Well it was a quiet year in Omaha. The annual letter is out. Buffett called it a subpar year despite a $24B gain. The part I liked best was this part on the annual meeting:
"Finally – to spice things up – we would like to add to the panel a credentialed bear on Berkshire, preferably one who is short the stock. Not yet having a bear identified, we would like to hear from applicants. The only requirement is that you be an investment professional and negative on Berkshire. The three analysts will bring their own Berkshire-specific questions and alternate with the journalists and the audience in asking them."
So no one else takes random questions from all comers for 6 straight hours and sure as hell no one else invites bears and gives them a seat up front with a mic. Challenging your own ideas is something Darwin would approve of.
Not getting sucked into confirmation bias and overly enamored of your own ideas is critical to keep focus. Of course, we face this every day in security, having to act mainly as QA for often ignored non functional requirements that support (or inhibt) functional features. And its easy to see how rare the quality of raising the bar by testing your system and challenging your own preconceived ideas is.
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