Rowan Spazzoli

Strategist. Lecturer. Consultant

A new world of personal hyper specialisation

Classic economic theory includes the concept of specialisation and returns to scale. If you’re producing one “widget”, it might cost R100. But if you’re producing a thousand widgets, each one would cost R20.

This has been massively beneficial to consumers. A normal day for me doesn’t consist of gathering food, weaving cloth and hunting animals. As such, almost all the products I consume are produced by specialised companies.

Now though, the internet has taken this one step further. Not only are goods becoming hyper specialised but services are too.

For example, today I didn’t have the time to cook. So I opened an app, ordered food and 15min later it arrived. It only cost R10 to deliver it (plus tip), which is almost less than the petrol it would’ve cost me to pick it up. Also, considering the opportunity cost of me going out and getting food, it is definitely a saving.

This specialisation of service is extensive, and examples include:

  • Buying shopping online and having it delivered
  • Taking an Uber instead of driving (the service isn’t new, but it is much cheaper and more widerly used now due to the technology
  • Using a banking app instead of going and standing in line at a bank
  • Sending people gifts without having to leave the house
  • Doing taxes through an app like TaxTim

No more chores

Soon, AI will be able even further expand the services that are available to us, and be able to do them better than we can. Examples of these might be personal AI assistants, autonomous vehicles and delivery drones that will take care of all your most basic chores.

Ultimately, the scale, complexity and size of these systems will mean that they will do your day to day tasks faster and cheaper than you can.

Which means you don’t have to spend time doing things you’re bad at, like cooking, and can either focus more energy into professional work.

Or maybe even have a little more time for sleep

Image is of a present that was delivered to me for my birtday

Also… I have to be up in 3 hours for a flight. Yay

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Limited upside, exponential downside

EDIT: I’ve had some feedback and critique on this post. Thank you to the people that have brought this to my attention.

The things that the people mentioned in this post have done are wrong, in all instances. None of it is excusable. It is wrong regardless of whether there is a consequence or not. It is wrong whether they factored in the risk or not.

The one person that commented said this, which is spot on:

“men shldn’t be wary of committing sexual assault just cause it might destroy their career, men shld be wary of committing sexual assault coz it’s a beyond shitty thing to do, cause they have no right to take advantage of any1 that way not just coz they might get fired if they do.”

The discussion on this post missed all of this and I apologize. The argument was more around the behavior economics concepts underlying it then the actual moral issues, which are far more important

I’m going to leave the blog below the same but please keep this edit in mind

Today featured massive scandals and news on an international, local and personal level.

The “The Silence Breakers” were announced as Time Magazine Person of the Year for speaking up about sexual assault. Across the world, many men have been called out for their misconduct.

Steinhoff lost almost R200 billion in market cap due to a massive accounting scandal. To put this in perspective, one analyst described the loss as being bigger than South Africa’s entire platinum mining industry.

On a personal note, 5 students across the courses I’ve been lecturing on have been caught for plagiarism. Some may not graduate because of this.

What struck me about these three cases was that the people making these decisions took on almost exponential levels of risk for a comparatively small gain.

The men in the sexual assault cases actively took on the risk of ruining their own careers. They will potentially end up with charges for what was ultimately a few moments of pleasure. And it must be clear, they ruined their own careers, the people stepping forward didn’t.

The executives at Steinhoff actively took on the risk of their business being destroyed by engaging in accounting fraud. They benefited from seemingly higher profits, but there is ultimately a limit to what they could gain, whereas they could lose everything.

The students in my course actively took on the risk of being expelled from the university, not receiving their degree and even being banned from higher education institutions. They did all to save a few hours on an essay that counts 15% of one of their 13 courses.

A Better Risk Strategy

The alternative to these is very simple. Remove the infinite downside risk entirely by not engaging in the activity. Even if not engaging only brings you a small up side.

The men involved in sexual assault could have either not approached their victims or could have been consensual in their actions. Both may result in no pleasure, but both strategies completely remove the risk of a scandal

The Steinhoff executives could have followed the accounting rules. They may have not made as much money, but they wouldn’t have put their whole business on the line.

And finally, my students could have either told me they weren’t able to write the essays or made an effort to write it themselves, even if it were poor. Ultimately, they would’ve lost around 0.5% off their final GPA, but they would still get their degrees.

It is essential that we are aware of what we are doing when we take on risk, and that we make sure the trade off is worth it

Image is off a cold front rolling in to Cape Town, taken earlier this year

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Activating Superman Mode Wisely

I’ve come to learn recently that what I thought was one of my biggest strengths is actually one of my biggest weaknesses. I’ve dubbed this my “Superman” mode, where I’m able to be hyper productive, fix problems rapidly and can juggle multiple tasks simultaneously.

I used to love this mode. I thought it was the best version of me, the one that helped me achieve and excel at anything I did.

The problem is that Superman mode comes at a cost. I’m able to activate it for a very brief period, and once it runs out, I don’t go back to “normal”. Instead, I end up in a burn out state for a day or two.

I imagine it as putting all the available wood on a fire at the same time. It may make one hell of a flame and warm things up quickly. However, it burns through the wood much more rapidly than anticipated and then you’re left with no fire and no warmth.

I used to think the solution was to have more Superman mode… if I could just get it started again then everything would be fine. However, I failed to realize that there is a finite amount of psychological fuel available to us and once that’s finished it takes a while to build up.

So my new solution is to use Superman mode less frequently, not more. On a day to day basis I aim to keep a steady burn, just enough to keep things warm.

And then, when I need Superman mode (like tonight, as my marking deadline is tomorrow) I can activate it for a brief period to get the job done.

Image is from September when my dad and I ran our first full marathon together. He hurt his knee so I helped him hobble over the line

Update: marking is finished!!!!!!

Ps: a great song to listen to that fits this post is Superman by Five For Fighting. Check it out

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Managing our decision biases

Forming teaching and learning relationships with students is an inherent part of the education process. The deeper the connection, the easier it is to tailor the content to a student and the better the teacher is able to guide them along the learning journey.

A major problem with this is that it forms biases in the perception of students. Whether we mean to or not, we end up picking out favourites who we subsequently root for throughout the course.

This creates a significant problem when it comes to evaluating students. We are naturally inclined to give our favourites better marks and to score the disengaged students lower. It’s difficult to avoid, even if you’re aware of it.

As I mentioned in my post about updating our exam practices, in our courses we get students to write their peoplesoft number on their exams. This is instead of using the student number (which is formed using the their name and is therefore still recognisable).

I was reminded of the importance of this tonight when marking. I kept wanting to check who the student was before starting the process so I could anchor my marking on this. However, in keeping it anonymous I know my marking is fairer and less biased.

Biases Outside of Academia

In the real world, biases play an active role in so many decisions. As a result, the outcome is often not based on the merit of the situation. Instead, it is tinted by our own perception. And the most concerning thing about this is that we are often unaware of this.

It’s hard, but we really need to take a look at the filters behind how we make decisions.  We need to make every attempt to reduce the biases as much as possible. And in doing so, we take a small step to creating a more just and fair world.

Image is taken at my desk while marking. This has been my view for the last two days

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Finding Flow with Friends

One of my favourite concepts in psychology is that of “flow“. The term was coined by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (how amazing is that surname?) in the 1980s and refers to the mental state where a person becomes fully immersed in what they’re doing. Furthermore, flow happens when the challenge a person is undertaking matches their skill. Csikszentmihaly has called it “the optimal state” and states that it is in this state that we are our happiest. His book called “Flow” is one of the best psychology books that I’ve read and his TED talk is a great intro to the topic. (I’ll probably have a post where I explore the topic more in depth soon).

Flow and Friends

I find that the best times spent with friends are when you’re able to engage in flow activities. For me these activities might include spending time together playing computer games, sports, or board games. Even conversations that are engaging and in depth would be considered as having “flow”.

And with one of my friends, the best flow activity is when we’re working on businesses together.

Alternatively, nonflow activities might be watching tv together, engaging in meaningless conversation or sitting around staring at our phones.

Shared Experience

Beyond being in the optimal state, taking part in challenging activities allows for the building of shared experience. This, combined with the quantity of time spent together, are the fundamental components of friendship.

So next time you’re planning on meeting up with a friend, don’t just go for coffee. Find an activity that you both enjoy and is sufficiently challenging and do that instead.

Image is from the Castle of Good Hope. I was there last week for a Brightest Young Minds reunion.

If you’d like to read another blog on building friendship, you can find one here.

 

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I can see all of Cape Town from here

Today was such an adventure. I saw Cape Town from every angle, from Rondebosch to Mitchell’s Plain, from the Grand Parade to the airport, from Khayelitsha to Green Point. I got to see the high income areas and the low, the schools, the businesses and the bars.

The disparity between the different areas in Cape Town is well known. It is one of the most unequal places in the world. The history of apartheid has created social and physical rifts in the city.

But today, for me, it was all one place. I got to experience it all at once.

My favourite moment was reflecting with a close friend while we were at Lookout Hill in Khayelitsha. We could see the whole township around us. To the north, table bay. To the south, false bay. To the east, the winelands of Stellenbosch. To the west, table mountain and the “Southern Suburbs”.

We reflected on how magnificent the city was, but how sad and frustrating it was that its beauty was only accessible to a few. There is so much that needs to be done, and we cannot stop until everyone can enjoy the fruits that this city has to offer

As we were driving out, the street art by Faith 47 at the entrance to Khayelitsha captured our reflections perfectly:

“The people shall share in the country’s wealth”

We all need to do our bit to make this city and country a more equal place

Image is from Lookout Hill, looking toward Table mountain. I was there (and in Mitchell’s plain) with my friend who had flown down to do research for her masters thesis.

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The collaborative nature of social entrepreneurship

Traditional business theory teaches about competitiveness and how a company must outsmart it’s rivals to win. The objective is to win market share, make better products and grow faster than others in the same market.

Social entrepreneurship is different.

Instead of fighting one another, social entrepreneurs are fighting a systemic or societal problem. Therefore, competing with one another makes little sense. You’re on the same team, and you don’t have to defeat the problem all on your own.

Today we had lunch with 3 people who run 2 startups, each of which operate in the same space as our own startups. Over the course of our meal, we all shared our learnings and knowledge. We looked for new ways to collaborate and to help each other fix the problems.

To me, this is far more exciting than trying to out manoeuvre a rival.

By collaborating, we can solve issues better and much faster.

And in doing this, everybody wins.

Image is from a conference called AfricaThink that I was privileged to attend in October.

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The two words that make it worth it

This year I’ve been a course convener for the first time and been a lecturer on another course, with a combined 600 students between them. It has been extremely difficult at times. I’ve handled over 1400 query emails, lectured 20+ times and had over a hundred hours of consultation time with students.

Furthermore, there were protests towards the end of the year and we had to make decisions under conditions of extreme uncertainty. At the same time, the protests triggered my anxiety, which I had to try as best I could to work through.

To top it all off, some students are unbelievably difficult regardless of how hard you try.

At one point I decided I didn’t want to come back.

I had had enough.

However, I changed my mind. And today I was reminded of the two words that did:

Thank you

Two students sent me heartfelt emails saying thank you for the courses, and all the work I’d done. The simple gesture of saying thank you made me feel like I had achieve my objective, that I had done well.

And suddenly, those two words made it all worth it.

Image is from the exam tents on campus. It was incredibly hot and noisy. We had to write in these tents because it was the only way the university could fortify against protestors. There are 50+ police in riot gear that surround the venue as well as fences, barbed wire and a bunch of emergency services. Really not the best conditions to write an exam under. But the students made it through, and that’s all that matters

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