Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann

These are my notes from Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann. Each one contains a core idea from the book that stood out. The goal of writing my notes this way is that each could be it's own independent idea with the need for the specific context within the book.

One-Way & Two-Way Doors

Jeff Bezos stressed categorizing decisions as reversible or irreversible. In a message to his shareholders, he gave the analogy of one-way and two-way doors. With one-way doors, if you walk through them, you cannot get back to where you were before. These decisions are irreversible and must be well thought out. Two-way doors can be reopened if you've made a suboptimal choice. The bigger the decision, the more process we try to put into place for making it, causing slowness and unthoughtful risk aversion.

The Third Story

It’s hard to view situations for what they are when we become emotionally invested in them. You may be rationalizing getting back together with an ex for the third time or trying to keep a dying business afloat. The third story helps you see situations objectively by forcing yourself to take on the role of an impartial observer. In doing so, you gain a deeper understanding of what others might really think. The key to effectively telling the third story is in “learning to describe the gap—or difference—between your story and the other person’s story.” Outlined in the book Difficult Conversations, this framing, the third story, breaks down whatever else you may think and feel; you can at least agree that you and the other person see things differently. This is extremely powerful in shifting your frame of reference.

Top of Mind Ideas

Deep work is important to productivity because we can only hold one idea in our head at a time. Making a conscious decision about what we want deeply on is important—suddenly, the answer to your problems will appear. Paul Graham said, "I think most people have one top idea in their mind at a given time. That’s the idea their thoughts will drift towards when they’re allowed to drift freely. And this idea will tend to eat up all the benefit of that type of thinking, while others are starved. Which means it's a disaster to let the wrong idea become the top one in your mind.” Your subconscious mind has almost infinite creative potential, but it will only go towards the idea that is top in the queue. If you want the benefit of that creative force, you must pick the ideas it goes towards.