lot better than the alternative. But in the absence of a plan and purposeful goals, running around like a headless chicken just makes you tired.

“Life is all about the dash.”

The dash referred to here is the one you see on a tombstone or in an obituary. It’s the dash between the year someone was born and the year they died. We all have a finite time on the planet, and the dash represents how we spent that time. Thinking about what you would want your family, friends, and acquaintances to remember about you after you’re gone can be a pretty good way to set priorities and guide behavior while you’re here.

“If we agree on everything, one of us is not necessary.”

This one seems particularly pertinent today. It speaks to a willingness to not only tolerate, but to actively seek out, contrary evidence and contrary opinions. We generally evaluate communication skills based upon how well someone speaks or writes. Perhaps it is how well someone listens that is actually more valuable these days.

“Everyone in the world knows something that you don’t.”

It’s easy to place people into mental buckets and become dismissive of them based on which buckets they are in. We categorize people by age, job title, socioeconomic status, educational background, and any number of other criteria.

Of the hundreds of people I’ve worked with over the years, the most memorable are the ones who displayed the intellectual curiosity and humility implied in the above quote. By understanding that they could learn something valuable from anyone, they became much more effective as leaders and contributors. At the same time, their legitimate interest in what others had to offer made those other people feel valued in a way that wasn’t contrived or fake.

I think all of the above are useful sentiments for those of us in the investment business, and trying to live those values should make us better at our jobs. But they really apply universally. Hopefully, you found them worthwhile. And if not, that’s fine too. Because if we agree on everything…well, you get the idea.