THE FEYNMAN TECHNIQUE IN EVERYDAY ENGINEERING
Engineering is mostly a job of collaboration which requires strong technical as well as communication skills. The ones who excel have usually mastered both.
At the very core of any successful team or department lies effective communication. It is equally important when the discussions are outside the team, to other collaborators, clients, and even stakeholders.
Here, effective communication means phrasing the item so clearly and precisely that even a ten-year-old can understand it. Even the most complex engineering problems can be simplified, or we can say dumbed-down.
The idea behind dumbing down the problems is not new. It has existed for almost forever. Historically, we have all read about the wise courtiers in every king’s court, who found their name in history books because of their ability to debate, posit ideas, and declare solutions in concise and clear words.
The examples and references are everywhere, be it, Tenali Raman, to the king Krishnadevaraya, Chanakya to Chandragupta Maurya, or Akbar to Birbal. Modern age fictions too have the likes of Little-finger to the Baratheons or Gandalf to the Fellowship of the Ring.
Companies like Wiley’s ‘… For Dummies’ have made a multi-billion dollar business out of this within less than three decades.
All of this points out that humans collectively work better when big complex items are made easier to understand. So much that can either be lost in translation or requires too much of the brain’s resources can be simplified by a small effort by a few involved people.
By doing so, the team or the company turns into a well-oiled machine, and the savings in intellectual resources are priceless.
Einstein said -
The same was studied by the renowned physicist — Mr. Richard Feynman.
“When Feynman faces a problem, he’s unusually good at going back to being like a child, ignoring what everyone else thinks… He was so unstuck — if something didn’t work, he’d look at it another way.”
— Marvin Minsky, MIT
Richard Feynman lived from 1918 to 1988. He made his mark as an original genius, starting with his work on the Manhattan Project in his early twenties, through winning a Nobel Prize for his work in developing an understanding of quantum mechanics, and finally as a much-loved professor of undergraduate physics at Caltech.
His real superpower, however, was his ability to explain complicated subjects to others in simple terms. He realized that jargon, vague words, and complexity reveal a lack of understanding.
Simply put, there are four key steps to the Feynman Technique:
- Choose a concept you want to learn about
- Try explaining it to a 10-year-old
- Reflect, Refine, and Simplify if needed
- Organize and Review
Alternatively:
In modern-day industry/businesses too, everyday engineering collaborations, training, and KTs (Knowledge Transfer) usually lack the element of ‘clarity’ and ‘simplicity’. Silver-tongued English is glorified, and true mastery of the topic remains unaccomplished. This is exactly what Richard Feynman targets through his recommended technique.
Like every successful king needs wise couriers or ministers, every successful engineering business, too, needs those key resources, who have (subconsciously or otherwise) mastered the Feynman technique. They are out there clearing bottlenecks, ironing out the wrinkles, and working silently in the background every day mostly without being noticed much.
Though, the Paradox of Effort is always in play for those elite performers. What I mean by the “Paradox of Effort” is a story/post for another day. For now, I’d just say that “One has to put in more effort to make something appear — effortless”.
In my initial days of work, I had a problem communicating effectively. I used to take a couple of hours just thinking about how I would present my thoughts. But after working with people across countries and regions, I realized that it's less about the languages and the fancy vocabulary and more about the content and clarity.
My current role in Sayurbox is that of a manager, but I consider it as a combination of being a troubleshooter, resource trainer, and man management. This means dealing with dozens of people daily demanding their tasks to be prioritized with no compromise in quality.
The only way to do justice to my role is to utilize my limited available time more effectively of which a major part is communication. This is where the “Feynman Technique” comes in use.
When many businesses operate remotely, and employees are spread out across different locations and time zones, especially in a company like Sayurbox, the key is communicating as clearly as possible to avoid any “lost in translation” situations. If needed, I do video collaboration just in hope that my gestures help achieve the purpose of my discussion.
Such collective effort plays a key role in keeping the company running like a well-oiled machine.
‘The ultimate test of your knowledge is your capacity to convey it to another”
Thank you,
Anchal Aggarwal
@sayurbox-engineering
