I have an image from an older movie, a gentleman in a big hat on a sunny day with a butterfly-catching net walking around a field full of wildflowers and a few stately trees among the tall grass. He is an amateur entomologist chasing butterflies. It takes a proper net, fast feet, and readiness to find them. That’s how I picture someone who catches ideas, an idea catcher. Let’s explore more.
The idea was inspired by a recent guest on my podcast and an instant friend, Sean DeLaney, and his wonderful book – Masterpiece in Progress: A Daily Guide to a Life Well Crafted. I’ve been thinking a lot lately where ideas come from. If the world is ready for an idea, the messenger will appear. If one recipient misses it, then another one catches it and brings it to life, I would think.
I pondered anything from a particular dish recipe to a smartphone. Try to leave a house these days without a phone in your pocket; it’s almost unimaginable. Bringing the conversation back to Earth from world-changing inventions to stock picking or even an idea for this article.
Ideas come and go. If we miss them, where do they go? Do they come back? Do they head over to someone else? Do millions of us get the same idea just as we would an email from a newsletter we definitely didn’t sign up for? And then only some of us act on the idea. Also, the very expression of the idea can have a thousand shades. I had a lively discussion about some of those topics with Matt Zeigler, an investment professional and a writer behind Cultish Creative.
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A while ago now, I remember driving and hearing on the radio how a particular company just announced a product recall. I wasn’t the only listener of this old invention that had many fathers itself too. Speaking of catching ideas --- Guglielmo Marconi read about Hertz’s experiments while on vacation and got inspired to develop an early form of the radio. His story makes me think twice about passing on an expiring vacation day. You never know, but that time away may hide a treasure trove of ideas itself.
Back to the piece of news I heard, though – many probably thought a product recall was bad news and ran back to their brokers and sold shares. It’s a safe assumption, given that the stock price collapsed soon after the dreadful announcement.
I did the opposite. I knew the company well; I had followed it for five years already. I had a lot of respect for them. I saw this moment as a buying opportunity. Many weak quarters followed, and the stock took some time to come around, but eventually, it recovered and did it well. Needless to say, I suspect there are many cases when the crowd would have been right, and I would be holding a sour lemon. This one was not.
Reminiscing about this experience made me think of a book I’m reading – The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. He is a record producer with a unique way of looking at not just music but creativity in general. There is a quote that I like the most: “Look for what you notice, but no one else sees.” It’s so true, and it’s an extraordinary book recommended by a number of friends, including Christopher Mayer (Author of 100-baggers, Dear Fellow Time-Binder: Letters on General Semantics)
It’s a process. I had a lovely chat this week with a fellow investor who has lived on three continents and asked me how I can keep up with more than a few dozen stocks at the time. I had an answer for him. I said that I look at every stock that I find potentially interesting. If it meets my criteria, but the price isn’t right, I file it away and get reminded of it regularly. It’s unlikely for me to know of a stock I’d like to know, and I still know nothing about it. When the time of purchase comes, it’s never a cold start, just like with the stock I mentioned earlier. It’s built on previous research and study.
Back to the butterflies and ideas --- I like to keep my net wide; I go on frequent literal and proverbial walks; you never know when the right butterfly or idea will fly your way. It’s a balance between readiness, receptivity, and decisive action, all wrapped in unwavering patience. And let’s remember just because we all might be looking at the same ideas, it doesn't mean we all notice what truly matters.
Happy Investing!
Bogumil Baranowski
Published: 11/7/2023
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