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Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

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11–20 of 160 posts

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#11
By what measure do the people studied ‘get stuff done’? By virtue of being a founder? Is this an attempt to shed light on productivity or a backhanded way to compliment the Silicon Valley crowd? Generally you get things done by being dedicated and having the ability to deliver, rather than having a distorted vision of reality.

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#12
post #3

Under Personal Exceptionalism, it says “not to be confused with arrogance or high self-esteem”; but how are they different?

Personal exceptionalism is when everybody tells you how and wrong and stupid you are and regardless you produce a superior product or convention. It wouldn't happen if you actually listened to the idiots around you. Arrogance is telling the people around you how they are idiots instead of producing a superior product or convention. Think about it in terms of your performance (output) instead of your opinions (what yo…

Thanks. How does that apply to high self esteem? Someone who talks a lot about how great they are projects high self esteem outward, while someone with an internal attitude of personal exceptionalism just gets stuff done and doesn’t brag about it? This is very interesting and subtle.

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#13
post #7

Yes, I think there are at least five. So this is a list of at least five, but not the five I think. Several of them feel like variations of the same theme: I know I'm right, so I can disregard evidence|opinion|counter-argument because .. an axiom of the system is I know I'm right. If I had a sixth, it would be the tendency to latch onto a mantra. "think different" doesn't really mean very much, but boy, successful pe…

> "...it would be the tendency to latch onto a mantra. "think different" doesn't really mean very much, but boy, successful people who get stuff done like to say it." True. But reading you say it now makes it sound less like GTD and more like they do the right (different) things. Things that yield results; which makes the lead up look important. Kinda the tasks are a symptom more than a means, if that makes sense.

I guess "think different" to them means "take risks" or "run counter to the stream on things" or "see threats as opportunities" or something.

IBM had just "think" and I really liked that. The trouble is, it leads to endless ratiocination.

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#14
Some friends and I agree there is this "game" which is to own the meeting: only be in a meeting, if you can own it. It sometimes plays out as hugely destructive to the agenda somebody else had going into the meeting, but boy, is it effective at getting (some) things done.

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#15
post #11

By what measure do the people studied ‘get stuff done’? By virtue of being a founder? Is this an attempt to shed light on productivity or a backhanded way to compliment the Silicon Valley crowd? Generally you get things done by being dedicated and having the ability to deliver, rather than having a distorted vision of reality.

How do you maintain dedication and commitment to deliver? It's not just about knowledge or skills, as many idle geniuses can tell you.

Depression is correlated with realistic perception of realist. Non-Depression (optimism, productivity) is correlated with mild delusion.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201206...

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#16
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal exceptionalism is when everybody tells you how and wrong and stupid you are and regardless you produce a superior product or convention. It wouldn't happen if you actually listened to the idiots around you. Arrogance is telling the people around you how they are idiots instead of producing a superior product or convention. Think about it in terms of your performance (output) instead of your opinions (what yo…

Thanks. How does that apply to high self esteem? Someone who talks a lot about how great they are projects high self esteem outward, while someone with an internal attitude of personal exceptionalism just gets stuff done and doesn’t brag about it? This is very interesting and subtle.

You know you have a certain level of personal exceptionalism due to proof of practice. In my personal experience I have formed the personal belief that people are generally deeply fearful and offended by originality. There is a minority segment of any population that is willing to embrace originality and try the new thing (whatever it is). If that new thing is embraced by those willing to give it a shot then (and only then) can it become a potentially experimental idea by the rest of the population, a sort of social validation.

For the person working on that new thing this is deeply frustrating. The early hostility is super depressing. You just have to power through it, because you have the personal vision to know that new thing solves a problem in a certain way.

Having gone through this more than once I have formed high personal exceptionalism. Due to my technical experience I now have a pretty good idea of what ideas are super great and what ideas are really bad, though from time to time I am still (rarely) surprised at just how wrong I am.

The consequence of this is that I am really bad at marketing and self-promotion. I would rather just work on my idea without telling anybody. Because I have a small following of users to my big github project I know people will end up using my code anyways. The biggest limitation in this approach is that you are effectively removing yourself from external feedback.

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#17
post #7

Yes, I think there are at least five. So this is a list of at least five, but not the five I think. Several of them feel like variations of the same theme: I know I'm right, so I can disregard evidence|opinion|counter-argument because .. an axiom of the system is I know I'm right. If I had a sixth, it would be the tendency to latch onto a mantra. "think different" doesn't really mean very much, but boy, successful pe…

>seventh might be they believe implicitly they are the smartest person in the room

As a person with contrarian tendencies who has occasionally been accused of "implicitly believing" I'm the smartest guy in the room, I think it's important to recognize there's a difference between trusting your own reasoning and thinking you're smarter than everybody else. You can mostly avoid the latter by learning strategies that help you estimate the confidence level you should have in your beliefs. A couple of "am I wrong?" mnemonics I've learned to apply include:

- What kind of evidence are my ideas based on? Is it observation, hearsay, case studies, or something more substantial?

- How many silly/unrealistic counterexamples can I think of? Often these will contain hints of a more complicated, realistic objection.

- (if you have time to use the Web) Are there any professional researchers whose conclusion resembles my argument? What can I learn from/about them?

- Am I at risk of wishful thinking, availability/selection bias, or defending a position I previously implicitly committed to? If so, try to apply the same reasoning to a similar situation where the fallacy won't apply.

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#19
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal exceptionalism is when everybody tells you how and wrong and stupid you are and regardless you produce a superior product or convention. It wouldn't happen if you actually listened to the idiots around you. Arrogance is telling the people around you how they are idiots instead of producing a superior product or convention. Think about it in terms of your performance (output) instead of your opinions (what yo…

Thanks. How does that apply to high self esteem? Someone who talks a lot about how great they are projects high self esteem outward, while someone with an internal attitude of personal exceptionalism just gets stuff done and doesn’t brag about it? This is very interesting and subtle.

Low self-esteem means hating yourself. It means that even if everyone else can do it, you still think you can't.

High self-esteem means respecting yourself. It means that if someone else can do it, you thin you can do it too.

Exceptionalism is a mild delusion that says that risks and constraints don't apply to you. It means that if no one else can do it, that doesn't mean you can't.

Arrogance is about how you treat others, not how you treat yourself.

Re: Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done (2012) [pdf]

#20
post #11

By what measure do the people studied ‘get stuff done’? By virtue of being a founder? Is this an attempt to shed light on productivity or a backhanded way to compliment the Silicon Valley crowd? Generally you get things done by being dedicated and having the ability to deliver, rather than having a distorted vision of reality.

How do you maintain dedication and commitment to deliver? It's not just about knowledge or skills, as many idle geniuses can tell you. Depression is correlated with realistic perception of realist. Non-Depression (optimism, productivity) is correlated with mild delusion. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201206...

By having excellent social support structures, many resources, above average ability and domain knowledge, a sense of purpose in your work and being free of mental health issues.
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