The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How not to be your own worst enemy

Chapter Sixteen

Process, Process, Process

That One Thing You Can Control

 

 

 

 

 

 

WATCHING THE OLYMPICS AND LISTENING to several of the successful athletes, one of the inane questions from the interviewers often seemed to be, “What was going through your mind before the event? Were you thinking of the gold?” Time and time again the competitors responded that they were focused on the process, not the outcome. Along similar lines I came across the following post by Paul DePodesta on his blog, “It Might Be Dangerous . . . You Go First” from June 10, 2008. (If you want to read it go to http://itmightbedangerous.blogspot.com.) For those who don ’t know DePodesta, he is a baseball front-office assistant for the San Diego Padres and was formerly the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. For those who have read Michael Lewis ’s Moneyball, DePodesta will need no introduction.

Many years ago I was playing blackjack in Las Vegas on a Saturday night in a packed casino. I was sitting at third base, and the player who was at first base was playing horribly. He was definitely taking advantage of the free drinks, and it seemed as though every twenty minutes he was dipping into his pocket for more cash. On one particular hand the player was dealt 17 with his first two cards. The dealer was set to deal the next set of cards and passed right over the player until he stopped her, saying: “Dealer, I want a hit!” She paused, almost feeling sorry for him, and said, “Sir, are you sure?” He said yes, ...