Lessons from Charlie Munger

The late Charlie Munger inspired this issue of the Compelling Communicator. Charlie was referred to by many as an extremely smart person who could think through problems quickly. But at the same time, he communicated simply and groundedly.

Since Charlie’s recent death, a lot has been written about him. One of the most interesting things I learned was from the My First Million podcast. Shaan Puri explained that perhaps one of the reasons Charlie was considered so smart was partly due to the methodologies he used to think through things.

One potent methodology he termed inversion.

It is simply turning the problem on its head and looking from a different direction. When Maunger worked in WWII as a Military Meteorologist, he looked at the stack of books to learn all the possible things he could determine and communicate with the technology of the time.

“I haven’t got time for that!” he said. So, he researched the most common causes of losing planes, which were, at the time, Ice, Snow, and Fog. “If I can get just those things identified and communicated, I will save 80% of the pilots & planes off the bat.”

But how is this useful for you?

When you are putting together a talk or communication about your topic, one of the first stumbling blocks we all come against is: “What should I talk about?” 

Many things about your topic are particularly interesting to you at any given moment. There are also some fundamentals which you feel you should share, as well as some practical tips and tricks to help people. But if you are like me, you will often go round and round, adding and subtracting from this list.

Using Inversion, you might say:

“What are the three worst pieces of advice out there or that I have heard?”

Then, you can address those, why they are bad, and what to do instead. This removes the clutter, defines the focus, and, in this example, is valuable to the audience.

In my mind, the inversion principle is not literally the antithesis of the original problem but a different perspective on it. So, in the above example, several different inversion questions might create your talk. For example:

• Who shouldn’t pay much/any attention to my topic? (who it is not for defines who it is for)

• If you could only take one action on my topic, what would it be?

• In doing [my topic], what have I learned about [totally unrelated but interesting topic]?

• How is a known company or person screwing up currently by doing things wrong in my topic?

Any of these questions can lead to an interesting, even great, talk, post, article or video. And the questions you can come up with are infinite. It just takes a little practice to find those questions; soon, it becomes second nature.

The ‘Genius’ Secret

I think that was Charlie Maunger’s secret. Through decades of practice, he was very good at quickly finding interesting questions that matched the problem presented. Once you have the question, getting or thinking through the answers is much easier.

And when you relay those answers, you have come up with a different perspective. You are immediately adding a different level of value to the conversation. People will be impressed because this is such an unusual skill in today’s world of simply Googling the first question that pops into your mind.

Debating

The other thing that Charlie believed was that he would not even get into a debate with someone unless he felt he could argue their position better than they could. Until he could do that, he would shut up and listen.

This does a couple of things.

When you can argue their position better than they can, you understand their position. It is possible that their position is correct, and now you understand it well enough that you change to their position.

Arguing their position better than they can allows you to preempt their arguments, take the power from them, and counter before they can even get started. This changes the power balance and momentum significantly.

How Can I Use This?

If you prepare by going deep into the opposing argument to any information that you are presenting, then you can set up and knock down the common objections in your main message and have a much higher result in people taking the action you are requesting.

When you bring up an argument against your position and handle it in an effective way, it really increases your perceived authority in the space.

Conclusion

Many mental models can be used and adapted. As I have often said in these posts: ‘there is no right or wrong’. Play with a few mental models, including those above, and see how they work.

Practice with them a few times and put them in your back pocket to pull out and deploy when needed. I think Charlie was a collector of these mental models, and they served him well. I think they will serve you well if you want to play.

Unpacking Wisdom is a weekly section where I dive into a famous (or not so famous) quote and explore how this can apply to the Compelling Communicator.

This quote by Charlie Munger seems fairly innocuous on the surface, almost more of a statement of judgment than a font of wisdom. But Charlie often expounded on this point, exposing the deeper philosophy beneath.

Often, a business owner wants more sales and more customers. And they spend more and more on advertising with minimal success. Often, the problem is not promotion but simply that the product or service is not good enough to deserve the customers' attention.

Charlie would say if you want more sales, your product or service must first deserve them. You need to make the product or service better.

The same principle applies to your communications. If your talk, pitch or webinar doesn’t get the results you want, you need to look at the quality of your information. Assume it is getting what it deserves.

Therefore, you must ask yourself: “How can I improve this so that it deserves the desired results.”

This does require you to be robust in your self-esteem and self-confidence. You must be willing to look at what you have put together with a critical eye and really tear it apart. Knowing that any problems are not a reflection on you. They are merely opportunities to improve.

Indeed, when you can consistently do this with all of the information you produce, this process alone will give you a sense of confidence and pride that you go that extra mile and that the product of your efforts is the best it can be.

I have been using this question when creating sales pages or course information. It is important because I am naturally a “good enough” sort of person rather than a perfectionist, and so I focus so much on the content that I often don’t pay much attention to the packaging or how it looks.

I find that using this question helps me to ensure I am creating a better product. Maybe it can help you, too?

What I am up to this week…

Professionally:

Currently working on creating the Business Growth Aotearoa Virtual Summit for January 2024.

Recreationally:

I am still enjoying creating our weekly entertainment podcast, The Chris and Sam Podcast, which in 2024 will hit its 10-year mark.

What I am reading:

Just re-read Dan Kennedy’s Big Mouth Big Money. A great book for getting a perspective on how best to generate income through speaking.

What I am watching:

For you Sci-Fi fans, I watched the movie The Creator this week and thoroughly enjoyed it.