These Are Essential Skills
What I read: Rare Skills by Morgan Housel. Posted August 10, 2022.
I noticed this blog post making the rounds on social media. Based on the number of shares of it I saw, I figured it was a worthwhile read. It is.
Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money and a partner at Collaborative Fund and a former columnist at The Motley Fool and The Wall Street Journal, offers us three skills he considers rare but powerful. I agree. If properly developed, each of these skills will add to your life personally and professionally.
The first skill is one I’ve thought a lot about lately. Most of us want to believe our opinions and beliefs are firmly grounded in facts and objective assessments. I want to believe that. I’m sure I did believe that. No longer. I’ve come to realize none of us, not a single person, sees the world entirely through a clear, unbiased lens.
That’s the essence of the first skill Housel highlights.
1. Understanding how people justify their beliefs in a way that makes you respect their delusions.
These days I readily point the finger at a lot of people I consider deluded. Certain right-wing Republicans who still support and align with Trump are among those I consider deluded. And while I stand by my strong belief that the MAGA elements within extreme right-wing politics are a clear and present danger to our democracy, it would be arrogant of me to consider everything about such people to be delusional.
Sure, I want to believe they’re all the worst of nutcases, and perhaps some of the people we see at Trump rallies or ranting nonsensical things in the media are truly bonkers in some way. But the reasonable part of me has to believe that some Trump supporters are not entirely delusional and they and I perhaps share some of the same shortcomings.
That said, I do believe there’s a moral imperative to resist the Trump and right-wing agenda of anti-American attacks on the most cherished foundation of our country, one person, one vote.
History can point us to a series of collective delusions large swaths of populations believed. Housel explains that we all tend to be most heavily influenced by things we experience firsthand, our understanding of even firsthand experiences are sketchy, and those not experiencing something firsthand can cherry pick arguments to appease their confirmation bias.
Everyone has delusions about how the world works. Everyone.
You don’t have to agree with others’ delusions or put up with their collateral damage. Just accepting that everyone wants easy and comforting answers in a complex and painful world is a rare skill.
The next skill is something I’ve had to embrace throughout my life in order to make progress.
2. Quitting while you’re ahead, or at least before you’ve had too much.
I recall that period in my life when I had to decide if I was going to keep pursuing a career as a dancer. I knew at some point I would start aging out of the profession. I felt I had to exit the career because if I stayed too long I’d be left with only the options of becoming a dance teacher or choreographer, neither of which was appealing at the time. I decided to exit dancing even though my body might have had a few more potential years in it.
I sold my book publishing company at a time when I sensed small presses were going to become more unwieldy and overshadowed by big publisher consolidations. I could have kept publishing other people’s books and maybe still done well, but I think the struggle would have been more than I would have wanted.
As mentioned in the article, I’ve seen businesses falter, young workers push themselves beyond reasonable limits, and social media personalities pumping out flashy content lacking substance just to garner more likes and retweets. (While I’m aware I’m active on social media, I hope what I post remains of the interesting or at least amusing variety.)
Here's the final skill.
3. Getting to the point.
Since you’re a reader of my writings, maybe you’re thinking to yourself “Gee, Race sure is longwinded when he writes.” You would be correct. I’ve never been charged with the virtue of brevity.
For years, my manager at the corporate job I just left offered but one major suggestion each year during my annual performance review – shorten my emails. I was famous for long, wordy emails. Sure, they were well-written and thorough, but human nature is such that long emails tend to remain unread. Finally, I got it and many of my emails now end up comprised of 1-3 sentences. Responses are better. I have to answer follow-up questions less. Outcomes are better. So, I learned.
But I still fall prey to being too verbose, both in my writing and my verbal conversations. I conquered my long email problem, but I have a ways to go for the rest of my writing and speaking habits. I promise to work on that.
Perhaps the most critical communication skill. Be brief. Use as few words as possible to say what you need, and everyone will appreciate it.
If you develop and utilize these three skills, you’ll be far ahead of the average person who always believes they’re objective and correct, sticks to something too long to failure, and packs their communications with more words than necessary.
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