The purpose of this book is right on the cover, Burger and Starbird are going to teach you the 5 elements they feel go into effective thinking and there are a number of good points they make.
The better you understand the fundamentals, the better you'll understand the hard stuff so don't be too excited to skip to the hard stuff.
Everything you "understand" is filtered through a bias, try to understand your bias and adjust your understanding accordingly
Every mistake is a teacher and holds a lesson
While the book isn't groundbreaking, there are a number of excellent takeaways like those listed above to help you think better.
- Earth ↔ Understand deeply Fire ↔ Make mistakes Air ↔ Raise questions Water ↔ Follow the flow of ideas ([Location 205](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=205))
- Note: The four building blocks of effective thinking
- When you embrace change, you put yourself front and center by intentionally deciding in which direction you wish your life’s drama to unfold. ([Location 216](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=216))
- Note: Way to many people are scared of change.
- In everything you do, refine your skills and knowledge about fundamental concepts and simple cases. Once is never enough. As you revisit fundamentals, you will find new insights. ([Location 290](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=290))
- Note: What are the fundamental things in client services?
- The depth with which you master the basics influences how well you understand everything you learn after that. ([Location 326](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=326))
- Note: How often do we try and skip right to the tough stuff?
- Methodically learn the fundamentals. Thoroughly understand any gap you fill in as well as its surrounding territory. ([Location 342](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=342))
- Note: Dive in to the knowledge gaps and become better at your craft.
- When the going gets tough, creative problem solvers create an easier, simpler problem that they can solve. ([Location 364](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=364))
- Note: Just like when you break a big project down in to small pieces and do a small part that you can handle.
Your brain also has time to percolate on the rest of the problem and see about a solution as you get smarter by doing the easy job.
- Whenever you “see” an issue or “understand” a concept, be conscious of the lens through which you’re viewing the subject. You should assume you’re introducing bias. The challenge remains to identify and let go of that bias or the assumptions you bring, and actively work to see and understand the subject anew. ([Location 460](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=460))
- Note: Yup we all have a bias and seeing it and letting go of it, or putting it in check is a super hard thing.
Finding that bias is a path to finding what you don't know. A way to expand your knowledge.
- To better understand your world, consciously acknowledge what you actually see—no matter how mundane or obvious—rather than guess at what you think you are supposed to see. ([Location 482](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=482))
- Note: Don't read meaning in to it, call a spade a spade.
- Being honest and accurate about what you actually know and don’t know forces you to identify and fill gaps in your understanding. ([Location 485](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=485))
- Individuals tend to accept ideas if people they know or respect state or believe those ideas. ([Location 517](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=517))
- Note: This is how kids believe and that's good but we need to move past it to a place of really digging in and confirming our beliefs.
- when we attain a rich understanding, we are literally standing upon rock-solid, firm ground. ([Location 606](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=606))
- In our society “fail” is viewed as another offensive four-letter word beginning with “f.” The typical attitude that mistakes should be avoided is patently wrong and has several detrimental consequences. ([Location 630](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=630))
- Note: Everyone fails they just don't advertize the failure like they do the success
- If we have the healthier attitude that failure is a potent teacher and a scheduled stop along the road to success, then we find ourselves liberated to move forward sooner, because mistakes are actions we definitely can take at any time. ([Location 632](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=632))
- Mistakes direct our attention in productive ways by forcing us to focus on the specific task of determining why the attempt at hand failed. ([Location 635](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=635))
- Note: Don't run past your failure in an effort to forget it. Dig deep in to the why and try again.
- Every mistake is a teacher and holds a lesson. ([Location 654](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=654))
- Success is about persisting through the process of repeatedly failing and learning from failure. ([Location 738](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=738))
- Note: Embrace your failure
- You have created ideas and put them out where you can see them. You have traded in the impossible task of creating something that’s perfect for the much easier task of mining gems and correcting errors. ([Location 769](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=769))
- Bad days happen to good people. What separates the good from the great is how we react to that bad day. ([Location 827](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=827))
- Note: It always comes down to our reaction to a situation not the situation.
- Mistakes and failure are not signs of weakness; instead they are opportunities for future success. Failure is a sign of a creative mind, of original thought and strength. ([Location 888](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=888))
- Failing is progress; it’s not losing ground. ([Location 893](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=893))
- Traditionally people believe that it’s in the answering of questions that progress is made. In fact, creating questions is as important as answering them, if not more so, because framing good questions focuses your attention on the right issues. ([Location 915](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=915))
- A transformative but challenging personal policy is to never pretend to know more than you do. ([Location 941](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=941))
- When you don’t know something, admit it as quickly as possible and immediately take action ([Location 942](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=942))
- One profound habit of thinking individuals is to first acknowledge their biases and then intentionally overcome them. Asking challenging questions can help. Passionately argue an issue from the opposite point of view, and ask probing and difficult questions that challenge your original stance. ([Location 951](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=951))
- Note: Why do most of us choose comfort instead of challenge to our ideas?
- This “create-a-test” exercise is an excellent one to employ before you face an audience for a Q&A session. ([Location 968](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=968))
- Note: Similar to the self interrogation in To Sell is Human.
- If you can’t create the questions, you’re not ready for the test. ([Location 970](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=970))
- People who ask lots of probing questions outperform those who don’t engage with the ideas. ([Location 1008](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=1008))
- There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. —Peter Drucker ([Location 1124](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=1124))
- All creative people, even ones who are considered geniuses, start as nongeniuses and take baby steps from there. ([Location 1193](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=1193))
- In thinking about the future, we must be conscious of the reality that the novelties that appear strange to us today will be familiar, natural, and perhaps even beautiful to the next generation, and possibly even to us in the future. ([Location 1257](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=1257))
- Children or newcomers start where we are now and, without the burden or bias of history, proceed forward. So one of the challenges for us all is to see—with fresh eyes—the current world for what it is now. ([Location 1312](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=1312))
- Note: Even when your business is as successful as it has ever been you need to remember that it can be more still. Find a problem and fix it
- Nothing is easier than seeing the ridiculous biases of the past or the ridiculous biases that other people hold. But nothing is harder than seeing the ridiculous biases that we accept ourselves. ([Location 1357](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=1357))
- The moral here is that we all hold biases, and viewing our culture’s attitudes as evolving perspectives can help us uncover those biases. ([Location 1380](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=1380))
- the reality is that you personally can learn far more and be far more creative and successful than you are today. ([Location 1501](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B008JUVDUE&location=1501))
