This fascinating few lines popped up in James Clear’s newsletter recently:
“Take a simple idea and take it seriously.” —Charlie Munger
Doing a few sets of pushups each day is a simple idea.
Saving at least 10% of your income is a simple idea.
Sending Thank You notes is a simple idea.
…but most people don’t take simple ideas seriously.
I love simplicity as a general heuristic in life. It’s the “ultimate sophistication”, after all. But James Clear and Charlie Munger are on to something entirely different here.
It’s the idea that simple ideas taken seriously becomes superpowers. It’s the idea that something great had been under your nose all along, ready for your taking, but you didn’t notice. The irony is that everyone is searching for their superpowers in the wrong place. We look for it in the unnatural, the complex, the mysterious, the beautiful, the strong, the grand. But we never see superpowers possibly emerging from mundane, simple situations or actions. Things like doing a few pushups a day, or saving 10% of your income. Simple actions compound over time, and accrue benefits multiple times over the initial investment. Most people don’t take simple ideas seriously, to their serious extent, but get distracted by short-cuts, fast lanes, easy schemes.
I remember watching this documentary “Jiro Dreams Of Sushi”, about this sushi chef called Jiro who runs a Michelin-starred sushi counter in the Tokyo subway. One line stood out distinctly for me, when they interviewed his son who’s taking over the reins. He said, they do not have any secret recipes. Everything that they do—every technique, preparation method, cooking hack—is common knowledge within the industry. It’s just not commonly practised, because chefs don’t take sushi as seriously as they do, and choose to go for ways that are easier, more convenient, less hassle, more manufactured, less hand-made, etc.
And that’s a simple idea taken seriously. Really seriously.
Makes me wonder, what are some simple things in my life and work that I should take seriously?