Acting with Power: “In the theater, what it means to give a powerful performance is to accept and own the truth of what it means to be a human being: to be strong and weak, accomplished and fallible, powerful and powerless, all at once. This, actually, is the challenge that professional actors face every time they get in character. To play any part authentically, an actor must accept the character without judgment. And this is true for the rest of us as well. By accepting that each of us is all of these things, by learning to value all of these truths and show all of these sides of ourselves when appropriate, and by handling our mistakes with grace and equanimity, we become more resilient, less ruled by shame and self-loathing, and, ultimately, more powerful. Ironically, this is where authenticity comes from: not trying to be more yourself, but learning to accept more of yourself.” — Deborah Gruenfeld
A lot of success comes from simply avoiding common paths of failure. Inversion is not the way we are taught to think. We are taught to identify what we want and explore things that will move us closer to our objective. However, avoiding things that ensure we don’t get what we want dramatically increases our odds of success. We can get fixated on solving problems one way, missing simpler solutions. Inversion breaks us out of this tunnel vision. Instead of asking yourself “How do I solve this?”, inversion asks, “What would guarantee failure?” Rather than “How can I achieve this?” it asks “What’s preventing me from achieving it?” This flip reveals insights our usual thinking overlooks.
When facing a tricky problem or ambitious goal, try inverting. Ask how you’d guarantee failure. The answers may surprise you — and unlock new solutions.
— The Great Mental Models, Volume 1: General Thinking Tools
- Notes:
When you start caring more about credit than truth, your judgment decays. The scientist racing to publish first overlooks crucial evidence that doesn’t fit their story. The writer chasing popularity loses what made their voice worth hearing. The strange thing is that recognition comes most reliably to those who forget about it and focus simply on seeing clearly. — Shane Parish
I re-read one of my favorite books on Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett: All I Want To Know Is Where I’m Going To Die So I’ll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense
Your mistakes aren’t the best teacher—just the most expensive.
You can start at the bottom of the mountain and make every mistake from scratch on the way to the top, or you can take a sherpa with you and master the best of what other people have already figured out.
The successful learn vicariously; the foolish insist on firsthand pain.
Russell M. Fowler illustrates how our very tendencies that drive progress often pave the way for downturns:
“Maybe the reason the business cycle endures is the economy is solidly based on human nature. When things are going good, some human reactions occur: overconfidence, complacency, poor workmanship, greed, over expansion, mistakes; all bad and leading to a downturn. Then when things are going bad, there is a tendency to shape up and turn things around. Maybe that’s all there is to it.”