“Think Like A Freak” by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
From the writers of Freakonomics, here comes another “freakish” read, which motivates the readers to not only think out the box but actually break the box i.e., break all the stereotypes and molds that the society could potentially put you in.
“Think a like freak” is like a breath of fresh air in the sea of self help books in which the writers Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner break the stereotypical definition of a freak and paint a new picture for it. They motivate the readers to actually start embracing the idea of being a freak and meticulously point out the advantages of doing so.
Let us look at some of the highlights and understand how we can benefit from thinking like a freak as the writers suggest us to do so.
1. Importance of saying “I Don’t Know”
It is very difficult for us to say these three words, probably even more difficult than the those other three words which you must be thinking about right now. “Think like a freak” heavily focuses on saying these three magical words bluntly if you don’t know the answer to a certain question but have the sincerity to look for the answer right away. It is always best to say I don’t know rather than guessing wrong. Imagine if your doctor rather than coming clean about your illness, started guessing around. Just imagine the chaos.
2. Predictions are bad
Jumping straight to the point, predictions are bad. Especially the predictions which are not driven by data and statistics. The writers through “Think like a freak”, helps us in understanding that these predictions by stock pundits and sports analysts or even economical experts should not be trusted blindly because simply there are too many factors which can affect the outcome and not all of them can be accounted for.
3. Asking the right questions
Never be afraid to ask a question. The stupidity or smartness of a question is a highly subjective concept. A question which may be stupid for one person may actually be a smart one for another person. The writers actually suggest that we follow the examples of children in this instance. Children just want to quench their curiosity and do not second guess the stupidity of their question. That’s how we should go about our questions because this is the process through which we may fall on the right question and that could actually be a Eureka moment!
4. Important to have fun
Having fun is one of the most important factors in making a business success or even excelling at your job or whatever you do. Having fun roughly translates to loving what you do and being passionate about it. It is a guarantee for success because you do not need to find a reason deep inside to keep struggling on and you also subconsciously eliminate the fear of failure.
5. Power of incentives
Sometimes in order to get your work done, it is actually a good idea to incentivize it for the people. People are driven by incentives. It can range from money, car, house or even tickets to a game. Power of persuasion and giving incentives becomes multiple fold through story telling.
6. Sometimes quitting is good
“Think like a freak” finally ends with its final way to think like a freak. Learn to let go. In simpler terms, quit. Society portrays one as a loser thanks to the old age saying “winners never quit and quitters never win”. But the writers suggest that it is better to quit a losing cause rather than losing your everything. It is a much better option to start looking at other options and focus your energy in other sectors. But one of the most important pre-requisite for this is “knowing when to quit”. So before learning quitting, learn and analyze when to quit.
So here is the Kitaabghar analysis of “Think Like a Freak”. The hope and the agenda behind it is to provide you a good recommendation for your next reading adventure. Hope you like it. Follow us on Medium and instagram (@kitaabghar._) for more such content and get your own copy of “Think Like a Freak” today.
See you in next session!!
