Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 280 posts

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#71

Post by wizzwizz4 »

orng wrote: post #41
annie_muss wrote: post #22

I have taken a properly administered IQ test. I scored 135 in one area and 89 in another. My main issue is I have very poor working memory. Luckily, we have technology to compensate for our deficiencies. * I write everything down on calendars, to do lists, planners etc. * I have a smart speaker in every room so I can capture pieces of information as soon as I know about them. * I use many different kinds of timers to…

The only insight IQ tests can give you is that anyone who gives them any merit is either a moron or uninformed.

That's the only insight IQ scores can give you. But each IQ test tests for something, and IQ being a bunk concept doesn't invalidate that.

Reading comprehension tests test end-to-end ability to process that test and those questions in this circumstance. What comes next? tests test your ability to understand and solve a particular set of puzzles: they're a decent proxy for pattern-recognition skills if you share cultural context with the test author and can handle the administrative overhead of that style of examination. And so on. It's nonsense to give yourself some overall score at the end (though this can make sense for populations), but that doesn't mean the tests are worthless.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#72

Post by swader999 »

al_borland wrote: post #7

Sometimes what people think is quickness is actually extensive prep. I had a 30 minute meeting the other day to ask a team to do something I didn’t think they would want to do. It ended up going really smoothly and they just took my word for it, but had they not, I spend several hours preparing for that meeting, gathering data, preparing charts to illustrate the data, thinking of the possible objections and responses…

This is so key. Ridiculous amounts of preparation is the only way I've mastered these critical conversations. I had to convince a bunch of cranky ski coaches to run a race in minus 30c weather at a team captains meeting before the race. I was able to recite the weather, time of sunrise, the exact time on the t bar, distance to the course, distance back to the lodge and so on.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#73

Post by rightbyte »

__lbracket__ wrote: post #17

At work, you can buy reasonable time: "let me get back to you" Outside work, people remember/invite people who are empathetic and/or fun to be around, not those who win arguments. In fact argument winners tend to annoy people more. There are very few high-stakes situations where quick thinking is crucial. What most people mistake for quick thinking (say averting a mishap during airplane landing) is trained muscle mem…

When trying to be funny, quick thinking is crucial. I think that is about it.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#74

Post by swader999 »

switch007 wrote: post #49
theshrike79 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly the reason all meetings should have an agenda posted beforehand. Not everyone is able to make decisions on the fly, they need the chance to prepare first.

Agreed. IMO it's used as a tactic to catch people off guard, so the organiser can attend more prepared than anyone else, and get their way But the person who could enforce that all meetings must have an agenda probably also uses the lack of an agenda to their advantage, so the status quo continues

Well most meetings should begin with a call to approve agenda with consideration for adding to it.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#76

Post by feintruled »

rticesterp wrote: post #25
g7r wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you please share a couple of examples on how you use Anki?

I put in random facts and categorize them. Topic of reading comes up, I can never remember books I’ve read. I started making Anki flash cards of book summaries. I review this and other topics for 15 minutes a day

I had an idea like this for helping introverts with icebreaking small talk. Flash style cards for each person, with info on what you spoke about last time, and a pre-prepared opener for the next time you bump into them. With the card info being updated each time you meet them.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#77

Post by frumiousirc »

Xcelerate wrote: post #54

As other commenters have mentioned, I’ve noticed that people generally tend to fall into one of two groups: those who think out loud and those who process internally. (And I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not, but almost all of the managers I have had in my career have been the former.) I tend to think internally, and while I usually have a clear vision in my head of how a system works, if I try to translate tha…

> I tend to think internally, and while I usually have a clear vision in my head of how a system works, if I try to translate that mental model on-the-fly into an explanation for others, it typically comes out as an incoherent jumble of loosely related phrases.

Just a thank you for describing what is my own self perception. I thought I was a broken weirdo. Well, maybe I still am, but at least I'm not alone!

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#79

Post by BoringBoron »

In addition to other great (and not so great) advice here, consider testing for ADHD, if you haven’t already. I finally got tested and diagnosed pretty late in life, and started taking Adderall. It helps somewhat. In my brain, the noise made it difficult to focus on conversations, even 1x1, and part of that noise was constantly gaming out potential responses in real time. Now I am still slow, but have an easier time holding on to the conversation thread, and so pulling out an appropriate response from my memory. I still overprepare for every conversation, and try to have organized notes when I can. My patient wife got used to me saying that I need time to think through something. I then make a spreadsheet of potential conversation branches and decision options, and we end up having a much more productive conversation.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#80

Post by jawns »

As an engineering manager, I recognize that some people are comfortable talking through things extemporaneously in a 1:1 or a group setting, while others prefer chewing on the problem a bit and crafting their ideas at their own pace.

That's why I try to make space for both ends of the spectrum. One of the practices I've had great success with is a weekly update note, where my direct reports have the opportunity to write out their thoughts about how the week has gone and to raise any concerns. There have been too many times to count when a "slow thinker" has identified a problem via that channel that they didn't raise in our conversations, because they felt more comfortable being able to choose their words carefully in an async manner. If I hadn't made space for that kind of communication, I would have lost out on really smart ideas.

Post reply on HN