There are few questions more intimately human than “how can we be better”. It is one of our core strengths as an evolving species. One that has allowed us to transcend famine with farming, democratize knowledge with the printing press & the internet, and cross the continents with ease. In both work and life, the very nature of the entrepreneurial spirit is built from improvement. So, being ambitiously analytical and intimately human, can we improve upon improvement? Can we develop an elegant and simple framework around what it means to improve in both work and life-class situations? And what’s more — can our framework be predictive of improvement?

To move the needle, you have to know which direction means faster. To make the numbers go up, you have to know which way is up. The very definition of improvement is essentially a comparison. Without having a baseline to measure against, whether it be net revenue, positive overheard comments, or daily happiness and gratitude, there’s no way to know if something has changed. It’s vital to not mistake motion for progress.

In this talk we’ll explore that framework which is applicable to both work and life, as well as make it more tangible and applicable with some case studies and thought experiments.