This concept works in so many situations and milieus. My language learning didn't take off until I started speaking out loud, first to myself and then to friends, followed by C2 native speakers. Taiichi Ono's Toyota Production System - the basic Kanban/Lean Manufacturing system - is predicated on a visual workplace where everyone is verbally accountable for their part in the system: the least effort with the most efficient results.
Storyboarding became a thing starting essentially with Walt Disney and all the animation founding fathers 100 years ago; it is now a staple of any filmmaking project. In every case, issues and ideas are spoken aloud, and quite a few walks to sort things out are not uncommon.
Finally, whatever success I've gleaned in business operations turnarounds over the last several decades incorporates mandatory lean principles, Six Sigma and quite a bit of questioning out in the open, starting with "What does this {thing} do?," all the way to "Why are you doing it this way?" Trust me, I don't solve problems in isolation; I need the sounding board of others, whether they like it or not, because essentially, we're all solving problems together.
With perseverance and the right help (I would recommend face-to-face tuition with a native speaker, apps to help with grammar, and immersion in films/podcasts etc), I believe it's possible to learn any language. It's a darn sight harder than learning it in a country where you hear it and have to use it on a daily basis, though.
Great idea. Gets you into the melody of the language. I listened to a lot of Peter Licht as I found his diction very clear. Got a bit obsessed by Kopf zwischen Sterne. 🤣🤣 Viel Glück!
Darwin counting laps with stones so the counting didn't interrupt the thinking is the detail that carries the entire piece. He engineered a system where the administrative overhead of the process was zero so all the cognitive bandwidth went to the work. Most productivity advice does the opposite: it adds tracking, journalling, reviewing, reflecting, which are all cognitive overhead that competes with the thinking they're supposed to support.
The Paul Graham line about writing converting ideas from vague to bad is the version I keep coming back to. The upgrade from vague to bad is the most valuable step in any creative process because vague ideas feel promising and bad ideas feel fixable. You can't improve a feeling. You can improve a sentence. The physical act of writing is what forces the transition, and most people avoid it precisely because seeing your idea on paper and realising it's bad feels worse than keeping it in your head where it still feels brilliant.
This (walking while thinking) is a great idea, but I think lots of communities don't have woman-friendly walking trails. I need to find someone with an expansive lawn and a push lawnmower.
Heading out tomorrow on my “previously-annual” solo-birthday-camping-reset-trip, where I plan to walk and think and figure out some shit on daily hikes!
Skipped 2024—because of work!
Skipped 2025—because of work!
Told my current supervisor and GM I’d quit before skipping this year’s trip.
(They both separately said they’d fire me if I actually missed it!🤣)
Fabulous- just one of the most unique and useful newsletters that exists. Please write a book with your insights soon! Thank you for this - Darwin’s diagram was joyful to see.
This concept works in so many situations and milieus. My language learning didn't take off until I started speaking out loud, first to myself and then to friends, followed by C2 native speakers. Taiichi Ono's Toyota Production System - the basic Kanban/Lean Manufacturing system - is predicated on a visual workplace where everyone is verbally accountable for their part in the system: the least effort with the most efficient results.
Storyboarding became a thing starting essentially with Walt Disney and all the animation founding fathers 100 years ago; it is now a staple of any filmmaking project. In every case, issues and ideas are spoken aloud, and quite a few walks to sort things out are not uncommon.
Finally, whatever success I've gleaned in business operations turnarounds over the last several decades incorporates mandatory lean principles, Six Sigma and quite a bit of questioning out in the open, starting with "What does this {thing} do?," all the way to "Why are you doing it this way?" Trust me, I don't solve problems in isolation; I need the sounding board of others, whether they like it or not, because essentially, we're all solving problems together.
Is it possible to learn German even without being in Germany
With perseverance and the right help (I would recommend face-to-face tuition with a native speaker, apps to help with grammar, and immersion in films/podcasts etc), I believe it's possible to learn any language. It's a darn sight harder than learning it in a country where you hear it and have to use it on a daily basis, though.
Yeah.
Right now I am trying to use music.
Trying to listen to some German mixes for thirty minutes everyday. Maybe it can open my ear to a few things.
Great idea. Gets you into the melody of the language. I listened to a lot of Peter Licht as I found his diction very clear. Got a bit obsessed by Kopf zwischen Sterne. 🤣🤣 Viel Glück!
I will check him out now. It's the hearing for me.
i dont think so
There’s magic in the telling ✨
and sharing ✨
Darwin counting laps with stones so the counting didn't interrupt the thinking is the detail that carries the entire piece. He engineered a system where the administrative overhead of the process was zero so all the cognitive bandwidth went to the work. Most productivity advice does the opposite: it adds tracking, journalling, reviewing, reflecting, which are all cognitive overhead that competes with the thinking they're supposed to support.
The Paul Graham line about writing converting ideas from vague to bad is the version I keep coming back to. The upgrade from vague to bad is the most valuable step in any creative process because vague ideas feel promising and bad ideas feel fixable. You can't improve a feeling. You can improve a sentence. The physical act of writing is what forces the transition, and most people avoid it precisely because seeing your idea on paper and realising it's bad feels worse than keeping it in your head where it still feels brilliant.
B…b…but I am so good at overthinking…
Lovely!!!
But what exactly is the shadow self? It is the unconscious aspect of our personality that we refuse to identify with.
Running water never goes anyplace that water hasn't already been, though.
This (walking while thinking) is a great idea, but I think lots of communities don't have woman-friendly walking trails. I need to find someone with an expansive lawn and a push lawnmower.
Big fan of this one.
Heading out tomorrow on my “previously-annual” solo-birthday-camping-reset-trip, where I plan to walk and think and figure out some shit on daily hikes!
Skipped 2024—because of work!
Skipped 2025—because of work!
Told my current supervisor and GM I’d quit before skipping this year’s trip.
(They both separately said they’d fire me if I actually missed it!🤣)
My brain, body and soul CRAVE this!
Back next week!
Ciao!😁
When will the book list be available?
Great article, thank you! It is true that doing something, touching, breaking and fixing helps to understand concepts and clean up the mind.
Fabulous- just one of the most unique and useful newsletters that exists. Please write a book with your insights soon! Thank you for this - Darwin’s diagram was joyful to see.
It opened my mind, thankyou
just read this and went for a walk immediately…
I concur - went from a “desk job” to a manufacturing role - I now suffer from the opposite of writers block 🤩
Amazing post - thank you!