If an engineer insists on solving all problems through the lens of an engineer, then he simply won’t come up with the best solution! As the famous saying goes, to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail!

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But everything is not a nail.

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For example, a financial investor must think like a researcher, a statistician and a psychologist. The job is inherently one of decision making. If you listen to or read the books of Warren Buffet (also known as the Oracle of Omaha) and Charles Munger, the guys who run the insanely successful investment company Berkshire Hathaway, you will hear them say this again and again. 

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Why Investors Think Like Sociologists

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Munger and Buffet’s message approach is so simple and powerful that people looking for more complex success formulae may tune it out, thinking there is nothing there. (Although, most likely they will ignore it because like all solid and basic fundamentals,  it involves a lot of hard work, learning skills and no short cuts). 

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Their approach to investing, in a world where investors typically think of investing via an isolated deep-dive analysis of a company’s numbers, is to accept that investment problems are inherently complex and connected to the world-at-large. 

They combine the learning skills of rigorous scientific inquiry - asking the right questions, solid research and groundwork, to arrive at a historical and current understanding of the universe in which the company operates. 

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They ultimately reduce a complex set of investment variables into a solid set of fundamental realities to help make the best decision. 

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But here is the twist.

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They do not use only the lens of financial performance to analyze the companies they are considering for investment. If they did, their performance would be like 95% of the investors in the world. 

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Instead, here is how they approach it.

In his review of Munger’s now legendary book Poor Charlie’s Almanack, reviewer Santeri Liukkonen writes,

“They borrow from and really stitch together the analytical tools, methods and formulas from such traditional disciplines as history, psychology, mathematics, engineering, biology, physics, chemistry, statistics and economics”. 

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Since any large system is affected and shaped by multiple factors, to understand that system you have to apply many ideas and concepts from a variety of disciplines to uncover the possibilities. 

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For their investment decisions, Buffett and Munger use over a 100 models from various fields.

Here are just a few they mention in the book:

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• From engineering: the redundancy/backup system model
• From mathematics: the compound interest model 
• From physics and chemistry: the breakpoint/ tipping-moment/ autocatalysis models 
• From biology: the modern Darwinian synthesis model 
• From psychology: cognitive misjudgment models
• And many more!

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When Engineers Have to be Archeologists

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Let’s look at another example from the world of engineering.

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The engineers working to lift the Abu Simbel temple to accommodate the Aswan dam in Egypt (another fascinating story with its own learning lessons, which I will write about soon) had to think like archeologists, ecologists, sociologists and historians. 

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If the engineers just thought about the problem of lifting the ancient temple as an engineering problem, the solution may have seemed quite straightforward, but it would have never worked as well as it ultimately did. Today, we call what they did a marvel of engineering, but the truth is they approached the problem through multiple lenses - sociological, cultural, historical, architectural, and perhaps even political, to arrive at a universally acceptable solution. Then they used the engineering tools to execute that solution.

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Closer to home, you may have read the story of how an engineer who works in the Heritage Cell at the SDMC claims to have solved the mystery of where Prince Dara Shukoh — eldest son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and brother of the vilified Aurangazeb is buried. Historians and archaeologists have been chasing this secret for decades. How did this engineer crack it?

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The SDMC engineer Sanjeev Kumar Singh claims to have used a combination of concepts from history, research and analysis, cartography, engineering, architecture and art to arrive at his conclusions. Though contested by many quarters (as new possibilities often are), his findings have been validated by members of an official committee appointed to solve this very same mystery.  Perhaps they haven't been able to crack it because they are only thinking like archeologists!

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Interdisciplinary application of knowledge is key to modern problem solving

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Wrapping up, I’m going to let you in on Munger’s secret to decision making, in his own simple yet deep words. 

“You must know the big ideas in the big disciplines and use them routinely - all of them, not just a few”. 

Most people who are trained in one discipline - say economics - only know the economic models, and they try to solve all problems that one way, through the lens of economics. The world simply doesn't work that way. 

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Drawing ideas and insights from multiple disciplines is a 21st century learning super skill. 

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Don’t get me wrong - I am not saying that everybody has to be an expert in everything.

That's not humanly possible. However, developing the learning skills to identify what disciplines may impact the problem you are faced with, being able to pick up some of the key concepts and models governing those fields, and being able to make the right connections - these skills lead to solutions that we see ‘geniuses’ come up with. 

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Of course those ‘geniuses’ have put in the time and effort to do the work, form the connections, and apply the knowledge beyond the walls of their own ‘specialization’. They've harnessed the power of compound learning, to exponentially increase the value of their knowledge. Build these skills to help your child think and learn like a ‘genius’. 

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We already have a world where architects draw from nature, using ideas from the world of termites and bears. It’s called biomimicry.

Teachers can draw ideas from diverse learning systems - from sports coaches to army trainers and psychologists. 

Business leaders should be trained to draw management and leadership insights from various diverse worlds: from music and art to animal trainers and of course, even parenting! 

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That’s where polymath thinking helps

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Every individual, no matter which field of specialization they may choose, has to learn to learn and think like a polymath - someone who has a reasonable knowledge about the fundamentals of several disciplines. 

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A polymath is someone whose real skill is to learn from diverse disciplines and connect the dots across fields to create new knowledge and solve problems in new ways. 

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Instead of any technical definitions of polymaths, let me share some names of famous polymaths to help you visualize…Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs -  to name a few. Now, that’s a pretty intimidating list of geniuses you may say.

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But wait. I’m not asking us to be geniuses. There is a difference. Geniuses just have a higher-than-average ability in a specific area. 

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A polymath, on the other hand, collects and develops skills and knowledge across diverse fields, and is able to draw upon, connect and apply that learning to solve problems and make more informed decisions in their own chosen field. 

Why are polymaths important today?

Simply because as the problems in our world become more complex, we need critical thinkers who can draw upon knowledge from diverse fields, and connect the dots between them to come up with innovative, creative new solutions. 

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A polymath has 3 essential skills:

1. Ability to hone their ‘learning how to learn’ skills (so they can learn about many things efficiently and effectively). 
2. Being able to connect the dots between the diverse fields they have knowledge in.
3. Being able to apply their unique combination of knowledge or skills to solve complex problems or move closer to their goals. 

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It's no wonder then that over 15 of the world’s top 20 achievers are polymath thinkers and learners, not geniuses. 

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A simple technique to start building interdisciplinary thinking skills at home

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For parents who want to build their child’s interdisciplinary thinking skills at home, try this simple technique I call the ‘Everything About Something’ approach. It will build the foundations your child needs to think like someone aware of the multiple factors, systems and models that govern our world, and is able to form connections between those worlds. It will help move from one-dimensional thinking to multi-dimensional thinking, and also makes dinner time great fun!

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The Everything About Some Thing (EAST) Technique

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Pick a word. Say ‘leaf’.

Now, ask your kids to talk about/ mind map on:

• The art of the leaf (shades of green, smooth or serrated leaves, patterns of veins etc.)
• The math of the leaf (shape, size, number, weight, arranging in ascending and descending order by any of these attributes, comparison, contrast etc.)
• The science of leaves (chemistry: photosynthesis; biology: lifecycle of a leaf; physics: how they move, what force is needed to move them, etc.)
• The geography/ environmental science of leaves (in which seasons do leaves change color, shed, grow afresh, which plants remain evergreen and why, why are some plants found where we live and not others, why do birds and insects prefer certain leaves and not others etc.)
• The history & culture of leaves (how do people use leaves, what is the cultural significance of certain leaves, why do we see leaves hung outside some houses etc.).
• And any other angle you can think of….even the music of leaves (what sounds do they make when they are fresh, dry, big, small, windy, etc.)!

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Try it and tell us how it worked out!

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Don't miss these additional reads:

3 Skills They Don't Teach At School (But Every 21st Century Learner Absolutely Needs!)

Harnessing The Power of Compound Learning

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