Similarly, Shubin Stein taught his students to perform a “bull/bear analysis” for every company they analyzed—another basic procedure that entails writing two thesis statements (one positive, one negative), each on a single page of its own. The key is to use such techniques routinely, so we consistently challenge our assumptions, contemplate counterarguments, and resist the brain’s tendency to conserve energy by taking shortcuts. This emphasis on adopting systematic analytical procedures is the sixth strategy in our epic quest to be non-idiotic.
