Clear Thinking

Dileep Karri
June 21, 2022

To develop clear thinking, being extremely conscious of our thinking and biases is crucial. Along with frameworks of thought, it is essential to master the mindset.

To be an exceptionally clear thinker, one must also master the mindset. A few points to be kept in minds for clear thinking:

Ownership mindset - make decisions as if we own the initiative and not assigned to it.
Long-term orientation - take decisions for the long run instead of the quick wins.
Curiosity - be curious, understand what is happening around us, and keep learning.
Self-awareness - having an understanding of own biases helps in avoiding any missteps.
Control over ego - Keep ego at bay and be humble to accept that we are wrong.

Three biases to remember while making decisions.

The illusion of control is a bias that describes how we believe our influence extends to things that are beyond our scope. The belief that we can change our life gives hope. 2020 is the year that dispels this belief.
Our judgements are always relative and not absolute. We always compare and then decide. This is called the contrast effect and is also why product discounts work so well.
Too many choices often confuse us, and we decide not to make any choice at all. This is known as the paradox of choice. Making decisions exhausts us, and thus we try to avoid or pass on the decision making process.

Tim Ferriss asks some interesting questions that have helped him to think clearly at all times without getting overwhelmed:

Where am I making decisions or saying “yes” out of guilt? Can I create a blanket policy that makes it easier for me to say “no”?
In what areas am I making many decisions or communicating a lot? Can I create a blanket policy that makes making those decisions easier for other people? Can I create a blanket policy that removes the need to make those decisions?

Clear thinking is all about making the higher-level decisions to enable making the lower decisions with utmost clarity. Another idea that helps: Ponder on irreversible decisions but take the reversible decisions as quickly as possible since you can change your decision anytime.

Reference: The Art of Thinking Clearly, Rolf Dobelli and Tweets by Shreyas Doshi - PM at Stripe.