18 Business Thinking Lessons for My Son — Book Notes

Micro builds feel (hands-on intuition). Mid-level builds playbooks (methods, steps, processes). Macro reads trends (connecting dots, lines, and planes).

Knowing only playbooks makes you a skilled practitioner. Add micro-intuition and you can become a master in your specific role. Add macro trend awareness and you can become a kingmaker in your industry.

Find the controllable things and control them. Identify the uncontrollable things and let go.

One example from the chapter on making hard decisions particularly resonated: when a client keeps pushing the price down to the point of losses, it's like taking poison. The task is to identify which clients are causing the losses — and have the courage to cut them loose, even if it hurts short-term.

The book is structured as conversations between a father and son using everyday examples to surface business thinking. Good for someone just starting to learn how business actually works.