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

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

#151

Post by talkingtab »

Fast thinkers will always win in an environment where "knowing the answer" is the criteria for success. The result is that lots of stupid decisions get made. Really stupid decisions. There are corporations where knowing the answer is much more important than thinking and the correct answer.

This whole thing of asking people technical questions in interviews is IMHO just stupid. In an interview if you want to know if someone is technically good, have them ask you questions and test your knowledge. Or give them a problem without an easy answer. Why and when would you prefer to use Rust vs JavaScript. Why don't people use 'C' anymore?

My advice is: if you find yourself in a "who knows the answer" environment to run like crazy. Corporations use goofy signals. I worked long ago at significant DB company that used the number of hours you worked as a signal for how good you were. Work 9 hours = bad, Work 15 = good. Then they went out of business because it turns out that no one got anything done.

I've been thinking about Cargo Cultism quite a bit. Agile used to be an effective way to do things. Now not so much. Did the technique change? No. What happened is that it because the "right answer". People are going through the motions for something they do not understand. Just silliness.

Do a start up, consult, anything. If you can think well you have lots of options, but will have to work for them.

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

#152

Post by renewiltord »

In circumstances where I’ve seemed this way it’s just that I’ve been thinking about the problem quite a bit and so know the shape of it. In some sense, the quick response is more retrieval than computation.

In times when I haven’t appeared like this, I haven’t thought about the problem much. L

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

#153

Post by hamburglar »

One of the smartest and most respected people I know is someone who hardly says anything. He can sit in a meeting with 15 people, 5 of whom are highly opinionated architects blasting out opinions, and just listening for moments where he can actually add something. If the end of the discussion is getting near and nobody has made his observations and points, he speaks up. Everyone stops and listens.

This has made me more confident in my quiet style. It’s very helpful to know in your gut that you are respected and don’t need to hurry to be the first person to say something. You have nothing to prove. When you wait and only say something that truly advances the discussion, you become mysteriously wise.

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

#154

Post by khazhoux »

_hk_1 wrote: post #129

So, here's what I've found works for me. Picture this: I'm in a meeting, and suddenly I'm put on the spot to make a decision. My mind goes blank, and I start feeling like I've lost half my IQ points. It's frustrating, to say the least. But then I realized something. Just like how martial artists rehearse their moves over and over again until it becomes second nature, I started rehearsing scenarios in my head. For ins…

> So, here's what I've found works for me. Picture this: I'm in a meeting, and suddenly I'm put on the spot to make a decision. My mind goes blank, and I start feeling like I've lost half my IQ points. It's frustrating, to say the least.

> By recognizing when I'm slipping into slow-thinking mode, I can catch myself before I spiral into panic mode. It's all about staying cool, calm, and collected, even when the pressure's on.

Are you sure your experience here is from "slow-thinking"? Your description sounds more like stage-fright. A few years ago I started experiencing this myself, in executive presentations. Very debilitating, when I know the material and feel confident beforehand, but when the spotlight turns to me, my mind goes blank and I struggle to think.

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

#155

Post by matwood »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #132
matwood wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't speak. Great advice. Nothing shows confidence more than asking a question and then waiting for answer. Let the awkward silence sit. And when you do speak, keep answers short and to the point. It also conveys confidence. Anytime I see/hear someone rambling in email/on meeting, I know they are not confident in what they are saying.

> Let the awkward silence sit. I'd argue its far better to say something like, "Good question. I need to think about that for a minute" rather than just sit there saying nothing at all after being asked something. I know a few engineers who do that and while their answer is normally fine, the awkward silence makes me and others question their social skills. Not their intelligence. I know other engineers who do the sa…

I said when you are the question asker, give the person time to answer. Too often, particularly in challenging conversations, the asker will not wait for an answer.

When you are the answerer, yes, do what you suggest but try not to ramble.

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

#156

Post by poulsbohemian »

When I worked in tech, people who were quick thinkers overshadowed everyone else, and it became a kind of machismo. The problem was, just because they were quick thinking didn't mean they were right. Outside of tech, being a more methodical thinker is more accepted and common... the key I've found is to use humor, grace, and humility and play the long game. Demonstrate wisdom over just being quick and clever.

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

#157

Post by hosh »

You don't always need to be the best in all circumstances if you work in a team. A good team (particularly one that gelled) is going to make use of everyone's temperament and skills.

For example, in high-pressure situations, such as when the infra is falling down, you might not be the one coming up with immediate mitigations, but you may be starting a reasoned, calm root-cause analysis that is just as important, if not with the same urgency, as mitigations. If you are also methodical in your troubleshooting, you are providing an alternate path to finding the issue that is different from with a more intuitive approach.

A colleague willing to let you take the time to hear you out helps out a lot.

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

#158

Post by bluGill »

lqet wrote: post #82
paulsutter wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I’m a disappointing person to try to debate or attack. I just have nothing to say in the moment, except maybe, 'Good point.' Then a few days later, after thinking about it a lot, I have a response" - Derek Sivers ( https://sive.rs/slow ) This sounds very admirable to me

Just this morning I listened to a radio interview with pianist Igor Levit. It was excruciating. He had to think for seconds before every third word in a sentence, creating awkward pauses, and when he had finally finished an answer, he had only transmitted trivial content. I am sure that if they had sent him the questions a few days earlier, he could have prepared much more interesting and eloquent answers. I felt ver…

Politicians do mock interviews all the time to prepare. Everyone else expecting to be interviewed should as well. If you put some effort into it you can think up 98% of the questions you might be asked - the only question is what order they will ask and how much detail they want. So you practice someone asking those questions and you responding - sometimes they will ask clarifying questions, sometimes not, but again you know the topic and you have rehearsed everything you want to say. In the end for a 10 minute interview you should have 2 hours worth of answers rehearsed. Not memorized, but rehearsed. You should change the exact words you use, but the ideas you are trying to say are already in your mind and so easy to do.

Remember too that you can redirect questions. They might never ask about your best friend as a kid, but you have rehearsed the story of something you did and that story can be used as an example for 20 different questions. While telling that story you don't really need to think about it so instead you get that entire time to figure out the conclusion where you tie the story back to the question.

Being interviewed is a skill. You can practice it.

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

#159

Post by bluGill »

lqet wrote: post #108
specialist wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and: I would expect a show's producers and editors to fix those pauses.

It was live. But I would've expected that they had a conversation discussing possible topics / questions beforehand (large and established radio station with over 2 million listeners). These awkward pauses would've been spotted then already. Maybe they had, and he was more relaxed and eloquent there, or maybe his schedule didn't allow for a pre-interview meeting.

Even if there wasn't time, he should have practiced interviews before and so been comfortable even if the exact topic is new.

He should always be prepared to talk about his first interest in music. His first time touching a piano. Why he choose piano (which may have been his parents forcing it at first). What other instruments he plays. What is favorite music is. Details about whatever piece is performing now (maybe spoilers on what he is practicing but not yet performing). Ideally he should listen to modern music so he can connect to kids by talking about something popular today (maybe even play a piano arrangement of it).

Those are the basics that he should have an easy time talking about. If he unexpectedly wins an award he didn't expect to be in competition for he might be speechless, but for the above the answers should be easy.

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

#160

Post by alentred »

dijit wrote: post #38

This is something that's easy to have an opinion on so you're going to get buried. I'll do my best to make a high-signal comment here, but it will be drowned by all the other replies, which also likely touch on these points. First, "slow-thinking" is really just a different way of expressing your thinking and you should begin by leaning into it rather than leaning away. Take time, allow yourself to pause to collect y…

All great advice. Avoiding the situations that require the "quick thinking" is not always possible, but this advice holds in a general case as well.

More that anything else I agree with a) taking the time, and b) keeping an option to avoid the answer altogether.

I don't know if I qualify as a "slow" or "fast" thinker - I actually think that no one qualifies as either and it all depends on your experience in the topic at hand - but I have my share of situations where I cannot get my thoughts together. With --age-- experience I taught myself to feel comfortable with taking my time (reasonable amount, though) or just saying "let me think of it and come back to you later" (if I feel the pause can become unreasonably long). Most people I am surrounded with understand and accept it well.

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