In my many years of running Bridgewater I have learned that people’s thinking abilities differ and that it is important to understand these differences so that they are appropriately considered when assigning people to roles. I have tried to find experts who understood these differences to help me better understand and test for them. I have found a few truly insightful people amid a mass of mediocrity.56 I
have also found that there are all sorts of theories from all sorts of people about how people think and why, so very little should be treated as fact. It seems that “political correctness” and the reluctance to objectively discuss differences in innate abilities have stood in the way of forthright and thoughtful research on this important subject. While the search for good advice and tests has been challenging, it has also been invaluable. What follows is a mix of my theories based on my personal observations and a collection of valuable things I have learned from others.57
• There are two big differences in how people think that are due to the brain’s coming in two big halves and different people relying differently on them.
I know I have only scratched the surface of learning about how people think, why they think differently, and how to test for these different thinking abilities, so I am excited about the potential of learning more.
I believe, but am not certain about, the following:
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o The left hemisphere reasons sequentially, analyzes details, and excels at linear analysis. Left-brained thinkers do these things well. They are also called linear thinkers. When they excel at this type of thinking they are called “bright.”
This was explained by Caltech Professor Roger Sperry, who won a Nobel Prize in medicine for attributing these two ways of thinking to different reliances on the two hemispheres. As a result of this discovery, these two ways of thinking are called “left-brained” and “right-brained.” Professor Sperry helped us understand that:
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o The right hemisphere reasons holistically, recognizes themes, and synthesizes the big picture. Right-brained thinkers do these things well. People who think this way are also called lateral thinkers. Those who excel at this kind of thinking are called “smart.”60
Long before I knew that there was a Professor Sperry I saw these differences. I bet you’ve seen them too.
On a scale of -5 to +5 – left-brained to right-brained – where do you think you fall? How confident are you that your self-assessment is right?
56 I have particularly valued psychologist Bob Eichinger.
57 I am convinced that we are just scratching the surface of understanding differences in how people think and how to test for it, so
there is great potential for others to follow this path. Unfortunately, most of the world’s experts I have met are more theoretical than practical.
58 A good book on this is A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink, and a good article on the science of this is “A Wandering Mind
Heads Straight Toward Insight” by Robert Lee Hotz from The Wall Street Journal.
59 “Bright” people have high IQs, are highly analytical thinkers, and can solve complex mental problems. 60 “Smart” people have common sense, are good at synthesizing, and can imagine what is possible.
• Some people see details (trees), and others see big pictures (forests). Those who “see trees” see the parts most vividly and don’t readily relate the parts to each other in order to see the big picture—e.g., they might prefer more literal, precise paintings. They are typically left-brained. Others connect the dots to pictures. In fact, they typically don’t even see the dots; they just see the pictures. They are typically right-brained. You can detect which type people are by observing what they focus on. Detailed thinkers can lose sight of the big picture and are more likely to focus in on a part than to go to the higher level and see the relationship between parts. For example, a person who focuses on details can be thrown off by word mistakes like “there“ instead of “their,” while big-picture thinkers won’t even notice the mistake. Similarly, big-picture thinkers can often understand the meaning of sentences even when key words are reversed—e.g., when “up” is mistakenly used instead of “down,” they understand that the person speaking couldn’t have meant “up” in that context. That is because their attention is focused on the context first and the details second. When describing the same meeting, these two different types will frequently focus on completely different things and disagree on their interpretations. In discussions, they can frustrate each other and discount what the other is saying. Similarly, a person of one type interviewing another type will usually yield an unsatisfactory result.
On a scale of -5 to +5 – “detailed” to “big picture – where do you think you fall? How confident are you that your self-assessment is right?
• Some people rely more on remembering what they were taught when making decisions,
and others rely more on their independent reasoning. Let’s call the first group memory-based learners and the second group reasoning-based thinkers. When using the word “learning” I intend to convey “acquiring knowledge by being taught,” and when using the word “thinking” I mean “figuring it out for oneself.” Memory-based learners approach decision-making by remembering what they were taught. They draw on their memory banks and follow the instructions stored there. They are typically left-brained. Reasoning-based thinkers pay more attention to the principles behind what happens. They are typically right-brained. You can tell the difference when what is learned (e.g., CAPM) conflicts with what is logical (e.g., All Weather). People who rely on memory-based learning will typically be more skeptical of unconventional ideas because their process is to more readily accept what they have been told and because they are less able to assess it for themselves. Those who rely on more on reasoning won’t care much about
convention and will assess ideas on their merits. Those who rely on memory-based learning also tend to align themselves with the consensus more than people who rely on reasoning. Memory- based learners are more willing to accept the status quo, while reasoning-based thinkers are less biased by it. They are more likely to be innovative, while those who rely on learning are likelier to be cautious. Performance in school will correlate well with the quality of one’s learning-based thinking, but will not reliably correlate with one’s reasoning-based thinking. The most able learners are easily found, since they are, or were, the best students from the best schools. The best thinkers are tougher to find, as there are no obvious funnels through which they pass, especially before they develop track records in the “real world.”
On a scale of -5 to +5—“learning” to “thinking”—where do you think you fall? How confident are you that your self-assessment is right?
• Some people are focused on daily tasks, and others are focused on their goals and how to achieve them. Those who “visualize” best can see the pictures (rather than the dots) over time. They have a strong capacity to visualize and will be more likely to make meaningful changes and anticipate future events. They are the most suitable for creating new things (organizations, projects, etc.) and managing organizations that have lots of change. We call them “creators.” They are typically right-brained thinkers. By contrast, those who are focused on the daily tasks are better at managing things that don’t change much or require repetitive processes done reliably, and are typically best at doing clearly specified tasks. They see things much more literally and tend to make incremental changes that reference what already exists. They are slower to depart from the status quo and more likely to be blindsided by sudden events. They are typically left-brained thinkers.
On a scale of -5 to +5—“tasks” to “goals”—where do you think you fall? How confident are you that your self-assessment is right?
• Some people are “planners,” and others are “perceivers.” Planners like to focus on a plan and stick with it, while perceivers are prone to focus on what’s happening around them and more readily adapt to it. Perceivers see things happening and work backward to understand the cause and how to respond; they work from the outside in; they also see many more possibilities that they compare and choose from; often they see so many that they are confused by them. In contrast, planners work from the inside out, figuring out first what they want to achieve and then how things should unfold. Planners and perceivers have trouble appreciating each other. While a perceiver likes to see new things and change directions often, this is discomforting to planners, who prefer to stick to a plan. Planners weigh precedent much more heavily in their decision- making, and assume that if it was done before in a certain way, it should be done again in the same way, while perceivers tend to optimize on the spot. Planners are typically left-brained, and perceivers are typically right-brained.
On a scale of -5 to +5—“planner” to “perceiver”—where do you think you fall? How confident are you that your self-assessment is right?
• Some people are driven more by their emotions, and others are driven more by their intellect. We all have emotions and intellect. When they conflict, some people will give in to their emotions, while others maintain control of their emotions and are driven by their intellect. I am told this is more due to relative reliance on the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, but I’m not sure. Once again, these two different types typically can’t understand and typically frustrate each other.
On a scale of -5 to +5—“driven by emotion” to “driven by intellect”—where do you think you fall?
How confident are you that your self-assessment is right?
• Some people are risk-takers, and others are risk-averse.
On a scale of -5 to +5—“risk-averse” to “risk-taker”—where do you think you fall? How confident are you that your self-assessment is right?
• Some people are introverts, and others are extroverts. The most important difference between them is their willingness to fight for truth. Introverts tend to find the necessary conflicts more difficult.
On a scale of -5 to +5—“introvert” to “extrovert”—where do you think you fall? How confident are you that your self-assessment is right?