Simon Hertnon's Upstream Philosophy
Helping humans to get on the same page about human matters
Wanting ourselves and others to perform optimally is a common goal, but achieving the goal remains a rarity. Below, Simon introduces a 16-word Optimal Performance framework he has developed through his work educating knowledge workers...
It’s the festive season—a time to gather with friends and family to celebrate the year passed, a time to toast one another’s good health. Health. Such a deceptively dull word and yet the...
I was only 10 when Jimmy Carter delivered his ‘Crisis of Confidence’ televised speech to the American people. So his words were new to me when, earlier this year, I heard parts of...
There is a teeny-weeny problem with capitalism: it’s fundamentally flawed. There, I wrote it. I hope I won’t get thrown in jail. Something about capitalism (defined as ‘an economic system based on private...
In addition to the eight needs in my theory of universal human needs, I believe we also share an over-arching ninth need: the need to understand who we are, why we exist, how...
Even simpler than Abraham Maslow’s 5-tier Hierarchy of Needs, and Clayton Alderfer’s 3-part ERG Theory, my Theory of Universal Human Needs has just two types of need: survival and betterment. Why we do the things we do. Survival needs Betterment...
If I had to describe my experience of fatherhood in a single word I would choose surprising. Sure, wonderful, exhausting, fun, and rewarding would all have made the list, but surprise is the emotion I...