The Feynman Technique is a learning method that prioritizes simplicity to build depth of understanding.
It takes its name after Richard Feynman—an American theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his groundbreaking work in quantum electrodynamics.
Richard Feynman was certainly intelligent.
But there are a lot of intelligent people in the world.
Feynman's true genius was noted as his ability to convey complex ideas in simple, elegant ways.
He observed that complexity and jargon are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding.
Hence “The Feynman Razor” that I’ve written about:
If someone uses a lot of complexity and jargon to explain something to you, they probably don’t understand it.
The Feynman Technique is a learning framework that requires you to develop a deep understanding of a given topic.
It involves four key steps:
1. Set the Stage 2. ELI5 (Explain It To Me Like I'm 5) 3. Assess & Study 4. Organize, Convey & Review
Let's cover each step:
Step 1: Set the Stage
What’s the topic you want to learn?
Starting with a blank page, write the topic at the top and jot down everything you know about it.
Read & research the topic.
Add any new learnings or insights as you develop them.
Step 2: ELI5
Here's where it gets unique:
Attempt to explain the topic to someone without a base understanding of it (i.e. a “child”).
On a blank page, write down everything you know about your topic—but pretend you are explaining it to a child.
Use simple language!
Step 3: Assess & Study
Reflect on your performance. Form an honest assessment.
How well were you able to explain the topic to a child? Where did you get frustrated? Where did you turn to jargon?
These are the gaps in your understanding!
Read and study more to fill them.
Step 4: Organize, Convey & Review
Organize your elegant, simple language into a clear, compelling story or narrative.
Convey it to a few others, then iterate and refine accordingly.
Review your new, deep understanding of the topic.
Remember: Simple is beautiful.
The Feynman Technique is a powerful framework for learning anything.
The best entrepreneurs, investors, and thinkers have leveraged this technique—whether they know it or not!
Their common genius: the ability to abstract complexity and convey ideas in simple, digestible ways.
It's easy to overcomplicate and intimidate—we all know people who try to do this.
But don't be fooled—complexity and jargon are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding.
Be better.
Use the Feynman Technique: Find beauty in simplicity.
To summarize the Feynman Technique:
1. Set the Stage 2. ELI5 (Explain It To Me Like I'm 5) 3. Assess & Study 4. Organize, Convey & Review
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Just tried using this framework during bath time, but it turns out explaining it to a 10-month-old is significantly more difficult than explaining it to a 5-year-old.
Oh well. Onward!
In the 1960s, the National Training Laboratories Institute developed a pyramid model to represent the retention rate of information from various activities.
1. Driving in silence is more productive than driving with podcasts on 2x speed.
2. Resting for 15 minutes between meetings is more productive than filling the time with a work task.
3. Reading slowly is more productive than reading quickly.
Note: This comes from a former 2x speed podcast listening driver who filled every spare moment of time with email and read as fast as possible so he could tell people he read 100 books a year.
🤣🤣🤣
Elite athletes great at modulating intensity.
They know that slowing down strategically in training allows them to speed up in competition when the lights come on.
The same lesson applies to our professional lives.
We have to learn how to modulate intensity in order to thrive.
If you struggle with low energy in the morning, try this 2-minute morning routine:
When I was playing baseball in college, we'd have early morning practices, but after a late night of studying (that's all I was doing, Mom!), having energy to hit those early mornings was tough.
So I developed a quick movement series to wake up.