Clear Thinking - Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results - Shane Parrish
Summary
- This is a thought-provoking book (and so it should be with the title 'clear thinking') about how to think better especially in business situations, and how to avoid poor thinking and biases.
How I discovered it
- I have followed fs.blog from when it just started and always loved its deep thoughts and well researched articles. Getting the book was a no brainer.
How the book changed me
- Sooo much to process from this book. It is going to take a while to integrate all the lessons learned into my life, but it is a work in progress.
- This wasn't from the book, but from fs.blog - it introduced me to Charlie Munger vast well of wisdom.
Details
- Small moments define our position. Our position defines our future
- By definition, best practices are average
- The only way to stand out when doing undifferentiated work is to work harder
- Starting something is hard, but so is stopping something
- When bad things happen, it is still your responsibility to move on from them
- Ask before you act - will this make my future easier or harder?
- Cherish the friend who tells you that you messed up
- Knowing our own strengths and weaknesses
- Outcome over ego.
- Never say yes to anything important without thinking it over for a day
- Good teachers expect more from their students
- Working with a master elevates our standards
- Have a personal board of directors as role models and decision makers
- Replace decisions with rules to overcome weaknesses
- Teach by example - How Michael Abrashoff turned around the USS Benfold
- Dont give the best of yourself to the least important things
- Ask 'what did I miss' to engage people
- When pushing boundaries, mistakes are inevitable
- Chose long-term thinking or short-term - you can't do both
- The bad outcome principle
- The quality of your decisions depends on the quality of your thinking
- Ask an expert to share their knowlege
- ASAP principle vs ALAP principle - when to make decisions fast and when to make them slow
- Preserve optionality even if it makes you look stupid in the short term
- Commanders intent - formulate, communicate, interpret and implement
Quotes
- Anyone can steer the ship when the sea is calm - Publilius Syrus
- The mind should have someone whom it can respect - Seneca
- Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards - Søren Kierkegaard
- When you are distressed by an external thing, it’s not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgment of it - Marcus Aurelius