(This is a continuation from my prior post: “Today I read the controversial blog post…”)
4. Clear thinking and decision-making require experience.
My final observation is that there are only a handful of truly great thinkers, leaders, and decision makers in the world… maybe 100 of them. That’s because raw intelligence, or book smarts, does not equal being good at decision-making. The only way to get there is experience.
The Tech sector is super complicated, dynamic, and fast. As Malcom Gladwell asserts, 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, constant feedback, and pushing beyond your comfort zone are required to gain mastery. Very few will ever work in an environment where they spend sufficient time each week exercising these skills.
I spent countless hours in meetings with Jeff Bezos and other Amazon Execs, engaged in problem-solving and decision-making. Whatever time I spent on really complex problems, multiply it by about 100 to estimate Jeff’s time. Jeff was consistently better than everyone else at analyzing and dissecting complex, multivariate problems and arriving at sound conclusions.
I don’t know Bill Gates, but I know plenty of people who have worked with him, and their experiences with Bill sound a lot like my experiences with Jeff.
The lesson here is that if you want to be a better decision maker and leader, find ways to work towards 10,000 hours of complex problem-solving. You can do this by:
1. Finding a company, a sector, and/or a role that requires a high frequency of solving complex problems, analysis, making decisions, and owning the outcome of your choices.
3. Read, watch, study, and observe the select few leaders who are the best in the world – the ones who have been successful for decades. In doing so, focus on how they think and organize information. You may not like these people, their politics, or personal life choices, and that’s fine. But don’t throw out the baby with the bath water – you can learn by observing how they process information and arrive at conclusions.
4. In your current role, become a great business document writer. Work on your craft of analysis, summarizing insights, problems, opportunities, and solutions.
One option to help you build your skills is to take one or more of the online video training courses we offer on writing world-class Operation Plans, Monthly Business Reviews, and on developing new products using the PR FAQ method. Each of these courses teaches you how to use the tools developed at Amazon that are designed to improve your analytical abilities, clarity of thought, and decision-making skills. Check them out on our website: www.workingbackwards.com
