Warren Buffet-best 30-second mind in the world

'He has the best 30-second mind in the world. He goes from A to Z in one move. He sees the essence of everything before you even finish the sentence'. This is indeed a great complement to give to someone. And if it comes from Warren Buffett, you have to just sit up and take notice. Yes, that's correct. This tribute has indeed been paid by the world's most successful investor. And to none other than Buffett's business partner, Charlie Munger. Now, you wouldn't have heard of Munger as much as Warren Buffett. But make no mistake. The hands that made Berkshire Hathaway were as much Munger's as Buffett's. In fact, even Buffett freely admits that Charlie Munger has been one of the biggest influences on his life.

So, what is the philosophy that Munger lives by? Well, he believes that one need not be a genius in order to think better than most human beings. Developing certain thinking habits can also do the trick. And these habits are nothing but 'Big Ideas' from fields as varied as physics and psychology. The upshot is that whenever one is confronted with a problem, one can dig into his mental resources and find the ideas and models that are best suited to solving the underlying problem. And here's the real clincher. As per Munger, there are only 3-4 big ideas in any discipline and hence, most of them can be easily learned and remembered.

Insightful, isn't it? The good news is that you don't have to run helter-skelter to prepare a list of the big ideas yourself. Munger has been kind enough in doing so and the outcome has been a gem of a book titled 'Poor Charlie's Almanack'. It contains not only most of the big ideas that Munger uses to solve problems but also interesting anecdotes and speeches that he has given over the years.

As per us, full justice to this book cannot be done by reading it just once and then forgetting about it forever. Instead, the person who wants to extract the real benefit should take in the wisdom that lies in those pages slowly, one page at a time. Efforts should be made to make the book one's lifelong companion. And a strong improvement in the thinking process is all but guaranteed.