Destroy Your Ideas and Other Charlie Munger Quotes
I like Charlie Munger because he was a curmudgeon who said what he thought. It’s preferable to learn from people who actually say something.
Charlie died November 28, 2023, at 99 having not liked vegetables.
Charlie loved learning and he loved sharing surprising ideas.
Destroying ideas:
“Part of the reason I’ve been a little more successful than most people is I’m good at destroying my own best-loved ideas.” Washington Post
You can’t worship your own brilliance and succeed for long. The person who commits to learning wins, especially when they start out exceptionally smart.
Learners win. Knowers congeal.
Above average people are in the majority if you ask around. Above average learners in my experience are outliers.
The first question is, “What do you know?” The better question is “What are you learning?” What you know serves the past. What you learn makes the future.
Spend more time challenging your ideas than defending them.
Don’t know:
“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.” The Tao of Charlie Munger
7 ways to know what you don’t know:
- Eliminate perfection from your vocabulary.
- Tell yourself you could be wrong when you feel right.
- Ask questions about assumptions.
- Seek feedback. When it stings multiply it by 3 because people were holding back.
- Make friends with people smarter than yourself.
- Study broadly.
- Admit mistakes. Idiots need to be right all the time.
Intelligence, work, and luck:
“The records of people and companies that are outliers are always a mix of a reasonable amount of intelligence, hard work and a lot of luck.” WSJ
Don’t worship surprisingly successful leaders. Yes, they were smart. Yes, they probably worked hard. And yes, they were at the right place at the right time.
What do you learn from Charlie Munger quotes?
Still curious:
10 Marks of Learn-it-all Leaders
Dear Dan: How Do You Keep Learning
Dan, once again, you killed it. For whatever reason the parable of the the vine and branches keeps coming up these days. God prunes back the fruitful branch. Huh? That’s a bit of the application of Charlie Munger’s destroying your best ideas. Thanks once again.
As a trainer and training consultant, I have tried to practice and promote the value of life-long learning. Charlie Munger has always been a source of inspiration in those efforts. His quoted remarks often advance that philosophy, and read force the importance of learning rather than knowing..
I hear you. It takes intentionality to keep learning, especially when you feel you know a lot already. 😉
I see what you mean about pruning. Our ideas can grow old and bear less fruit. They worked in the past, but conditions have changed, and they don’t work now.
“Part of the reason I’ve been a little more successful than most people is I’m good at destroying my own best-loved ideas.” Washington Post
Should we really destroy our best ideas? I think we should be open to tweaking them to make them to make them more precise and accurate?
Best-LOVED ideas are not always our best idea. If they can be destroyed then maybe there is another idea out there that deserves our attention more. I think he is warning about the dangers of falling in love with an idea versus treating it with dispassionate rigor.
I wonder if Charlie likes hyperbole. Redefining ourselves is often useful. Although it might not be destroying it certainly is rejecting old ways of being and thinking (not all of course).
The first thing that came to mind is the pony express. What would have happened for them if they had thought of themselves as a communication company instead of pony and rider company.
Thanks Dan. I wonder how this plays into being double minded?
Donald
I’m not sure how you’re using double-minded.
The inability to make up your mind is a real problem for leaders. If you don’t know what you think others have too much influence in our lives.
If double minded means changing your mind, frequency is a factor. How frequently are you changing position.
However, the word for the inability to change is death.
You rise an interesting thought.
Thanks Dan! This post is helpful as I step into coaching conversations today.
Thanks Gene. Openness is an important quality for a coach. A coach with a rigid agenda becomes a manipulator. I wish you success today.