About

tldr;

• Here’s some things I believe.
• Here’s some things I value.
• Here’s some things I prefer to avoid.
• Here’s some things I’ve done.
• Here’s some things I do now.
• Here’s some things I’ve learned from experience.

Integrated Behavioral Innovation

Integrated Identity

• Harmonious congruence among assertion, perception, intention, and behavior.

Constructive Intent

• Working with the universe instead of trying to dominate it.
• Preference for Creation over Consumption

Strategic Alignment

• Akin to the way in which waves reinforce each other when they are in phase.
• Incentivize effective synergies that promote harmony
• Enforce uncomfortable and inconvenient disincentives to discourage conflict

Iterative Adaptation

• Health is a symptom of adaptability.
• Disease is a symptom of stagnation.
• We don’t know what we don’t know.
  • The rate of adaptation is regulated by the availability of unfamiliar experience.
  • Opportunity to experience our potential is synonymous with the access to unfamiliar experiences.
• We experience our perspective of the universe through the lens of our perception.
  • Our perception shades experiences as either problems or opportunities.
• Chronic, familiar problems are symptoms of stagnation, status-quo.
• Acute, unfamiliar problems are symptoms of growth as opportunities to adapt.

Collaborative Action

• Build bridges, not walls.
• Harmony and Alignment with Natural Favor
  • Human tasks vs. system tasks.
  • Sincere, incentive-based leadership

Radical Acceptance

• What’s constructive in the long-term may be periodically inconvenient or uncomfortable.

  • In the limit, this is a profitable trade.

The Long Version …

Hi, I’m Laran.

This blog is an intersection of personal development, technology and engineering, and behavioral science.

I call it “integrated behavioral innovation”.

Assertion and Illusion

People say what they want others to believe, which is often contrary to what they believe about themself. People often portray themselves as they would prefer to be perceived, which is often contrary to how they actually are. In fact, what people say is often a strong indicator of their insecurities and fears, which are inherently expressions of what they believe they aren’t, not what they confidently assert themselves to be.

Integrity as Congruence of Assertion and Action

People do what they actually are.

People are able to form relationships with others to extent that their words and actions are congruent. Alignment of words and actions is a strong indicator of integrity.

When a person’s words and actions do not align, their behavior is an expression of their relationship with themself.

Without integrity, a person is unable to form healthy, lasting relationships with others.

Prosthetic Identity - The Illusion of Integrity

When someone doesn’t know who they are, they adopt a persona and pretend to be something they believe will be accepted.

Over time, this leads to what I call “leaky cup syndrome”.

Pretending is an ironic act of consumption.

• A person pretends to be something they are not for the sake of being accepted.
• To the extent their act succeeds, their false self is accepted, but their authentic self loses agency.
• This loss of agency is depleting. Each incremental step toward acceptance creates an injury to the authentic self.
• These injuries are like holes in a cup. The more holes, the more rapidly the cup loses water.
• Eventually, the cup must make a choice:
  • Option A: Rescue the authentic self by plugging the holes (destroying the illusion), allowing the water to replenish
  • or, Option B: Sacrifice the authentic self in order to preserve the illusion, leaving the holes and allowing more water to drain from the cup
• The choice is “be authentic alone, or be accepted as an illusion”.
• Revealing their authentic self becomes an existential threat.

Congruence of behaviors that align with an inauthentic persona, and not with the authentic self, is not integrity.

Integrity is an active expression of courage. It’s a decision to behave in ways which may not be appreciated, and which may have consequences that are momentarily inconvenient or uncomfortable, but which are ultimately constructive because those behaviors are fundamental particles of which the authentic self is composed.

The Objective Universe

The Universe is a superset of potentials.

Statistically speaking, given the infinite number of things that could be known in a single moment, let alone over time, the percentage of things any of us actually know rounds to zero.

What am I? I am the sum of all things that aren’t not-me.

Double negatives are tricky, so let’s simplify.

Where do I begin? I begin where everything that isn’t me ends.

Ok, well where is that? That’s an unanswerable question. This is an example of the Coastline Paradox or “Infinite Shoreline” problem first studied by Lewis Fry Richardson in 1961.

The Subjective Self in the Universe

The boundary between ourselves and the universe is subjective. It exists where we believe it to be.

This is a fundamentally broken paradigm. There’s just no way it can possibly work.

We can only reasonably approach a conversation about ourselves and the universe as playful nonsense. It’s serious and meaningful nonsense. It’s also a play.

We’re pretending to have something intelligent to say about things we can’t possibly know.

• If The Universe is the superset of all things that could exist.
  • TheUniverse = Infinity
• And I am the sum of all things that aren’t not-me.
  • Me = 1 / Infinity = ~0

• Then, as “nothing”, there would be nothing to experience The Universe as it actually is.

• And I am able to experience essentially none of those things (statistically speaking).
• Then how could I possibly know

Belief

An egg that breaks from the outside in is the end of life. An egg that breaks from the inside out is the beginning of life. The reality is that the shell is only an illusion. The shell pretends to be there at the request of the egg.

Sometimes we try to survive by desperately trying to sustain the illusion of the shell. When in reality, the path forward is to simply thank the shell for being such a faithful companion, and let it go on to serve others.

When we let go of the shell, we can feel overwhelmed by many unfamiliar experiences. If we believe that we’re somehow expected to know what to do with these experiences, we can feel lost, confused, overwhelmed, vulnerable, and afraid. In that context, we’re likely to perceive these experiences as problems (not opportunities), and revert to a familiar, comfortable habit of asking to be put back in our cage (shell). But we are able to navigate unfamiliar circumstances and experiences. In fact, it’s the only way we can grow and adapt.

A healthy response is to simply slow down, taking one moment at a time, allowing the universe and our natural ability to adapt to guide us.

---

With over 20 years of experience in software engineering, architecture, and management, I specialize in solving “impossible” problems by thinking beyond the status quo.

My Mission

My mission is to empower Visionary Innovators and Strategic Developers to transform their ideas into impactful solutions in service of meaningful outcomes.

My Approach

I strive to provide:

• tools and insights that enable breakthrough solutions to hard problems.
• systems that enable solutions to scale well

Once a problem is solved, systems help to use tools effectively and efficiently.

Tools and systems that are designed well tend to scale well, providing positive leverage (they remain relatively easy to manage at any scale). Every system has weak points, and systems will scale up to the point where those weak points become bottlenecks. Building systems that scale well requires understanding the weak points and designing through them.

Tools and systems that are designed poorly tend to scale poorly, providing negative leverage (they become more and more difficult to manage with scale).

I believe in a balanced approach, where periods of intense, driven work are complemented by reflective, lazy phases for digesting, evaluating, and preparing for the next big push. This unique rhythm allows me to stay creative and innovative while maintaining a high level of efficiency and effectiveness.

Core Values

• Integrity and Honesty: Trust and transparency are at the heart of everything I do.
• Innovation and Creativity: Constantly pushing boundaries to discover new solutions.
• Clarity and Efficiency: Eliminating chaos and noise to focus on what truly matters.
• Psychological Safety and Collaboration: Creating an environment where diverse ideas are valued and collaboration thrives.

What I Offer

Through my work, I aim to provide:

• Innovative Insights: Unique perspectives on identifying and solving complex problems.
• Strategic Guidance: Actionable strategies for leadership and development.
• Effective Systems: Tools and frameworks to turn ideas into impactful results.

Why Follow Me?

I don’t just solve problems; I rebuild systems so that problems become opportunities for growth and innovation. My ability to see patterns others miss, combined with a rigorous, data-driven approach, ensures that the solutions I provide are not only effective but also scalable.

Get in Touch

I’m always excited to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations. Whether you’re looking for advice, collaboration, or simply want to share your thoughts, feel free to reach out through my contact page.

Join My Community

Sign up for my newsletter to stay updated on the latest insights, strategies, and tools to drive impactful change. Let’s innovate and lead together.