Ask great questions, and Paul Graham’s How to Do Great Work

Imagine sitting at a dinner table.

Time is frozen.

Your friends or family surround you. This is where conversation happens.

What do you say?

Yesterday, I would have said something like “what book are you enjoying? Or “what have you learned recently?”.

I love learning- especially about people.

But today, I would say something very different.

I would say something similar to: “what is a good question you have been asking lately?”

Paul Graham has probably created more questions in my mind than anything else past 30 days.

His writing reminds me a lot of Derek Sivers. Reading their words feels like a longtime curious expert has paused in their work to explain something they thought was important. Like an expert chef has been creating some absurd levitating cheese foam, and then stops and turns — frothy cheese gently floating off their spoon — and starts talking about some important thing that changed how they worked with water when they cooked.

Here is a great example from How to Do Great Work paulgraham.com/greatwork.html:

“Once you’ve found something you’re excessively interested in, the next step is to learn enough about it to get you to one of the frontiers of knowledge. Knowledge expands fractally, and from a distance its edges look smooth, but once you learn enough to get close to one, they turn out to be full of gaps

I’ve experienced a little bit of this already. Get close to the customer to find the real problems, ask them to show you. Ask why they do things, what they need and expect.

But Graham is talking about finding a way to follow other learners, learn what they found, and get close to the edge.

When I think about diving deep into something, learning to get close to the edge, where the gaps are…I sense fear and worry suddenly appear.

But what if it takes a long time?

What if I do all the work and get there, and I don’t find anything of use beyond the learning?

What if I don’t find valuable gaps?

How does the fear and anxiety “help” me? What protection does it serve?

Part of me feels drawn to doing things the same way- repeating the same instructions that others did to get the same result. A safe choice. A known outcome. The same painting, different colors. My life the result of a borrowed franchise manual.

Fewer and higher quality choices in life

Fewer and higher quality. Warren & Charlie have a “fewer is better” investment philosophy, where they aren’t nearly as active as your usual Wall Street investor … but they focus on a handful of really strong investments….You don’t need more — instead, be more discerning, and happy with less.

I think I look for many different hobbies because I don’t want to focus in and see how one of them turns out. My wife and I have committed to allowing our kids to switch activities when they are growing up. Of course, sure I’d love it if my little kid was a professional turntablist. I think my parents strongly suggested I stay with certain hobbies- like soccer because it taught be to stay with something, but I wasn’t forced to play piano. via Zenhabits

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, Owner: (Registered business address: Germany), processes personal data only to the extent strictly necessary for the operation of this website. All details in the privacy policy.