Better Business and Career Decision Making

… through the obsessive and actionable study of business expertise. Sign up for the weekly newsletter and join thousands of readers:

     Feature image for What’s an Operational Definition Anyway?

    What’s an Operational Definition Anyway?

    Two principles on collecting data, from the field of Statistical Process Control. As with most principles in SPC, this is both simpler and more important than you might think.

    Feature image for Charlie Munger’s Supply Demand Curve Puzzle

    Charlie Munger’s Supply Demand Curve Puzzle

    What a puzzle from Charlie Munger tells us about a supply-side business model with unreasonably high returns.

     Members only
    Feature image for The Capital Cycle

    The Capital Cycle

    What a famous investing framework — part of the modern canon of value investing — tells us about the expertise of capital in business.

    Feature image for Understand the Shape of the Game You're Playing

    Understand the Shape of the Game You're Playing

    What it looks like when you come up with a diagnosis for your business, a thing that is necessary for strategy.

     Members only

    Coming Soon: The Commoncog Case Library

    Accelerate your acquisition of business expertise. Backed by cognitive science. Learn more →

    More Posts

    Feature image for Lee Walker and the Dell Growth Plateau

    Lee Walker and the Dell Growth Plateau

    How Lee Walker overcame Dell's biggest growth plateau in 1986. A story about capital, imagination, and creative deal-making.

    Feature image for Fundraising Without Investors

    Fundraising Without Investors

    Two personal stories of capital expertise 'in the small' — or why financing creativity can be just as important to smaller businesses, as it is in larger, more sophisticated ones.

     Members only
    Feature image for Renaming the Business Expertise Triad

    Renaming the Business Expertise Triad

    Renaming the business expertise triad from Supply/Demand/Capital to the simpler Operations/Market/Capital.

    Feature image for Eric Nehrlich on the Art of Executive Coaching and Forecasting

    Eric Nehrlich on the Art of Executive Coaching and Forecasting

    Cedric talks to Eric Nehrlich about driving down the error rate for Google's revenue forecasting from 10-20% down to 0.5%, his approach to executive coaching, and how to come up with small experiments for personal growth.

    Feature image for The Skill of Capital

    The Skill of Capital

    What, exactly, is the skill of capital? What does it consist of? How do you recognise it? We walk through three stories, and then talk about the shape of the skill in practice.

    Feature image for Executing on Becoming Data Driven: The Technicals

    Executing on Becoming Data Driven: The Technicals

    A technical overview of how I'm applying the methods and ideas of the Becoming Data Driven in Business series.

     Members only

    Book Summaries

    Feature image for Accelerated Expertise

    Accelerated Expertise

    Accelerated Expertise is the best book we have on creating accelerated training programs today.

    Feature image for 7 Powers

    7 Powers

    7 Powers is arguably the best book on business strategy currently available today.

    Feature image for Working Backwards

    Working Backwards

    Working Backwards is the first book that explains how Amazon really works.

    Feature image for Range

    Range

    David Epstein's mediocre book argues the merits of being a generalist. Instead of reading it, read this and subscribe to Epstein's newsletter.

    Burnout

    What do we actually know about burnout? What does the research say? Is burnout preventable? All the research, in one free, updated place.

    The Starter Manager Guide

    The bare minimum you need to know to be an adequate manager. Short enough to finish in three hours. Meaty enough to take 6-8 months to master.

    Career Moats

    The soup-to-nuts guide to building a career moat. We start from understanding your job market, executing a skills audit, all the way to building and then maintaining a moat.

    The Commoncog Membership Program

    Accelerate your pursuit of business expertise. Become a better decision maker. Access to members-only content, the full selection of Commoncog guides, a growing case library, and an exclusive forum.
    Learn more →