Sometimes it is incredibly valuable to look at old concepts in a new way, and that is exactly what The Art of Thinking in Graphs by Dolev Eraz does.
For visual learners, The Art of Thinking in Graphs is a great way to turn what can be abstract concepts like The Emotional Cycle of Change, and puts it into a graphical form. As part of my goal to read and review one business or self-improvement book a month, I’ve read this book cover to cover and written this review so you can determine if it is worth your time to read!
Lets dig in and see what is inside the cover!
Some key ideas from Thinking in Graphs
Erez has included 52 actionable graphs to transform your thinking, along with a breakdown of the idea that generated the graph and how to apply it to your life. I’ve picked out three that I thought were particularly interesting to share with you.
Chapter 3: Loss Aversion
Loss Aversion is a really insidious concept where we put too much value on not losing something over actually gaining it. In the book, he uses the example of finding $50 on the street vs. losing $50. While most people would be pretty happy to find $50, the amount of pain/frustration is losing that same amount of money if far greater.
This can dramatically affect our decision-making in other realms of our lives. From making business decisions to relationships, over-valuing what we perceive we might lose, will blind us to the possibilities of what might be if we give something up.
I can see this in effect in my past marriage when I was struggling way to hard to hang on to it, when in reality, I wound up being far happier letting it go and moving on with my life.
Chapter 23: The Spotlight Affect (Through Our Ages)
The Spotlight Effect simply states that we think people are thinking about us far more than they actually are. In this chapter, he interfaces that with our attitudes through different stages of life.
This is a short chapter, but it is good to reflect on how your attitudes have changed over time and to really analyze your attitudes about them.
Chapter 42: The Zeigarik Effect
The name of this concept was new to me, but I’ve understood it as “incompletes” for years. In essence, the idea is that every uncompleted task sits in our brains and pokes at us. As soon as we complete a task, it falls out of our memory and no longer consumes runtime.
This is really critical because the more ‘incompletes’ you have, the more stress you have, and the more energy your brain will pull. I do like that he includes some specific steps to take to help resolve this problem, including the 2-Minute Rule.
What I Loved:
The Art of Thinking in Graphs was a pleasure to read. The writing style is very relaxed, and Erez does a great job of taking complex concepts and making them easy to digest.
Front to back the book is organized into clear sections that build one upon the other from relatively simple ideas to more complex ones that build upon the previous ones.
If you are new to these concepts, this is a great intro to them and it is a great way to make them make sense. For me, most of this was a bit of review, and so it wasn’t all new and shiny for me. There was some great insights on them that I hadn’t considered, though, so that was fun.
Reasons to Read:
- It’s an easy, digestible read with short, actionable chapters.
- Gain awareness of daily-life concepts (like stress or decision-making) to transform your reactions.
- Discover practical tools applicable to work, relationships, and beyond.
- Its universal appeal makes it a must for anyone seeking smarter thinking.
Conclusion:
The Art of Thinking in Graphs is a fun, light read that does an excellent job of taking what can be complex ideas and making them simple. His inclusion of how to apply them in your life, and the ways they impact your life, is very insightful and impactful.
I would definitely suggest you pick up a copy for yourself and give it a read, and maybe even a second skim-through just to bring all the ideas home. Plus, as Chapter 11 points out, repetition is key for remembering.
The Art Thinking In Graphs
“There are some real jewels in this book. Dunbar’s number is one of those. The jewels are there to be discovered.”
The Art of Thinking in Graphs
