Last week I attended a talk by Peter Kaufman, a manufacturer by profession and the author of Poor Charlie's Almanack. He is very well known in Warren Buffet circles for his clear thinking and mental models. The talk was about life in general and about progressing in personal and professional life. There wasn't anything new in the talk that I hadn't heard before, yet it made me think a lot. I am sharing a few points that I liked here:
* If you align yourself with how the world works, it will work for you in achieving what you want.
* Doing what most people do, gets you what most people get.
* To get something different, you need to diverge. To get something better, you need to diverge correctly.
* One good way of diverging correctly is to combine a skillset / perspective /element not commonly found around you or people like you. For example, on the Mohs' scale of hardness, copper is a 3. When we combine it with lead, which is generally not found in the geographic viscinity of copper and is a 1.5 on the same scale, we get bronze which is a 6 -- higher than both of them. Such combinations result in non linear gains.
* When you combine empathy with smartness, you get to win win.
* When you start seeing from the eyes of the other person / party, it brings the best out of any relation, whether it be personal or professional. Best negotiators are the ones who can see the world from the other party's point of view and make them feel good.
* Best leaders are the ones which make others do something in a manner that the person doing it feels like it was their idea, their decision and their victory.
Quote: “Most geniuses—especially those who lead others—prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities but by exploiting unrecognized simplicities.” — Andy Benoit
* Advice on marriage - A successful marriage is not as much about finding the right partner as becoming the right partner.
* Diverse perspectives - just like the 2nd eye removes some of the blindspots of the 1st eye, getting additional perspective can help in avoiding our blindspots. Seek things you should change, qualities you should develop from a few people you trust.
* Many decisions can be made easy if you think what you would think about it when you would be 80 years old. If you have difficulty in thinking that way, seek that perspective from someone old you trust and admire.
* Always go first and go positive - Most people when they go in an elevator, would stand silently. In return, most likely they get silence back. Most people pass their entire life like this. Instead, be the first one to smile and greet. Most likely you will also get warmth back. This is pure profit that was created out of nothing. Only those get it who go first and put forward a positive side. Be that person.
* Wherever you are, add value to the life of people around you. Do small things, do them often.
* If you align yourself with how the world works, it will work for you in achieving what you want.
* Doing what most people do, gets you what most people get.
* To get something different, you need to diverge. To get something better, you need to diverge correctly.
* One good way of diverging correctly is to combine a skillset / perspective /element not commonly found around you or people like you. For example, on the Mohs' scale of hardness, copper is a 3. When we combine it with lead, which is generally not found in the geographic viscinity of copper and is a 1.5 on the same scale, we get bronze which is a 6 -- higher than both of them. Such combinations result in non linear gains.
* When you combine empathy with smartness, you get to win win.
* When you start seeing from the eyes of the other person / party, it brings the best out of any relation, whether it be personal or professional. Best negotiators are the ones who can see the world from the other party's point of view and make them feel good.
* Best leaders are the ones which make others do something in a manner that the person doing it feels like it was their idea, their decision and their victory.
Quote: “Most geniuses—especially those who lead others—prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities but by exploiting unrecognized simplicities.” — Andy Benoit
* Advice on marriage - A successful marriage is not as much about finding the right partner as becoming the right partner.
* Diverse perspectives - just like the 2nd eye removes some of the blindspots of the 1st eye, getting additional perspective can help in avoiding our blindspots. Seek things you should change, qualities you should develop from a few people you trust.
* Many decisions can be made easy if you think what you would think about it when you would be 80 years old. If you have difficulty in thinking that way, seek that perspective from someone old you trust and admire.
* Always go first and go positive - Most people when they go in an elevator, would stand silently. In return, most likely they get silence back. Most people pass their entire life like this. Instead, be the first one to smile and greet. Most likely you will also get warmth back. This is pure profit that was created out of nothing. Only those get it who go first and put forward a positive side. Be that person.
* Wherever you are, add value to the life of people around you. Do small things, do them often.
"Do small things, do them often."
ReplyDeleteSomani, come to the gym with me :)
Gym? Small? Not for mere mortals like us :P
DeleteGreat messages :)
ReplyDelete