How to Learn Complexity Quickly
WHY: I’ve mentioned this many times before in earlier posts, but I feel that it needs to be said again in this case. LIFE-LONG learning is a MUST if you want to be successful in any endeavor. Those that continue learning past their formal education are the highest producers and best leaders in the field. This strategy will put you even beyond these learners as you will be able to learn harder concepts much quicker.
WHERE: Tim Ferriss’s 4 Hour Chef. In all honesty, I did not finish the entire book as it is almost 600 pages long, but I dove deep into the important introduction. It detailed a process called meta-learning, which Tim used to learn how to cook like a chef in a very short period of time.
WHAT: The strategy called meta-learning is broken down into 4 main steps, with the acronym DiSSS. They are: deconstruction, selection, sequencing, and stakes. I will use a personal example to better explain each step, learning a style of taekwondo that differs from the way I’ve trained for 15 years. This is a challenge that many at my dojang are facing, and I believe this strategy will be abundantly helpful in making substantial progress on the changes.
Deconstruction: If this step is done properly, the rest are easy to execute. Here, you want to gather as much data as you can, hopefully from experts in the field. You can Google interviews with experts or watch videos on Youtube. The goal is to work backwards from experts in order to identify trends that are key to success in the task. For my task, I watch my instructor train as much as I can and look for what is different from my original style.
Selection: In this stage we want to simplify the complexity as much as possible using the 80/20 principle. This principle states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions. We are going to focus on the 20% that bring us the closest to mastery. For learning a language, this would be the most commonly used 100 or so words and helping verbs (go, be, have, etc.) For my martial arts task, it will be the new style of stances, the new positioning of blocks, and the new principle of moving for blocks. These three basic principles cover about 70% of the changes to my style. They’re only three simple concepts but they are repeated over and over again in almost every aspect of our training
Sequencing: This is the step that leads many people to fail. They try to tackle the hardest of the 20% first, get discouraged, and quit. The key is to create a progression that delays the possibility of failure as long as possible. For me, this would mean starting with the new style of stances, i.e. making my front stances longer and narrower. This is the simplest fix AND I was naturally inclined to do this anyway. It is best to start with things that you are already strong with, as you are more likely to succeed working off your strengths. Then, as you get more comfortable, work on the harder parts of the 20%
Stakes : This step is simple; find a system to hold you accountable. For me, I have to teach this new style to my students so I better get good at it. For other skills you want to learn in, it might mean an accountability partner or a checklist or the website/app StickK. You know what does and doesn’t work for you so pick something that does and use it.
Having only worked on learning this new style with this method for a day, I have seen more results than the past 4 months using more traditional methods (practicing everything all at once). This way of learning also makes teaching the skill far easier because you have a greater understanding of the most important parts AND you already know the best way to learn the skill.
Comment any questions below and keep living life to the fullest!