Niko Canner is the founder of Incandescent where he and his team help the leaders of large companies in the areas of strategy and innovation. He was also the founder of Katzenbach Partners and a member of Bridgewater’s management committee. Niko is a fantastic writer, and I highly recommend you check out his blog “On Human Enterprise,” which has posts on many of the most interesting aspects of business and personal purpose. This conversation was inspired by many of those posts. Please enjoy.For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshagShow Notes1:17 – (First Question) – The story of Doctor V3:24 – Aravind and the Choice of Great Achievement4:00 – Becoming the perfect instrument6:05 – What is Niko planning to be the perfect instrument of8:18 – How should individuals think about finding what they can be the perfect instrument of8:59 – Brett Victor – Inventing on Principle10:59 – How do businesses apply this principle13:20 – Making choices easier16:43 – Era’s to a company and when it’s time to start a new one19:52 – How can business culture be cultivated and useful22:53 – Cultures at the tail end of a distribution24:33 – Can hierarchy be fluid, or does it need to be a dedicated corporate structure27:47 – My Unlikeliest Favorite Business Book28:03 – The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About the Money...It's About Being the Best You Can Be!30:46 – The Red Test and how it can be used by businesses36:54 - Ten Principles for How to Run a Company42:25 – Dealing with the sponsor owner brief in the software world45:24 – How does one choose customers46:32 – Bill Hubbard passage – A Theory for Practice: Architecture in Three Discourses49:09 – Kindest thing anyone has done for NikoLearn MoreFor more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclubFollow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag