Field notes - January 2026
A thought
What you “nerd out” about is not what / why you get hired.
Growing up, the pest control guy would come and treat our home. We called him “Steve the bug dork.” He did a great job keeping our house spider and ant free. When he finished his treatment, Steve wanted to talk at length about the chemicals he used, why they were effective, and all about the species he was targeting.
For Steve, it was the source of endless fascination. For us, while we admired his passion - we just wanted a bug free house.
Maybe you love investments and became a financial advisor. Or maybe you love theology, so you became a pastor, or you love the “game” of tax law….wherever you find yourself, you probably have something you love to nerd out about.
Occasionally, you may find someone who wants to nerd out with you. But don’t forget, the people that pay the bills - they didn’t hire you to nerd out with you, they hired you because of what your knowledge can do. for them.
They don’t care about the latest technique you used, they just want to know will the medical procedure fix the problem? Will their investments allow them to achieve the goals? adapt accordingly.
By all means, nerd out on things you love. But unless you meet a fellow nerd, figure out why the person is there, what they care about most.
Then use your knowledge to address that.
A quote
“[Emerson read] like a hawk sliding on the wind over a marsh, alert for what he could use.”
A book I’m reading
A Guide for the Perplexed: A Classic Philosophy on the Meaning of Life and Our Place in the World by E.F. Schumacher
During December, I read Schumacher’s economic classic - Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. While some of that book was technical and not immediately relevant to me. Schumacher’s interwoven commentary on life was quite poignant. So I thought I’d pick up this little book.
Schumacher was a professor of Economics at Oxford with Keynes
Love the Steve example. The gap between what fascinates us vs what solves someone's problem is huge and most people miss that completly. I've caught myself doing this alot in meetings where I'm excited about implementation details but everyone else just wants to know if it'll work.