The idea that two innocent small things can combine to form one big dangerous thing isn’t intuitive.

bubbles happen when confidence (a good trait), optimism (a good trait), trust (generally good) mix to form greed and delusion. The reason bubbles are so common is that the inputs are mostly innocent, even if the output is lunacy and destruction

Take patience and confidence. They both sound great. But mixed together they often form stubbornness, which is a disaster. Confidence that you’re right gives you permission to ignore signs that you’re wrong, and patience gives you permission to extend that denial indefinitely.

People who are panicking know they’re panicking. People who are being dishonest know they’re being dishonest. But those in a patience-confidence trap have no idea, because both traits on their own seem so positive.

Those who think in unique ways you admire are likely to also think in unique ways you don’t admire.

Dig into any successful business and you’ll likely find two people: One who comes up with crazy ideas, and another who kills most of those ideas while giving the sensible ones a shot.

The right balance is knowing what you’re good at and not being afraid to say it while being just as eager to share what you’re not great at.