Gert Scholtz

6 years ago · 2 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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The Color of Charlie

The Color of Charlie

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“He spoke on stage for three hours. I was hooked on every word. And he is ninety years old.” The excited words of a friend who attended the annual Berkshire Hathaway conference in Omaha and had the rare opportunity to listen to Charlie Munger speaking. 

Munger is Warren Buffett’s long-time business partner. The lesser known of the two, Munger is equally impressive. He never took a single course in economics, business, marketing, finance, psychology or accounting, yet he became one of the financial world’s most recognizable figures over the last five decades.  

Poor Charlie’s Almanack is a collection of Charlie Munger’s advice given in speeches and round-table talks. In his talks, he shows wit, rationality, and originality. Here are a few quotes and extracts, in the straight forward style that is Munger.


Any year that you don’t destroy one of your best-loved ideas is probably a wasted year.
Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean.
Invert, always invert. Many hard problems are best solved only when they are addressed backwards.
Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.
Above all, never fool yourself, and remember that you are the easiest person to fool.
It’s great to have a manager with a 160 IQ – unless he thinks it’s 180. 
Always take the high road, it’s far less crowded.
The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more. 
You don’t have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long time. 
In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time – none, zero. 
If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group, then to hell with them.
No wise pilot, no matter how great his talent and experience, fails to use a checklist.
People are trying to be smart—all I am trying to do is not to be idiotic, but it’s harder than most people think.
Assiduity. I like that word because to me it means: Sit down on your ass until you do it.
There is no way you can live an adequate life without making many mistakes.Charlie Munger


Munger gives an anecdote on knowing everything, based on the behavior of bees.

“When a bee finds nectar, it comes back and does a little dance that tells the rest of the hive, as a matter of genetic programming, which direction to go and how far. So some clever scientist stuck the nectar straight up. Well, the nectar’s never straight up in the ordinary life of a bee. The nectar’s out. So the bee finds the nectar and returns to the hive. But it doesn’t have the genetic programming to do a dance that says straight up. So what does it do? What it actually does is to dance this incoherent dance that gums things up. And a lot of people are like that bee. They attempt to answer a question like that. And that is a huge mistake. I try to get rid of people who always confidently answer questions about which they don’t have any real knowledge. Nobody expects you to know everything about everything."


And he tells this story about the value of true partnership.

“Two partners that I chose for one phase in my life made the following simple agreement when they created a little design, build and construction team in the middle of the great depression: “Two-man partnership,” they said, “and divide everything equally. And, whenever we’re behind in our commitments to other people, we will both work fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, until we’re caught up.” Well, needless to say, that firm didn’t fail. And my partners were widely admired. Simple, old-fashioned ideas like theirs are almost sure to provide a good outcome.”


Munger is ninety-two years old now. Here is his view on legacy:

“It is unworthy that an old man would work to improve only what he would live to enjoy. For him the only life worth living is dedicated in substantial part to good outcomes one cannot possibly survive to see.“


Nobody expects you to know everything.
Munger comes close.


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Comments

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #21

#26
Thank you for reading and commenting Jean. Also for recommending "The Tao of Charlie Munger" - looking forward to reading it as I find Munger's advice and anecdotes timeless in its insight.

Ali Anani

6 years ago #20

#22
. Thank you Gert Scholtz and. I accept your suggestion.
A great buzz about a great man.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #18

Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee Thank you for your comments dear Ali. If I had guess what would interest you, it would have been what Munger says on inversion :) I hope at some stage you can share your Reverse Businesses presentation in a beBee post.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #17

Edward Lewellen I guess we all have a favorite line from Munger. For me it would be his phrasing on assiduity and herd behavior. Thanking you for your engagement, shares, and your kind words.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #16

Edward Lewellen I guess we all can select a favorite line from Munger. For me I would be the lines on assiduity and herd behavior. Thanking you for your engagement, shares, and your kind words.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #15

#13
Thank you for your words David. Much appreciated that you shared and stopped by!

Lisa Gallagher

6 years ago #14

I love the quote of Charlies, "Always take the high road, it's always less crowded." Oh wow.. I've been on a path of learning to utilize those words for a long time. It's a lovely path once you become familiar with it. Thanks for this Gert Scholtz

Ali Anani

6 years ago #13

Thank you my friend Edward Lewellen for the tag Gert Scholtz- great quotes and analogy and they amply reflect the color of charlie. In particular this one quote "Invert, always invert. Many hard problems are best solved only when they are addressed backwards".One of my most well-received presentations is titled Reverse Businesses. I am in full accordance with Charlie.

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #12

Having already seen this at LinkedIn it is my pleasure to assert again just how good this buzz is !

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #11

Can you imagine what it would be like to just be around a man of this great wisdom if only for a little while? Wow!

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #10

Thanks again, Gert, for this informative and insightful read. Brilliant blogging buzz!

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #9

#11
Debasish Majumder Good to know you enjoyed it and thank you for sharing Debasish.

Debasish Majumder

6 years ago #8

nice shareGert Scholtz! enjoyed read and shared. thank you for the share.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #7

Javier \ud83d\udc1d beBee Many thanks for responding so quickly and removing the spammer.
Gert Scholtz we are removing spammers/scammers. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #5

Javier \ud83d\udc1d beBee It looks like we have an imposter on beBee - olivia pasco commenting below.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #4

Javier \ud83d\udc1d beBee Dankie soos altyd.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #3

Javier \ud83d\udc1d beBee That's an interesting one Aleta - the difference between trying to be smart and trying not to be idiotic. Thanks for highlighting the phrase.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #2

#1
Ken Boddie I guess that is one of the challenges of knowledge – to know what you don’t know. I like your insight that mentoring is one way to invest in something of which we may not fully experience the fruits. Thanks for reading and commenting Ken. Now to find that video!

Ken Boddie

6 years ago #1

Only Google knows everything, Gert, but Google doesn't know what Google doesn't know. I like the concept of investing in what we won't live to see, and like to think that mentoring others less experienced to do our tasks, hopefully better than us, falls partly into this goal. Looks like you found some real nectar her, Gert. So let's see the video of your buzzy dance. 🕺🤣

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