💡 What?

<aside> 💡 Business is all about strategy and high-level decisions making.

Second-order thinking helps to anticipate the long-term consequences of your actions by thinking about the indirect consequences consequences

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❓ Why?

<aside> 💡 Thinking about 2nd and 3rd order consequences of decisions before you make them helps avoid long-term issues

This is because something that feels good in the moment (e.g the newest growth hack), will often create problems in the long-run (e.g. trust issues from customers and churn)

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💪 How?

Think ahead

• [ ] Before you make a big decision ask yourself: “And then what”?

Write down the consequences over the long run

• [ ] Open the Worksheet [Worksheet] Second order thinking
• [ ] Write down your decision at the top
• [ ] Write down the consequences of your action in:
  • [ ] 10 minutes
  • [ ] 10 months
  • [ ] 10 years

Review

• [ ] Review your decisions regularly and calibrate your thinking based on the actual outcome

✍️ Example

🛠 Resources & Tools

Get your hands dirty

[Worksheet] Second order thinking

Go deep

Higher Order Consequences

Second-Order Thinking: What Smart People Use to Outperform - Farnam Street