Second-Order Thinking: What Smart People Use to Outperform

Here are some ways to put second-order thinking into practice today.

1. Always ask yourself, “And then what?”


2. Think across time — What do the consequences look like in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 Years?


3. Create templates like the second image above with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order consequences. Identify your decision, think it through, and write down the conseq

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A lot of extraordinary things in life are the result of things that are first-order negative, second order positive. So just because things look like they have no immediate payoff, doesn’t mean that’s the case. All it means is that you’ll have less competition if the second and third order consequences are positive because everyone who thinks at th... See more

First-level thinking looks similar. Everyone reaches the same conclusions. This is where things get interesting. The road to out-thinking people can’t come from first-order thinking. It must come from second-order thinking. Extraordinary performance comes from seeing things that other people can’t see.