This model is simple and yet not always easy. To use second-order thinking when considering future actions: Always ask yourself, “And then what?” Think in increments of time. What do the consequences look like in five days? Five months? Five years? Draw out the possible courses of action you might take using columns to organize consequences.11 First-order thinking is easy, but it’s second-order thinking that allows us to go deeper through time and consequences. Best of all, it allows us to see what others can’t see.
