How to Think Better According to Shane Parrish
Improving Your Thinking
In this section, the speaker discusses how to improve your thinking by surrounding yourself with people who think differently and better than you do. He also talks about the importance of challenging common wisdom and avoiding groupthink.
Surround Yourself with People Who Think Differently
- Hang around people who think better than you do.
- Expose your thinking to them and open it up to evaluation.
- Don't hang around people who think like you; instead, seek out those who challenge your thinking.
- Be willing to subject yourself to not being popular.
Challenge Common Wisdom
- Don't read all the books that everyone else is reading because then you'll think the way everyone else is thinking.
- Seek out things that other people don't see or know.
- Avoid groupthink in meetings by surfacing new information rather than just signaling that you've done the work.
Conclusion
Improving your thinking requires stepping outside of your comfort zone and seeking out new perspectives. Surrounding yourself with people who challenge your thinking and avoiding groupthink can help you gain an edge and accelerate your success.
Signaling Value in Meetings
In this section, the speaker talks about how signaling value changes in meetings and how to expand your mind by being around people who think differently.
Importance of Being Around People Who Think Differently
- Signaling value changes from signaling what other people are talking about or what they already know to the signaling value comes from having more insight into a problem than others.
- To expand your mind, you need to be around people who think differently.
How to Meet People Who Think Differently
- Access individuals who think differently through social media platforms like Twitter.
- Follow people you disagree with but respect and those who articulate their thought process well.
- Look for people who surprise you with their worldviews as these moments help you dive deeper into thinking better.
Finding People Who Think Differently
In this section, the speaker discusses how to find individuals who think differently and why it is important to do so.
Importance of Finding People Who Think Differently
- It's essential to find people who think differently because we tend to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals.
- Following only left-wing or right-wing individuals is not enough; instead, follow those whose opinions differ from yours but articulate their reasoning well.
- Find someone whose thought process you respect and can learn from.
Finding People at Work
- Don't just look for someone above you in the organization; instead, find those closest to the problem.
- Develop associative memory by vacuuming up details of the problem rather than just solutions or opinions.
- Start making connections that others can't make by intelligently preparing your associative memory.