In a Complex World, Simple Wins!
Using the Feynman Technique to unlock growth in your career, startup, business, or writing.
The world is complex and connected in ways we don’t fully understand. Everything from products to personalities has a brand, a logo, an experience.
Most are instantly forgettable.
They look and feel the same as everything else. They’re built on rational thinking and they follow trends instead of forging them. A great brand is the opposite.
The Feynman Technique:
The Feynman Technique is a learning framework that forces you to strip away needless complexity. It was developed by Richard Feynman, a Noble Prize winning theoretical physicist from the United States.
Interestingly, Feynman’s true genius was in his ability to convey complex ideas into simple, digestible ways. He observed that complexity and fluff are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding.
The Feynman Technique1 incorporates four steps:
Pick and study a topic
The first step is to identify the topic and then read about it. Write down everything you know and learn about it.
Be able to explain it to a kid
Use simple language and terms. Pretend you are explaining it to a kid.
Identify any gaps in your understanding
Assess your performance in step 2. How well were you able to explain the topic to a kid? Where did you get frustrated? Where did you resort to fluff or get stuck? These are the gaps in your understanding. Read and study to understand them.
Review and simplify
Organize your simple language into a compelling story or narrative.
Convey it to others to test-and-learn. Refine your story accordingly.
Review your new, deeper understanding of the topic.
Mastering the Feynman technique sets an incredible foundation for unlocking growth.
Summary? Simple Wins!
It is easy to overcomplicate and intimidate. We all know the people and can admit to times we have done it as well. However, we cannot be fooled—complexity and fluff are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding.
Simple is generous.
A simple idea is generous because it is understood by your customers, team, and community. It is easy to use and actively helps everyone.
Simple makes bold possible.
Once we have our simple idea down, we give ourselves the rare opportunity to do what the vast majority never do: to be bold and stand out in an ever-complex world.
Simple provides direction.
Thinking simple provides us not with a destination, but a direction. It gives us the “why” and how we can grow in that direction.
Simplicity wins.
Shout-out to Dr. Kieran Arasaratnam for the wise insights from Clubhouse!