Shane Parrish

Principles are our summary of their public statements.

• Recognize the Tolstoy Effect

  Mindset

  One should be aware that people often deny their mistakes entirely or justify them as necessary responses to hardship to protect their self-image.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Mental Model: Bias from Self-Interest, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

• Combat Cognitive Dissonance with Action

  Leadership

  Instead of changing beliefs to justify poor habits, a leader should focus on changing the behavior to resolve the tension between facts and actions.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Mental Model: Bias from Self-Interest, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

• Input-Driven Innovation

  Creativity

  Innovation and creativity are not random but result from pattern recognition and combining ideas after consuming vast amounts of information.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Short List Books New Things, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

• Strategic Idea Pruning

  Decisions

  An expert should know when to generate many ideas and when to focus on pruning them down to the most viable ones.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Short List Books New Things, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

• Identify the Chasm in Innovation

  Product

  A product faces its most critical point when transitioning from early adopters to skeptics, where many fail before reaching the mainstream.

  Supporting quotes

  • “A firm understanding can also give us an edge in launching products, changing habits, and choosing investments.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Embrace Randomness in Consumption

  Strategy

  Avoid steady, predictable patterns in favor of more varied and haphazard timing to mimic natural biological responses.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source What Animals Can Teach Us About Health And The Science Of Healing, 2013  (opens in a new tab)

• Treat Books as Medicine

  Strategy

  Maintain a diverse supply of books so that the right resource is available for specific needs or moments of growth, even if they aren't read immediately.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source The Antilibrary, 2013  (opens in a new tab)

• Seek Flow Over Relaxation

  Mindset

  True satisfaction comes from being intensely focused on a self-chosen, challenging activity rather than from passive leisure.

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  Source What Makes You Happy, 2013  (opens in a new tab)

• Analyze systems at scale

  Strategy

  Recognize that social systems and organizations change drastically as they scale, and what works for a small group may not work for a large one.

  Supporting quotes

  • “One of my favorite sources of reading material is Tyler Cowen. He's consistently finding exceptional things that I've never heard of.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

• Limit Complexity for Crowds

  Risk

  Crowd wisdom should be avoided for problems with complex outcomes and unknown distributions, as these fall into a dangerous quadrant of unpredictability.

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  Source The Limits Of Crowd Wisdom, 2012  (opens in a new tab)

• Archive Your Disasters

  Learning

  Maintain a record of failed projects and products to prevent the organization from repeating the same mistakes in the future.

  Supporting quotes

  • “The first reason to turn towards failure is that our efforts not to think about failure leave us with a severely distorted understanding of what it takes to be successful.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Teach to a Child

  Learning

  Explain complex concepts in simple language that a sixth-grader could understand to expose hidden gaps in your own knowledge.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Feynman Learning Technique, 2021  (opens in a new tab)

• Prioritize Understanding Over Jargon

  Learning

  True mastery is the ability to rearrange and combine simple terms to communicate a point in multiple ways.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Feynman Learning Technique, 2021  (opens in a new tab)

• Embrace Cognitive Effort

  Learning

  Effective learning requires mental strain; if the process feels too easy, the information is less likely to be retained long-term.

  Supporting quotes

  • “Retrieval makes things stick better than re-exposure to the original material. This is the testing effect.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Distinguish Ends from Means

  Learning

  Understand that computers can achieve the same outcomes as humans using entirely different, non-intuitive processes like data processing.

  Supporting quotes

  • “Artificial intelligence is not human intelligence. People are mindful; computers are mindless. But when it comes to performing demanding tasks, whether with the brain or the body, computers are able to replicate our ends without replicating our means.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Beware the Quick Check

  Focus

  One should be suspicious of the impulse to quickly check a device, as modern tools are designed to lead users down a rabbit hole of distraction.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Dont Let Technology Tools Use You, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

• Face the transitory nature of life

  Life

  Accepting that life is short and work is temporary allows a person to act with more urgency and authenticity.

  Supporting quotes

  • “Neglecting this internal marriage, we can easily make ourselves a hostage to the externals of work and the demands of relationship.”

    “We find ourselves unable to move in these outer marriages because we have no inner foundation from which to step out with a firm persuasion.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

• Prioritize Social Capital and Trust

  Leadership

  Recognize that organizational value comes from people feeling safe enough to help each other, which is destroyed by internal rivalry.

  Supporting quotes

  • “The problem is that ranking someone against their peers is not the ranking that matters and is counterproductive in terms of building an exceptional corporate culture.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

• Train Attention to Reduce Stickiness

  Mindset

  One should practice mindfulness to prevent attention from getting stuck on one cue, allowing for faster processing of subsequent information.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Attentional Blink, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

• Value the Personal Touch

  Brand

  Digital tools cannot replace the emotional weight and lasting impact of physical, handwritten communication.

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  Source Balzac Love Letter, 2014  (opens in a new tab)