Rob Schlaff's Website

What is “Normal” Body Temperature?

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date October 6, 2024

“Never express yourself more clearly than you can think.” — Niels Bohr

I’ve been reading Ben Orlin’s new book, Math for English Majors. Ben always has a brilliantly philosophical way of looking at numbers and math, and it got me thinking about how we often misunderstand precision.

I’ve always been fascinated by the way we handle precision—how we assume that if we know one number exactly and another is only “about right,” the overall result is still only “about right.” It’s a reminder that even when we want precision, the world often delivers something a little fuzzier.

Adventures

Watching a Baseball Game on TV with 10,002 Friends

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date October 5, 2024

Watching the Game with the 2 Friends I Came With

Watching the Game at a Watch Party in an Empty Citi Field

I just went to the first Mets game in their playoff series against the Phillies. The game was in Philly, but I stayed local and joined thousands of fans at the Citi Field watch party. Even though we were just watching a broadcast on the Jumbotron, the energy was unreal. You’d think you’d need to be at the actual game to feel that intensity, but trust me, that’s not the case. The cheers, the chants, the boos—they all created this shared moment that made it feel like we were actually part of the action. It was one of those experiences where you realize the power of the crowd, not just as spectators, but as an integral part of the game.

Human Behavior Life Lessons

Why We Buy Overpriced Things and “Like” Things We Don’t Really Like

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date October 5, 2024

In economics we learn that as prices rise, demand falls. This happens because we assume that rational customers are looking to buy things that provide the most value for the least expense. But there’s a class of goods that don’t behave this way: Velben goods.

Veblen goods defy classical economics. Named after Thorstein Veblen, an American economist, these products become more desirable as they become more expensive. These goods are more desired not from the needs they fulfill but from their ability to signal status, exclusivity, and wealth.

Life Lessons

Being a Better Person is Easier Than You Think

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date October 4, 2024

Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. In many ways, Rosh Hashanah is like the day after the secular New Year—when we think about the previous year and make resolutions for how to be better. Making resolutions can feel overwhelming. It’s exhausting to examine an entire year and think about how to live a better life, but our Rabbi reminded us that growth doesn’t have to happen all at once—it can be a gradual, steady process.

Design

Is Great Design Hiding in Your Living Room?

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date October 4, 2024

Walking through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we pass the Temple of Dendur, rescued by Jackie Kennedy before Lake Nasser was flooded after the Aswan Dam was built. Then it’s off to European art to see Picassos and Renoirs. Then we go downstairs to the Design Collection to see… my dining room chair?

That’s the funny thing about design collections. Iconic designs from the past have blended so seamlessly into modern life that we forget their origins. It’s like realizing the guy in the hoodie at the coffee shop is a tech CEO. What was once groundbreaking has become… ordinary.

Human Behavior Ideas

Hacking Evolution: Fitness Faking

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date September 29, 2024

Animals can fake their evolutionary fitness in a number of ways. Humans do it too. While this may seem like we’re corrupting our gene pool it might not be so bad.

Product Management

10 Commandments of Product Management

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date September 28, 2024

It’s also a good time to point out something we emphasize in each of our books: Nothing you will read in this book was invented by us.

Marty Cagan. Transformed. Silicon Valley Product Group.

I enjoy Marty Cagan’s books on Product Management. The ideas are simple and straigtfoward. As he says in the quote above, he didn’t invent any of these ideas.

I was curious about how old these ideas really were so I asked ChatGPT if it could find some references to these Product Management principles in the Bible. Here’s what it found.

ChatGPT

Why Did OpenAI Nickname its Latest Model “Strawberry”?

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date September 28, 2024

The nickname “Strawberry” for OpenAI’s new model is an inside joke, but no one told ChatGPT. Here’s the punchline: “Finally, ChatGPT knows how many R’s are in the word Strawberry.”

Adventures Life Lessons

How a Conversation is Like a Rainbow

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date September 17, 2024

I used to think that conversations were about what two people say to each other. Recently I’ve come to think of them as an improv game where each person adds something unique to the mix. One person might introduce a surprising idea, while another runs with it in an unexpected direction. After it’s over, we can try to untangle where an idea came from but often we can’t do it because the conversation has taken on a life of its own. It grows, shifts, and moves in ways that even the participants might not anticipate. It’s like a river that follows its own course taking everyone along with it.

Adventures ChatGPT

ChatGPT as a Museum Tour Guide

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date September 14, 2024

I’ve become spoiled. I love being able to look at the art and have somebody explain to me what’s going on. This started in college when I went to a Picasso exhibit with my grandfather. Picasso is quite difficult to understand without the background. I just saw a lot of random shapes. However, when I learned what Picasso was trying to do, combine the best shapes of each object and combine them onto a single canvas, the art made a whole lot more sense.