Inversion - How to use one of the most neglected ways of thinking to grow your business
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Have you ever been hit by a problem in your business that you didn’t see coming? Have you ever been so excited about a new venture, that you started right away and it failed miserably?
Today I will teach you one of the most important ways of thinking that almost nobody uses to help you grow your business faster.
If you know how to master this skill, it will help you to see problems earlier and tackle them faster. This will lead to increased success.
This is what you will learn in todays newsletter":
Why being a Realistic Optimist is better than being an Optimist
What inversion is and why it is important
5 practical tips you can apply immediately in your business, relationships, productivity, decluttering your home and personal finance
What is inverted thinking?
“All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.”
Charlie Munger, the business partner of Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
In his popular book Good to Great and through his research, Jim Collins showed that great companies are the ones that have a Realistic Optimism approach. They are optimistic but realistic at the same time. They look at the brutal facts, are realistic and don’t lie about the situation. If they don’t know where they are, they don’t know where to go. From here they find the optimism to overcome the challenges.
To see the reality and face the brutal facts, you need to use Inverted thinking.
Inversion is the process of thinking the opposite way about a situation.
For example, Marcus Aurelius did an exercise called “premeditation of evils.” The goal of this exercise was to visualize the negative things that could happen in life. For example, you can imagine what it would be like to lose your job and become homeless or to suffer an injury and become paralyzed or to have your reputation ruined and lose your status in society.
Or, as self-made billionaire Charlie Munger said:
Invert, always invert: Turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backward. What happens if all our plans go wrong? Where don’t we want to go, and how do you get there? Instead of looking for success, make a list of how to fail instead—through sloth, envy, resentment, self-pity, entitlement, all the mental habits of self-defeat. Avoid these qualities and you will succeed.
Inversion helps you to see the risks and obstacles and plan how to avoid them.
Let me give you some examples how I apply this in my personal life
One of the questions we ask when developing business plans for startups in Africa and Asia is: “What are your risks and obstacles in starting and running your business? How do you plan to overcome them?” Most of the people we train, never think about what could go wrong and just start right away. While asking these questions, we lower the risk of failure and increase the chances of success for these businesses.
When I am traveling, I visualize in my mind how the trip will go. I pray and think about each step of the way. The luggage, flight, people I will meet, the training etc. In this exercise I practice inverted thinking. During this visualization exercise, I often think about something I need to pack that I forgot or a conversation I need to have with someone that I didn’t think about before. It helps me to plan and be more fruitful.
Practical tips to apply inverted thinking in project management, relationships, decluttering your home, relationships and personal finance
Project managent. Imagine the most important goal or project you are working on right now. Now fast forward six months and assume the project or goal has failed. Tell the story of how it happened. “What went wrong? What mistakes did you make? How did it fail?”
Productivity. Most people want to be get more done in less time. Ask yourself the question: “What is distracting me?”
Decluttering your house. Don’t focus on the things you need to get rid of, but on the things you want to keep.
Relationships. Think about what behaviors can ruin your marriage. For example, lack of trust, contempt, not respecting the other person. Try to work on avoiding these and grow in your character.
Personal finance. People want to make more money, but what if you would ask: “What would destroy my financial health?” Definitely spending more than you earn. Start working on spending less and earning more.
Inversion counter intuitive. It’s not easy. Our brain is wired to comfort. But if you practice it often, it will help you to become more successful.
insightful.