Food for Thought - 11 June 2023

The Elephant and the Rider, commonplace book, Batman Unburied, The Sum of it All and the power of studying failure

Welcome to edition #14 of my newsletter. Every week I share five things:

1. One idea I’m thinking about

2. One thing I’m reading

3. One thing I’m listening to

4. One thing I’m watching

5. One quote I’m pondering

One idea I'm thinking about: The Elephant and the Rider

If you’ve ever tried to start a new habit like learning an instrument, exercising every day or reading more, you will know how hard it is to make a change stick.

In The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt introduces an elegant metaphor to explain why behaviour change is so difficult and what we can do to make it easier - the Elephant and the Rider.

He argues that we have two sides: an emotional side (the Elephant), and an analytical, rational side (the Rider). The Rider holds the reins and seems to be in control. But if the six-ton Elephant wants something, there is not much the Rider can do about it.

Most of us are familiar with situations where our Elephant has overpowered our Rider.

You've experienced this if you've ever overeaten, procrastinated, lashed out at someone in the heat of the moment or relapsed with 'just one last cigarette'.

Naturally at odds

The issue is that the Elephant and the Rider have conflicting strengths and weaknesses.

The Elephant’s hunger for instant gratification is the opposite of the Rider’s strength, which is the ability to plan and think long-term.

The Elephant provides drive and energy, which is the opposite of the Rider’s tendency to spin wheels and overanalyse.

A reluctant elephant and a wheel spinning Rider will ensure nothing changes.

How to make them work together

Lasting behaviour change occurs when the Elephant and the Rider work together in a complementary way. There are three ways to do this:

• Direct the Rider. The Rider responds well to logic and reasoning, as well as long term goals. Think about where you want to be in 6 months, 1 year and beyond and keep pointing your Rider to those objectives. Having a clear vision helps avoid 'analysis paralysis’.

• Motivate the Elephant. In order to move the elephant, you have to appeal to some sort of emotional need. Elephants don't really care about reams of data like Riders. But if you can weave data into a compelling narrative, about how things are worsening over time or done much better by competitors, you will have their attention.

• Shape the path. Your environment will dictate your outcomes. Make it easy for the Elephant to keep moving in the right direction. If you want to stop drinking alcohol, stop buying it at the supermarket. If you want to go running every morning, go to sleep in your activewear and leave your socks and shoes out, ready to go in the morning

One thing I’m reading: Don’t Let Good Ideas Get Away

While creating this newsletter, there have been many times I’ve thought “Oh, there’s a cool idea I can write about” but promptly forgotten about it, because I didn’t spend 30 seconds jotting it down.

In Don’t Let Good Ideas Get Away, David Epstein discusses the same point. Many of his writing projects start from what he calls his “master thought list”:

It’s just a document in which I collect quotes, statistics, concepts, questions, thoughts — whatever. I place items that feel related near one another. Above each collection I put what I call a “tag.” And then I’ll write a bunch of words next to the tag that I think I would search if I were looking for this particular group of items.

Don't Let Good Ideas Get Away

A lot of different authors and creators use similar systems to organise their thinking. Science writer Steven Johnson keeps a ‘spark file’ which he re-reads in full every few months as a way of ‘brainstorming with himself’. Dan Pink calls it a ‘holding pen of ideas’.

One of my favourite authors, Ryan Holiday, calls it a “commonplace book” and actually has physical index cards that he hand-writes on.

My version of this system is a Notion page where I’ve made categories such as ‘Life’, ‘Success’, ‘Leadership’, ‘History’, ‘Science’ and ‘Relationships’. Whenever I read or hear something thought-provoking or elegant, I note down the quote or idea under the relevant category. These often form the basis of the ideas in my newsletter every week.

The real beauty of this system is the way it compounds. The more notes I write down , the more connections I can make between ideas. If I write down enough things that connect, I can pull them into a broader piece - like my article on mental models or the myth of the lone genius

If you engage in any sort of writing or content creation (or just want to remember what you read more easily) I highly recommend having your own version of this system.

One thing I’m listening to: Batman Unburied

Over the last couple of weeks, I listened to a podcast on Spotify called Batman Unburied. It's a 10 episode scripted drama series that made waves when it was released in May 2023, knocking Joe Rogan off the top of the podcast charts.

There have been countless different iterations of Batman, from movies to cartoons and video games, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the series.

It kicks off in a strange way, with Bruce Wayne being a forensic pathologist chasing down a serial killer, with no memory of being Batman. But there are plenty of twists and turns and earned cliffhangers that transform it into a classic Batman tale.

What really stood out to me was the quality of the production. The sound design made it easy to imagine a movie in my head, and the voice acting was top notch.

On top of this, the cast is star-studded and very diverse, headlined by Winston Duke (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Gina Rodriguez (Barbara Gordon), Hasan Minhaj (The Riddler), Lance Reddick (Thomas Wayne) and Emmy Raver-Lampman (Poison Ivy).

It’s a great way to spend a few hours if you’re a fan of Batman or even just mysteries/drama in general.

One thing I’m watching: The Sum of it All

I recently watched Ed Sheeran's documentary, The Sum of it All, with my girlfriend, Vaidehi. It's a four episode series that dives into the making of his latest album Subtract, as well as his turbulent personal life during its creation.

I loved getting a sneak peek into his creative process. I particularly liked the scenes, where he was workshopping lyrics of songs that I knew, and I could see him getting closer and closer to the end product. I also didn’t realise how important collaborators are in his process. I was surprised to see Fred Again working with him on hits like Bad Habits. And when he was struggling to pull Subtract into a finished product, a couple of sessions with Aaron Dessner provided the cut-through he needed to polish it off

As the saying goes: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to far, go together

The documentary was also much more heartbreaking than I expected. A lot of it revolves around the sudden death of his best friend Jamal Edwards. It’s a touching exploration of grief, particularly when you’re still moving at a million miles an hour and not stopping at all to reflect.

I think what struck me most is how down-to-earth Ed is. He and his wife Cherry could be your next door neighbours and you wouldn’t bat an eyelid.

One quote I’m pondering:

“When you want to know how things really work, study them when they are coming apart”
- William Gibson