Wisdom from Charlie Munger
Charlie Munger died November 28, 2023. He was the right-hand man of Warren Buffet for 60 years.
If you want to gain wisdom:
“I sought good judgment mostly by collecting instances of bad judgment, then pondering ways to avoid such outcomes.”
You can gain wisdom by studying stupidity and doing your best to avoid it.
Charlie expanded his search for stupidity beyond investing. “After all, why should I search for some tiny, unimportant, hard-to-find new stupidity in my own field when some large, important, easy-to- find stupidity was just over the fence in the other fellow’s professional territory?”
On incentives:
“Never, ever, think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives.”
Know what motivates people to action and stick with it. Hint: It isn’t reason.
Benjamin Franklin put it this way, “If you would persuade, appeal to interest and not to reason.”
On grannie’s rule:
“Granny’s Rule, to be specific, is the requirement that children eat their carrots before they get dessert. And the business version requires that executives force themselves daily to first do their unpleasant and necessary tasks before rewarding themselves by proceeding to their pleasant tasks.”
On liking and loving:
“… (We) like and love being liked and loved.”
Don’t expect devotion from people you don’t like. Do you like the people on your team? More importantly, do they know you like them?
On doubt:
“The brain of man is programmed with a tendency to quickly remove doubt by reaching some decision.”
You rush to decisions because living with doubt is painful. If you can tolerate doubt you are likely to make better decisions.
Random quotes:
“… bad behavior is intensely habit-forming when it is rewarded.”
“…Repeat behavior that works…”
All quotes are from, “Revised Psychology of Human Misjudgment,“ by Charlie Munger.
What bit of wisdom will you take with you today?
What Charlie Munger quote can you add?
Still curious:
How to Stumble Toward Wisdom and Find Success
Love Charlie’s point on incentives.
Thanks Dan.
Powerful point. I see people trying to persuade with reasons all the time. Better to help someone see personal benefit than to explain the high ground if you want to persuade.
This is really profound: “You rush to decisions because living with doubt is painful. If you can tolerate doubt you are likely to make better decisions.”
This is something I will definitely take into all my projects and meetings from now on. I had a workout video where the instructor says “Get comfortable with being UNcomfortable”
This is really what that means. You won’t grow, build strength, learn something new, unless you allow yourself to be uncomfortable and sit with that. It’s good to remind people of that every once in a while.
Brilliant insight, SB. My own rush to make decisions means I end up remaking many decisions. You could say I learned and adapted. Or you could say, take more time to make decisions means fewer need to be remade.
Excellent!!
Thanks, Lynn.