“Be competent to deserve a place at the table.”  ~ Charles Munger

I’m a big fan of Warren Buffet and his friend / business partner Charlie Munger. This goes beyond their investing into their problem-solving skills and philosophy of life. I’m going to coat-tail Charlie Munger for this entry. I learned this method in his book “Poor Charlie’s Almanac,” which I highly recommend. Munger is known for his intellect and his encouragement to invert your thinking when dealing with challenging problems. It’s remarkable how much clearer your thinking becomes after you make this a regular habit. 

For example, let’s say you want to have a great relationship with your spouse. Most would ask, “What must I do to accomplish this?” Instead, invert the question. “What are the most destructive things I could do to ruin the relationship?” Your answers might be physical and verbal abuse, infidelity, poor to zero communication, being a poor father to your children, being a drunk, – you get the idea. Then you simply avoid the destructive things. Many times we do not have to be brilliant to achieve success. Rather, we have to avoid doing stupid things. Inverting your problems can help you do just that. Use it and you’ll find challenges easier to understand and manage. 

“It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.” 

 ~ Rene Descartes