I appreciate a good quote and in this post, I want to explore one of my favorites, by Charlie Munger, the legendary investor and model thinker, who passed away at the age of ninety-nine at the end of last year.
Take a simple idea and take it seriously.
Charlie Munger
On the back cover of the Stripe Press edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack, we see this slightly rephrased:
There is an old two part rule that often works wonders in business, science, and elsewhere: 1. Take a simple, basic idea and 2. Take it very seriously.
This further emphasizes the two key aspects of our original quote. Let’s take a look at “simple idea” and “taking it seriously,” one at time. I think they are interesting.
Actually, before we get to the ideas, let’s begin with “simple” as that hints towards an important quality. Value simplicity, because that is often better than the alternative.
We typically strive to build the simplest models that explain real world behavior. The simpler the explanation, the easier it is to understand. The simpler a design, the easier the use.
As long as the simplicity does not get in the way of usefulness, it is a valuable quality. Simplify, but not too much. It needs to fit.
Munger is of course not just referring to any simple idea here. Rather, this is about ideas that provide value, in a given context, to help you think more clearly to understand and presumably make better decisions. This is about principles, mental models, fundamental elements or building blocks — that sort of thing.
Ideas have value in a given context, they are always context-dependent. Some ideas are useful in a narrow context, others are more broadly applicable. Identifying and successfully applying ideas that are helpful broadly is particularly useful and the basis of multi-disciplinary thinking.
Simple ideas are more likely to be broadly useful.
To take anything seriously means to give it the attention that it deserves. How seriously you take something falls somewhere between not at all and quite a lot. For any given thing, it depends — on it and on you.
To take it – a concept, person, thing, et cetera – seriously means to invest yourself. You engage to learn about it, to deepen your understanding, explore its importance and consequences, how it enables or limits, and so forth.
The things you take seriously determine, where you direct your attention and spend your time. They may become your commitments. What you take seriously changes you.
Taking a simple idea seriously means to not be deceived by its simplicity, but rather to appreciate and find depth in it. You care about understanding it, explaining its meaning. You draw its contextual boundaries and how it relates to its surroundings. You are curious about what you can do with it.
Your level of understanding of and success within an area is probably related to your taking the right ideas seriously enough in that area.
Take a simple idea and take it seriously. Of course this by itself is a simple idea. Hopefully it is worth taking seriously.