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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo. It's the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one, fully integrated platform that makes your work easier. CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce and more. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost.
That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you? Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com.
I'm Scott Galloway, and this is No Mercy, No Malice. We're measuring everything, sleep, calories, daily steps. At some point, optimizers fall prey to obsession, reducing life to a series of tasks and quantifiable outcomes while missing everything that matters. Optimization, as read by George Hahn,
What gets measured gets managed is often misattributed to Peter Drucker, the father of modern management theory. The full quote from business journalist Simon Kalkin is a warning, not a promise. What gets measured gets managed, even when it's pointless to measure and manage it, and even if it harms the purpose of the organization to do so.
In other words, our mania for measurement can obscure what matters most. Consider the popularity of health and fitness apps and the personal optimization trend those technologies enable. To a point, the more data we collect on ourselves, the better able we may be to improve our lives. But metrics aren't the arbiters of living well, nor is optimization life's end goal.
I believe this trend isn't about optimizing life. It reflects a growing obsession that's consuming life's purpose and meaning. The digital economy has created a winner-take-most ecosystem. Life, America, is exceptional for the top tier and increasingly anxious for everyone else. This K-shaped life offering awesome or anxiety fuels a maxing culture. How do we look? How much protein do we consume?
How well do we sleep? How many books do we read, etc.? The optimization and gamification of life has created the Hunger Games we're all playing all the time.
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Chapter 2: How does optimization impact our daily lives?
The musician retained his dark wit, joking that not visiting a doctor for more than two decades was one of those phobias that really didn't pay off. In a more serious moment, Letterman asked Zevon if he had any insights about life to share. I really always enjoyed myself, Zevon said. But it's more valuable now.
You're reminded to enjoy every sandwich and every minute of it, playing with the guys and being with the kids and everything. Zevon's answer is memorable. Enjoy Every Sandwich became the title of a posthumous tribute album because he articulated his life's purpose rather than the metrics he'd registered along the way. I frequently encounter people who ask about my diet and fitness routine.
It's simple. I eat a diet that mostly hits my targets for calories and macros, try to get a good night's sleep, and exercise regularly. As someone who's obsessed with data, I code as an optimizer? I am not. I work out harder so I can drink more. The first thing I do when I arrive in Los Angeles, if you know, you know, is go to In-N-Out Burger.
I often order, gasp, dessert, especially if I'm with my boys. I regularly stay up too late talking to friends back in the States. Two nights ago, after interviewing Secretary Clinton for a live pod in NYC, I came home, ingested edibles, binge-watched season three of Euphoria, and washed down chocolate-covered almonds lifted from the minibar at the Faena Hotel earlier this week with two Peronis.
A great night. If there's a pattern, it's this. I'm health-conscious 80% of the time so I can devour the other 20% and create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The question isn't will I live longer, but will I live better? Answer? Yes. Research supports this. Dieters who adhere to rigid meal plans are more likely to experience mood disturbances than those who don't.
flexible dieters are less moody and more likely to reduce their BMI. Harvard happiness researcher Sean Aker tested multiple variables, background, income, activities, and sleep, and found that social connection was the strongest predictor of happiness, suggesting that a late night with friends is better for your health than a perfect sleep score.
Consuming alcohol in moderation is associated with higher death rates, but a large-scale study of 1.5 million people found that moderate drinkers report higher life satisfaction than abstainers.
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Chapter 3: What are the dangers of an obsession with measurement?
Then there's the work of Bronnie Ware, a palliative care nurse who collected the regrets of her dying patients. They shared about not living their truth, wishing they'd worked less, expressed their feelings, kept in touch with friends, and been happier. Nobody said they'd wish they'd done a better job optimizing. I gave my eldest son a ring that he wears as a necklace.
The inscription comes from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince, a 1943 novella about friendship, loneliness, loss, and love. What is essential is invisible to the eye. My work and life are narrowing, distilling to a few goals. One of them is to prepare my son for others. Many things I do don't advance that goal, and some things undermine it. I'm a work in progress, i.e. suboptimal.
When I'm gone, if I've accomplished this goal, my sons will have, among other things, receipts in the form of grief, proof that they loved deeply, as Nicole Avant, former U.S. ambassador and film producer, wrote in her memoir, Think You'll Be Happy. The boys won't remember my VO2 max. They won't know my sleep score or my macro splits.
What they'll carry with them is me, the man who showed up, imperfectly, at the dinner table, at their games, and in countless fleeting moments that didn't register on any dashboard. The metrics were never the point. The sandwiches we shared were. Life is so rich.
Support for this show comes from Odoo. Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo. It's the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one, fully integrated platform that makes your work easier. CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce and more. And the best part?
Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you? Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com. Support for this show comes from Harvey AI. The future of law is agentic. Not just tools that assist, but AI agents that navigate complex matters.
That's why Harvey created agents that can do the work from end to end. They build a plan, pull from secure data sources, run sub-agents in parallel, and draft the work product ready for your review. So you delegate the work and own the judgment. Trusted by more than 60% of the AMLA 100 and leading Fortune 500 legal teams, Harvey is the AI operating system designed specifically for legal work.
Harvey, AI tailored for law. Learn more at harvey.ai. When you finally find your thing, you want the whole world to know about that thing. So you use a thing called Canva to make it an even bigger and better thing. Whether you want to create flyers for that thing, make presentations for that thing, or design merch for that thing, you can do anything.
So people can see your thing, feel your thing, love your thing. The next thing you know, it's a thing. Canva, the thing that makes anything a thing.
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