We, the authors, are teachers. We have taught hundreds of thousands of students and adults how to think more effectively.
Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. —B. F. Skinner
Understand deeply: Don’t face complex issues head-on; first understand simple ideas deeply. Clear the clutter and expose what is really important. Be brutally honest about what you know and don’t know. Then see what’s missing, identify the gaps, and fill them in. Let go of bias, prejudice, and preconceived notions. There are degrees to understanding (it’s not just a yes-or-no proposition) and you can always heighten yours. Rock-solid understanding is the foundation for success.
The master teacher suggested that the advanced students focus more of their time on practicing simple pieces intensely—learning to perform them with technical efficiency and beautiful elegance. Deep work on simple, basic ideas helps to build true virtuosity—not just in music but in everything.
The whole of science is merely a refinement of everyday thinking. -- Albert Einstein
Great scientists, creative thinkers, and problem solvers do not solve hard problems head-on. When they are faced with a daunting question, they immediately and prudently admit defeat. They realize that there is no sense in wasting energy vainly grappling with complexity when, instead, they can productively grapple with simpler cases that will teach them how to deal with the complexity to come.
If you can’t solve a problem, then there is an easier problem you can’t solve: find it. —George Polya
“Shadows are the color of the sky.”
A man’s errors are his portals of discovery. —James Joyce
The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away. —Linus Pauling
When you’re stuck, and you don’t know what to do, don’t do nothing—instead, fail. Making a specific mistake puts you in a different and better position than you were in before you started. And it’s a forward step you know you can actually take.
To truly understand a concept, discover how it naturally evolves from simpler thoughts. Recognizing that the present reality is a moment in a continuing evolution makes your understanding fit into a more coherent structure.
The best can get even better. Just as our own understanding can be deeper and richer than it currently is—no matter where it is in its evolution—an important perspective of successful thinking is that the best can be improved. In fact, starting with what is currently the best is often the ideal place to expect great improvements. We limit ourselves when we think that success is an end.
The same is true of learning new and increasingly difficult concepts or mastering skills at increasingly higher levels. You may have to struggle to finally master an idea or a skill. Having toiled to get that far, you may think that it would be impossible to go yet further, or you may just feel worn out. But after you have reached one level, that is where you start. That is the platform from which you can proceed even further—whether that starting point is a high grade, a professional accomplishment, or a profound insight; go for it!
No matter what your stage in life, you are going to develop strengths you do not yet have, and when you do, opportunities will open to you that you have not yet dreamed of.
If the ability to change is part of who you are, then you are liberated from worry about weaknesses or defects, because you can adapt and improve whenever you like.
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