Go back before you go forward. Think about your problem as a set of outcomes produced by a machine. Remember that there are typically many paths to achieving your goals. Think of your plan as being like a movie script in that you visualize who will do what through time. Write

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In addition to your ego barrier, you (and everyone else) also have blind spots—areas where your way of thinking prevents you from seeing things accurately. Just as we all have different ranges for hearing pitch and seeing colors, we have different ranges for seeing and

I’m very happy to learn that my new book, How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle was selected by Barnes & Noble as one of their Best Business Books of the year. The book conveys what I’ve learned over the past 50 years as a macro investor about the mechanics of how countries go broke —

Being effective at thoughtful disagreement requires one to be openminded (seeing things through the other's eyes) and assertive (communicating clearly how things look through your eyes) and to flexibly process this information to create learning and adaptation.

Radical open-mindedness is motivated by the genuine worry that you might not be seeing your choices optimally. It is the ability to effectively explore different points of view and different possibilities without letting your ego or your blind spots get in your way. It requires

Open-minded people seek to learn by asking questions; they realize how little they know in relation to what there is to know and recognize that they might be wrong; they are thrilled to be around people who know more than they do because it represents an opportunity to learn

Most people are reluctant to take in information that is inconsistent with what they have already concluded. When I ask why, a common answer is: "I want to make up my own mind." These people seem to think that considering opposing views will somehow threaten their ability to

This is not to say that some styles aren't more effective than others with different people and in different circumstances, but I often hear people complaining about the style or tone of a criticism in order to deflect from its substance. If you think someone's style is an issue,

The answer doesn't have to be in your head; you can look outside yourself. If you're truly looking at things objectively, you must recognize that the probability of you always having the best answer is small and that, even if you have it, you can't be confident that you do before

You have a responsibility to be reasonable and considerate when you are advocating for your point of view and should never let your "lower-level you" gain control, even if the other person loses his or her temper. Their bad behavior doesn't justify yours. #principleoftheday

When two people believe opposite things, chances are that one of them is wrong. It pays to find out if that someone is you. That’s why I believe you must appreciate and develop the art of thoughtful disagreement. In thoughtful disagreement, your goal is not to convince the other

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If we want to resolve our current income, wealth, and productivity gap, we need to get back to the basics. We need good education, so our children are productive and can work well together. We need a civil society with rule of law, and good capital markets that produce good

Reconciling different points of view can be difficult and time-consuming. It is up to the meeting leader to balance conflicting perspectives, push through impasses, and decide how to spend time wisely. A common question I get is: What happens when someone inexperienced offers an

If incomes fail to grow as quickly as debt and debt service, the ratio of debts to incomes will mechanically grow, which will require increased borrowing to service debt as well as to spend. The cycle goes from low to high to unsustainably high debt and debt service relative to

Where you go in life will depend on how you see things and who and what you feel connected to (your family, your community, your country, mankind, the whole ecosystem, everything). You will have to decide to what extent you will put the interests of others above your own, and

Topic slip is random drifting from topic to topic without achieving completion on any of them. One way to avoid it is by tracking the conversation on a whiteboard so that everyone can see where you are. #principleoftheday

Natural selection’s trial-and-error process allows improvement without anyone understanding or guiding it. The same can apply to how we learn. There are at least three kinds of learning that foster evolution: memory-based learning (storing the information that comes in through

The two-minute rule specifies that you have to give someone an uninterrupted two minutes to explain their thinking before jumping in with your own. This ensures that everyone has time to fully crystallize and communicate their thoughts without worrying they will be misunderstood