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Who is our real opponent?
We are used to thinking of competition as comparing ourselves with others (rectius: competing against them!). Who comes first, who earns more, who achieves the best result.In short: what matters is coming out on top. It is a simple, immediate and readily visible way of looking at things.But an incomplete one. We can beat others…
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Chi è il nostro vero avversario?
Siamo abituati a pensare alla competizione come a un confronto con altri (rectius: contro altri!). Chi arriva prima, chi guadagna di più, chi ottiene il risultato migliore.Insomma: importa prevalere. È una visione semplice, immediata, visibile.Ma incompleta. Possiamo battere gli altri e avere comunque fatto peggio di ieri.Possiamo arrivare primi, ma in una competizione modesta, e…
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The Donkey, the Dead Horse and the Stop-Loss
FOREWORD Today’s article was partly inspired by the wars unfolding around the world. In particular, Steven Erlanger’s article “In Iran, Trump Risks Another American ‘Forever War’”, published in The New York Times on 16 July 2026, made me reflect on an aspect of war that is often given far less attention than the decision to…
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Talking to Idiots
“If I wanted to talk to idiots, I’d talk to my own people.I wouldn’t waste my time talking to you.”(Palmiro Cangini, Councillor of Roncofritto — a fictional character played by Paolo Cevoli in the Italian comedy show “Zelig”) The joke is funny.In fact, it is hilarious.Because none of us imagines that we are the target.The…
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Keep the School Open
Behind Every Museum, a School We have been taught that youth is a stage of life.I am no longer quite so sure. There comes an age when the wrong compliments begin.‘You do not look your age.’As though the aim were to win a contest against the mirror. In truth, I have no interest whatsoever in…
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The Company That Grows Is the One That Learns to Destroy Itself
INTRODUCTORY NOTE I am living through one of the most significant moments in the history of the company of which I am CEO. In my case, however, “CEO” does not stand for Chief Executive Officer, but for Chief Evangelist Officer: the person whose role is to imagine the future and shape the company’s long-term vision.…
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Brevity requires far more effort than verbosity
Over the past few days, I have been working exceptionally hard. My company is about to conclude an important contract, and I have taken on the responsibility of drafting the agreement to be reviewed by solicitors, accountants, and the notary before its formal execution. This task has required a great deal of effort, and the…
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To Each Fool His Fancy
I have always cultivated hobbies. At different stages of my life, I have read compulsively, played video games, written software, assembled computers, studied languages, explored obscure subjects, and devoted countless hours to activities that many people would have considered pointless. I have never been under the illusion that everyone would understand these passions. In fact,…
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Last night I had dinner with a colleague …
Last night I had dinner with a colleague. I would like to call him a friend. All the signs of intellectual and human affinity are there, but geographical distance has so far prevented us from getting to know each other more deeply. At last, we managed to arrange a dinner together. A very Italian ritual,…
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Administratium
NEW ELEMENT ADDED TO THE PERIODIC TABLE: ADMINISTRATIUM Investigators at a major research institution have recently discovered the heaviest element ever known to science.This astonishing new discovery has been provisionally named Administratium (Ad). This new element possesses neither protons nor electrons and therefore has an atomic weight of zero.It does, however, contain 1 neutron, 125…
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Discipline and Tradition
INTRODUCTORY NOTE This article concerns the sense of belonging, and that sense of belonging applies to every form of social organisation. In this context, discipline is simply the set of shared rules recognised by a given social group.Taken to its extreme, even the absence of discipline, when consciously shared, becomes itself a form of discipline.Indeed,…
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Turtles on a post
Most leaders, whether political or corporate, are “turtles on a post”. When, along a country road, you see a turtle balanced on top of a fence post, one thing is immediately clear: it did not get there by itself. Someone put it there. And it is equally evident that this is not its dimension.It is…
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Throw me to the wolves, and I will return leading the pack
“Throw me to the wolves, and I will return leading the pack.” (This line is widely misattributed to Seneca.Its origin is modern, but its message on resilience and leadership remains sound.) “Thrown to the wolves” is the moment when status collapses and reality speaks.Titles vanish. Favour fades.What remains is character, skill, and the ability to…
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I am learning how to become young
At first glance, it seems like a paradox. In reality, it is a statement of method.Becoming an adult is inevitable.Becoming young, however, is a choice. Biological youth is a phase.Mental youth is a discipline. Over time, we accumulate experience, structure, responsibility.All of this is necessary and useful. But it carries a silent risk, rigidity: And…
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The real surprise of adulthood is not complexity. It is simultaneity.
When people tell you that in adulthood problems come one after another, do not believe them … they all arrive at once. And they show up without formal notice: fiscal, operational, family, health, relational.Each with “non-deferrable” urgency.Each convinced it has absolute strategic priority. The real surprise of adulthood is not complexity. It is simultaneity. When…
