Hard Work and Elephant Hunts
I studied mechanical engineering at Rice University. Dr. Pol Spanos taught my statics and dynamics classes. He was a brilliant engineer with a huge smile and an endearing Greek accent. I found the material quite difficult, yet he had a way of bringing joy to my state of impending failure.
He gave me two quotes that have shaped my life. The first spoke to preparation. “When you go on an elephant hunt, it is best not to take a pop gun.” He said this on the first day of class, addressing a handful of juniors—including me and my pop gun—who signed up for his senior level class. It is best not to skip steps. His second quote was repeated every class. “Be a master, not a slave.”[1] His frequently urged us to derive solutions from first principles rather than rely on the answer in the back of the book. Dr. Spanos preached hard work, not shortcuts.
My 31-year professional career has followed his advice. I have been on a few big elephant hunts where solutions were both critical and elusive. There are no shortcuts. Rely on the work that brought you to this point and boldly follow through.
The advice has carried over to other aspects of my life, good or bad. I change my own oil, mow my own lawn, and wash my own windows. Those are the fundamentals that lead to elephants like replacing the half-axles on my F150 or designing and installing an in-floor radiant heat system. My compulsion for doing the hard things can putting my efforts on the wrong side of efficiency if not sanity. Upon reflection, doing the hard work can sometimes be misguided.
This is why I found Mortimer Adler’s book, How to Read a Book,[2] to be life-giving. The book is practical, providing a common-sense methodology to read with an end in mind. My way is the same regardless of the book or my interest. I need to do the work, from the preface through the epilog. If the reading gets difficult, then it is time to lean in. “Be a master,” right? Adler has given me permission to take the shortcut. His steps for Inspectional Reading encouraged—even dared—me to skip 132 pages of his main text. Sometimes, the proper tool is a pop gun.
Armed with my pop gun, I went after my next elephant: Sönke Ahrens’ How to Take Smart Notes.[3] I read the table of contents. I read the back cover, the preface, and the introduction. Of course, I read the chapter called, “Everything You Need to Know.” That shortcut couldn’t be more obvious. The story of Niklas Luhmann and his slip-box was compelling. I gave myself maybe twenty minutes for the balance of the book, including the diagram in the back. Done!
That got me thinking. What other shortcuts has my current professor, Dr. Jason Clark, encouraged me to consider. I must admit, I can play the old man at work, railing against this AI tool that gives answers without understanding. I cautiously launched Copilot, a choice made from the higher ground of it’s not ChatGPT. I asked how to set up a digital Zettelkasten using Obsidian and was met with a ten-step guide. Step 8 is, “Use Obsidian’s graph view to visualize the connections between your notes. This can help you see the bigger picture and discover new connections.”[4] Copilot just threw me in media res—in the middle of things.
Here’s the backstory. I was working in London in 2013 and hired a young engineer from our Azerbaijan office. Above all else, Seymur had an intellectual curiosity and attention to detail. My new mentee was too good for a pop gun. We began the hard work from first principles. No shortcuts.
One afternoon, I saw Seymur working on an image that resembled a spider’s web of nodes and connectors. He called it his mind map, a way of organizing files, emails, and papers. It looked like extra work (which must be good!). Three months later, his mind map incorporated some of my historical work that we used for training. In six months, I joked that he could find my stuff faster than I could. I was impressed with how he could consult the mind map to recall work that I had originated and yet forgotten. I wished I had started my own mind map back in 1993.
Seymur’s demo was 11 years ago. Ahrens, with the help of Copilot, has encouraged me to make a do-over and give the slip-box, Zettelkasten, or mind map a try. Logging notes into Obsidian will take a bit of discipline, but I’ll give it a try.
And I didn’t have to read the whole book!
[1] Words matter. In engineering, a slave is a device that is controlled by another device. I do not mean to imply that people have the ability or desire to choose a life of slavery.
[2] Adler, Mortimer J., and Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book. Revised and Updated edition. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972.
[3] Ahrens, Sönke. How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking. 2nd edition, Revised and Expanded edition. Hamburg, Germany: Sönke Ahrens, 2022.
[4] Text generated by Copilot, response to, “How do I make a digital Zettelkasten using Obsidian?” Microsoft, January 10, 2024.
About the Author
Rich
12 responses to “Hard Work and Elephant Hunts”
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Hey Rich, I also resonate with the permission I felt from the readings. Also, choosing Copilot because it’s not ChatGPT is hilarious.
I don’t remember where I read it, but somewhere, I heard you don’t need to go back and add everything to the ZK; instead, add it as it comes up. There, again, is more freedom.
Robert, that is definitely a lesson here. I wished I had started a rigorous method of organization 20 years earlier but felt it was too late. That was 11 years ago. Think of the database I would have today had I followed Seymur’s example in 2013. No regrets (well, maybe a few). Rather, this is an opportunity to start small with the current pursuits.
Rich –
Thanks for a great post! Like you and Robert, I’m grateful for the freedom found in what we’re learning (and that seems to be intrinsic to the program). There’s something in many of us that seems to think, “the more difficult road is the higher road;” conversations like this are great reminders this isn’t the case!
At the end of your post, you noted how logging notes will take a bit of discipline. I know that will be true for me, as this is a different way of interacting with ideas (but one I’m really hopeful about). Do you mind sharing how you’ve successfully incorporated and sustained new disciplines in the past or how you’re cultivating that in this season?
Thanks again!
Nice. Your prompt could turn into a full post itself.
I need at least two things to make a change from my old, comfortable ways: desire and some level of accountability. I’ll use fitness as an example.
The first is to recognize that my deepest desires can help me overcome my strongest desires. I heard this in a sermon once and it might be attributed to John Mark Comer. For fitness, my strongest desire is to do sit on the couch and watch other people work hard on TV. I don’t really enjoy running. However, my deepest desire recognizes that unchecked high blood pressure causes me to be short with others and physically feel spent. Running lowers my blood pressure without medication. Running could also keep that last 10 pounds off my frame, but my deepest desire is ice cream, not washboard abs. Finding the deepest desire motivates change.
The follow-through comes from transparency and being known. For running, my accountability partners are my temper and my blood pressure cuff. If I’m grouchy around the house, Michaela has the freedom to say, “Maybe you should go for a run.” A reading of 135/92 tells me that I haven’t been doing the work. The accountability needs to be aligned with the desire, which is why a scale can’t tell me to go running. Transparency isn’t this introvert’s preference, but it drives change. It is why I’m in two home groups (yes, I really need help!). It is why I picked this collaborative program. Our new discipline of reading and writing will be easier because I know Mike Hansen is doing the same thing two miles southwest of me.
Rich, thank you for such a thoughtful (and helpful!) reply. I appreciate how you mention transparency and being known as instrumental in making a change of any kind. It’s a great reminder of the value of and need for authentic community. We really do tend to sacrifice what we want MOST for what we want NOW, and the way you tied deepest desires, strongest desires, and accountability to catalyze and sustain change is great.
Rich, coming from a similar engineering and business background, our intent and goal behind being a leader in work is to solve! That is what our instructors have taught us, and now we have learned to balance it out with a “softer” or Emotional Intelligence side. Make sure you are solving right of the decimal, it is cost-effective, has a positive ROI, and paramount, is safe for operational use. It is a capable and controllable approved solution.
What I am beginning to embrace here from Adler is we have some liberty and freedom to step outside those lines – and perhaps significantly. There is beauty in that which I am willing and excited to explore. And much like those longer runs that keep people steady and with a solid healthy foundation, there might (will) be some pain along the way. There will be positive and negative days in this behavioral shift, but tomorrow should be better than today and today better than yesterday. I am curious to know if you are sensing the same shift?
Thanks for the neighborly shout-out. Time to lace up those shoes…
Mike, I think Adler is addressing the means rather than the end. We still measure safety, ROI, and decimal points. Adler is a voice calling for efficiency.
Pop-gun! That’s great, I love it.
I, too, feel a sense of freedom and validation that it’s okay not to read a book from cover to cover. I thought it was just a bad habit to only read it until I felt like reading more was just redundant.
It’s easy for me to forget about AI and note-taking. Do you have a strategy that has worked for you when interacting with new systems or processes throughout your career?
Hi, Darren. Your question is a companion to Jeremiah’s, so I won’t plow the ground of motivation again. Learning a new system requires space and repetition. My goal for 2023 was to learn Python. I did great for the first two months, putting in at least one hour every workday. Come March, the business ramped up and I no longer had space. I fear I have forgotten most of the programming language by now.
The question is timely. Our new system of DLDR 707 requires space and repetition. A casual glance of the syllabus reveals plenty of repetition. For the past three days, I have been asking myself if I am making adequate space for the new.
Rich,
I appreciate the way you wrestle with the shortcuts as I do the same. My dad’s famous line while I was growing up was, “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right.” This means doing it thoroughly and correctly the first time. That was drilled into me from a young age. So, there is strong internal wrestling when this learning skill appears to be a cheat code. However, like you, I am learning to trust the process and the wisdom of those smarter than me.
What is more challenging, hunting the elephant or breaking old mindsets?
I wish I could say that they are equal. At my stage of life, I fear that they are not. I continue to work because I absolutely love getting the impossible technical challenge. People challenges are a different story, which is why I was grateful to give up managerial duties. Old mindsets? My attitude toward AI says it all. Prior to this class, I have only used AI in a test capacity to see if the company tool was getting trained on the right policies and procedures. (Strike that last line from your memory, Mathews!) Humbug.
Maybe context is the key. Workwise, I am set in my ways in part because of the old successful elephant hunts. A new setting like DLGP frees me from the comfort of the familiar.
This was meant to be a short response. You caused me to reflect, so thank you.
I really enjoy how you shared your personal life experiences! This makes these posts a lot more interesting.
Yes, I agree that ‘How to Read a Book” is practical and is challenges one’s mind. I love how Adler provides short cuts in reading books. I am so used to reading word by word, but this will definitely give me more freedom to skip through material that may not be as necessary to read.