Power of Ignored Skills : Change the way you think and decide

by Manoj Tripathi

“People’s minds are changed through observation and not through argument.” – Will Rogers

Humans gain knowledge through observing the happening around them or through someone else’s experiences.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his brilliantly written book, Blink, has explained the importance of the phenomenon called ‘thin-slicing’. He argues that the human brain can process a small amount of information, a thin slice, and draw incredible conclusions. This is made possible through a repository of data in our mind, which is accumulated through years of observation.

The most common, and straightforward method for getting information about everything around us, is to observe.

that observation is not just seeing things, but it is all about carefully examining those things, and to make a sensible judgement about them.

Observational learning describes learning through watching others, retaining the information, and then later replicating the observed behaviours.

Children often learn how to behave, and respond to others by observing how their parents interact with each other, and other people. That’s why parents need to act a ‘certain way,’ so children do not learn bad manners. That’s why, in popular culture, people judge parents based on their children’s behaviour.

Observation helps us learn faster and better. It is a painful and time-consuming process, but is a sure shot recipe of winning.

During the decision-making process, do not stop your thinking process and think about the problem repeatedly. Think and visualise the whole scenario in your mind, to predict the outcome of your decision.

The moral of the story is, if you go by pure statistics, you can commit mistakes. You have to observe all the facts around the statistics, to reach a correct conclusion.

“To acquire knowledge, one must study; But to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” – Marilyn vos Savant.

Thanks to the mass vaccination programme globally, the World Health Organisation eventually declared smallpox eradicated from the planet in 1980.

Georges de Mestral,

Person Who invented Velcro

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” – Steve Jobs

The snake effect occurs when an attempted solution to a problem makes the problem worse. This term originated as an anecdote.

“A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.” – Mark Twain.

You know the pen is mightier than the sword; similarly, it may be said that tone is mightier than words.

“85 percent of your financial success is due to your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15 percent, due to the technical knowledge you have.”

“Thoughts lead on to purpose, purpose leads onto actions, actions form habits, habits decide character, and character fixes our destiny.”

“Dream is not that which you see while sleeping; it is something that does not let you sleep.” – Dr. Abdul Kalam.

“Telephone did not come into existence from the persistent improvement of the postcard.” – Amit Kalantri.

Proctor & Gamble.

Persistence is doing something despite challenges or delays in achieving success.

Research shows that the human brain consumes around 25 per cent of our energy; it’s important to divert that energy from somewhere else.

“Prediction is not just one of the things your brain does. It is the primary function of the neo-cortex, and the foundation of intelligence.” – Jeff Hawkins