This is a comprehensive summary of “Think Like a Rocket Scientist” by Ozan Varol. The book explores simple strategies you can use to make giant leaps in work and life.

what’s in it for me? learn powerful scientific strategies to help make your dreams a reality.#

Introduction

ozan varol.

think like a rocket scientist.

simple strategies you can use to make giant leaps in work and life.

narrated by amanda mar and thomas florio.

have you lowered the bar on what you think you can achieve?

or worse, have you resigned yourself to mediocrity?

perhaps you're frustrated that you can't come up with a solution that would propel your business to a new level.

or maybe you've told yourself that your aspiration is really just a pipe dream.

and why wouldn't you?

isn't success exclusively for the elite geniuses of the world or people with enough money to follow their hearts?

the truth is, everyone is capable of achieving a breakthrough.

whether it's that brilliant idea for a new product, scoring that promotion, or even learning a new skill.

what differentiates those who make this happen from those who don't isn't necessarily intelligence or money, it's mindset.

once you change how you approach problems and challenges, you can make giant leaps in all areas of your life.

and to make that change, you need to learn how to think like a rocket scientist.

chapter-1 of 8 the engineers and scientists at nasa's jet propulsion laboratory have a strange tradition.

changing your attitude towards uncertainty opens you up to discovery.#

at crucial moments in every space mission, they chomp on peanuts.

this phenomenon began when a ranger spacecraft successfully launched after a long run of failures.

an engineer had brought a bag of peanuts into mission control that day.

since then, peanuts are eaten at every launch to ward off bad luck.

this shows that even the most scientific among us fear uncertainty.

that's why we engage in strange rituals like eating peanuts or wearing our lucky jeans to regain a sense of control.

we can't help feeling this way.

fear of the unknown helped keep our ancestors safe from saber-toothed tigers.

but when we avoid uncertainty altogether, we close ourselves off to new possibilities.

the key message here is, changing your attitude towards uncertainty opens you up to discovery.

scientists don't see uncertainty as something to fear.

when faced with a dark, shadow-filled room, they don't turn away like most of us.

they poke around in it until they find a light switch.

once that light's on, they can evaluate what they've found.

there might be something curious in the room, or there may be another door leading to yet another mystery.

uncertainty doesn't make scientists panic.

it invigorates them.

instead of worrying about the monsters that might be lurking in corners, they focus on all the amazing things awaiting discovery.

there are some practical steps you can take to get excited about the unknown instead of letting it inhibit you.

start by asking yourself what the worst possible outcome would be.

next, consider how likely it is for that outcome to occur.

writing down these thoughts puts them in perspective, since tragedy rarely strikes.

more often than not, you'll see that the things you value most will still be intact, even if the worst scenario plays out.

acknowledging this disarms your fears about venturing down a new path.

once you've faced your fears, you'll be free to set off on your own journey and see what you can achieve.

the best way to innovate is to stop conforming.#

chapter 2 of 8 tech entrepreneur elon musk had a problem, a $20 million one.

he wanted to launch a space company to pursue his dream of settling mars.

but he couldn't afford a single rocket.

the aerospace companies building them all outsourced work to subcontractors, who outsourced work further.

all those margins added to an already expensive item, making it unobtainable.

musk was about to give up when he had a revelation.

he asked himself what you needed to go to space.

the answer, of course, was a rocket.

and what makes a rocket?

raw materials.

after some number crunching, musk found that those materials cost just 2% of the average price of a rocket.

and if musk did the bulk of manufacturing in-house, he'd have far greater control over the quality and budget.

by striking out on his own, musk could start working towards his dream.

the key message here is, the best way to innovate is to stop conforming.

life is filled with routines and rituals that we follow without question.

we get up at the same time, take the same route to work, eat the same thing for lunch each day.

this serves a useful purpose.

we simply don't have the time or headspace to analyze every decision we make.

but when we blindly follow outdated routines, we end up privileging process over outcome.

instead of questioning if there's a better way to do something, we get trapped in habits that hinder original ideas.

you can break free of constraining routines by embracing your inner rocket scientist.

rocket scientists use first principles thinking.

this method asks you to systematically question every possible aspect of a situation until you arrive at an indisputable truth.

for instance, that you need raw materials to build a rocket.

during this exercise, let go of all assumptions about what's been done in the past.

this will move you beyond established boundaries, like believing only government-funded space agencies can afford rockets.

that way, you enter the realm of innovative thinking.

to identify which processes to challenge with first principles thinking, reflect on why you do something the way you do it.

when justifying your response, make sure your explanation relates to your current circumstances, not the past.

just like musk, you may find that by forging your own path, you can achieve that ambitious goal.

productivity is the enemy of original thought.#

chapter 3 of 8 when he was 16, albert einstein mused over what would happen if he could observe light by running as fast as it.

he knew this was beyond the scope of his body.

but imagining this scenario lay the foundations for what became the special theory of relativity a decade later.

nikola tesla also used his imagination as his laboratory.

he devoted hours to planning out his inventions mentally before sketching them.

his mind was the first testing ground for his alternating current system, which we benefit from every day.

neither he nor einstein would have achieved their incredible breakthroughs if their lives had been cluttered with busyness.

the key message here is, productivity is the enemy of original thought.

creativity needs time and space.

that's why so many modern workplaces are so uncreative.

most of us are trapped in a cycle of self-propagating work.

every email we send results in another email, which we feel compelled to answer immediately.

we're under so much pressure to get results and deliver that there's little scope for curiosity and exploration.

before we know it, we've forgotten that we were once children who loved discovery, who kept asking questions about the world.

but that childlike sense of wonder and openness is essential if you want to find innovative solutions for problems.

luckily, it's not hard to reconnect with your inner seven-year-old.

all you need to do is run a thought experiment.

thought experiments offer us the space to consider a specific question in a parallel world where reality works differently.

this frees you from limitations like skills, access to resources, or even, like in einstein's case, physical reality.

the point isn't necessarily to hit on the right answer, but to gain insight by forcing yourself out of stale thinking patterns.

adding unoccupied time into your schedule encourages thought experiments.

when your mind is given permission to drift, the areas of your brain responsible for creativity come to life.

this is why many authors, like j.k. rowling, champion boredom.

in 1990, before smartphones were invented, rowling's train from manchester to london was delayed by four hours.

the story of harry potter emerged in her mind while she was stuck at the station with nothing to do.

imagine what your mind might gift you if you allowed it time to wander.

your mind is the biggest obstacle between you and your goal.#

chapter 4 of 8 you're probably familiar with the story of icarus, who tried to escape imprisonment on crete by using wings made of wax.

despite his father's warnings, icarus flew too high.

the sun melted his wings and icarus plunged to his death.

through warnings and stories like this, society teaches you to fear taking risks.

this keeps you safe when you're young, but it holds you back as an adult.

you tell yourself you don't have what it takes to go for that promotion or ask your crush out on a date.

but if you change the story you're telling yourself, you can finally soar.

the key message here is, your mind is the biggest obstacle between you and your goal.

many of us think that success belongs to the elite, not average people, so we don't bother trying.

this attitude demonstrates a point author david schwartz makes in his book the magic of thinking big.

the main obstacle stopping you from achieving your goals isn't your bank balance or lack of time.

it's your mind.

to combat thoughts that discourage you from chasing your dreams, practice divergent thinking.

divergent thinking is a method used to stimulate creativity by generating ideas without limitations or restriction.

in divergent thinking, every idea is welcome, irrespective of real-world restraints like budget.

every idea is embraced as a possibility.

the aim is to come up with as many ideas as possible, not hit upon a perfect solution.

this ensures you don't dismiss any concepts prematurely.

to practice divergent thinking, banish that rational voice in your head.

that way, your mind is free to enter the realm of creativity and innovation.

here, you can explore what you could do, rather than what you think you should do.

once you finish generating possibilities, you can welcome back your rational self to evaluate your ideas.

if your mind falls back on old or pedestrian ideas, push it outside the box.

ask yourself what solution you'd reach in a science fiction world.

this isn't as absurd as you might think.

in its early days, aerospace manufacturer blue origin hired science fiction author neil stevenson to help imagine ways to get to space without using a rocket.

stevenson may not have been a rocket scientist, but his creativity inspired innovative designs.

to get the best solution, you must ask the right question.#

chapter 5 of 8 in 1999, ozan virol received some terrible news from nasa.

the three-legged landing system he intended to use to set down a rover on mars had just failed spectacularly on another mission.

virol immediately snapped into action.

the question on his mind was, how do we fix the existing system?

but engineer mark adler saw things differently.

he asked the question, how do we defy gravity so that the rover reaches mars safely?

to answer this question, adler abandoned the three-legged system completely.

instead, he designed a system of enormous airbags that would inflate around the rover, letting it bounce a few dozen times before coming to a halt on the martian surface.

eventually, adler's design safely delivered two rovers to mars.

the key message here is, to get the best solution, you must ask the right question.

when it comes to solving problems, many of us act just like virol did, fixated on delivering an answer without fully considering the question.

and as soon as we're emotionally invested in a particular solution, we stubbornly defend it.

we never reflect on whether there might be a better approach.

but if we change the question we're asking like adler did, we can often come up with a revolutionary answer.

so how do you ask better questions?

first, learn to differentiate between a strategy and a tactic.

a strategy is the plan you use to achieve a particular outcome, like landing a rover on mars.

tactics, on the other hand, are actions that implement that strategy.

one tactic is using a three-legged landing system.

another is surrounding your rover in airbags.

it's easy to confuse tactics with strategies.

that is what happened to virol.

if you're having difficulty identifying your strategy, take a step back and ask yourself what problem you're trying to solve.

are you trying to fix a broken landing system or trying to explore the red planet?

by focusing on the bigger picture, you'll identify the question you should be asking.

then you can start generating ideas, or tactics, as potential solutions to that question.

and only at the end you assess your ideas for quality.

to arrive at the truth, you must actively overcome your blind spots.#

chapter 6 of 8 what aren't we seeing?

if the navigators of nasa's mars climate orbiter had asked this question in 1999, they may have avoided a $193 million mistake.

two months before the orbiter's scheduled arrival date, data projected that it would orbit mars 100 kilometers lower than it should.

this meant certain failure.

the orbiter would either burn to a crisp or bounce off mars' atmosphere and into the depths of space.

but the navigators put the data discrepancy down to an error in the navigation system.

they were wrong.

on its arrival date, the orbiter passed behind mars as planned, but was never heard of again.

later, an investigation found the real source of the error.

the system had been designed by lockheed martin, a company that uses the inch-pound system.

the navigators used metric.

all of their measurements were off by a factor of four.

if they'd questioned the data instead of ignoring it, they may have prevented the costly disaster.

the key message here is, to arrive at the truth, you must actively overcome your blind spots.

even in the face of hard data, our brains look for information that affirms our views and ignores anything that doesn't.

this is called confirmation bias, and none of us are immune to it.

in fact, hearing views that oppose our own is so distressing that we'll avoid it at all costs, even when the stakes are high.

so, how can you overcome your built-in tendency to see only what you want to see?

first, avoid becoming overly attached to your opinions.

instead, think of each opinion as a working hypothesis.

this reframes your belief into a theory that can be proven, disproven, or even abandoned.

that way, you remain objective.

even better, generate a number of differing hypotheses, so you don't get stuck on one conclusion.

proposing conflicting hypotheses is an excellent way to help eliminate your blind spots.

create these hypotheses by asking yourself what's missing.

if the navigators had done this, they may well have unearthed the issue with the units of measurement.

it could have saved the mission.

finally, work to disprove your hypotheses rather than prove them.

do this by presenting your opinions to yourself as though they belong to someone else.

find every hole in every argument and pick it to pieces.

remember that each hypothesis you disprove brings you one step closer to the truth.

the best way to ensure success is to test rigorously.#

astronauts train for years before they go to space.

they spend hours practicing procedures in the neutral buoyancy lab, an enormous pool that houses a submerged replica of the international space station.

they even experience weightlessness in an airplane dubbed the vomit comet, which replicates zero gravity by diving like a roller coaster.

but the most grueling training exercises are the simulated emergencies that take astronauts to their physical limits.

in space, one wrong move could turn a situation like this fatal, so the training program tries to trick them into making a mistake.

this way, the astronaut is better prepared for their mission.

the key message here is, the best way to ensure success is to test rigorously.

typically, we use tests to confirm our beliefs, not challenge them.

if we get poor results, we find a reason to justify them, like unfavorable conditions or bad weather.

instead, we should question how well we've designed that test, because the true purpose of a test is to find the breaking point where things go wrong.

not many of us train in the environment that we'll be tested in, so we may not identify that breaking point until it's too late.

we practice our big speech in the comfort of our home, not in a cavernous space under glaring lights.

we ask a good-natured friend to run a mock job interview with us, wearing sweatpants instead of a stiff suit.

this makes us more likely to fail on the big day.

unless you're heading for space, you can safely train in an environment that mimics your upcoming challenge.

comedian jerry seinfeld does this by trying out his jokes in small comedy clubs.

based on audience responses, he can tweak material or even cut it completely.

this way, he is better prepared for important gigs.

when testing, it's important to ensure that each component is trialed individually.

finally, the whole system is tested, too.

don't make the mistake of assuming that something will work just because each part of it works well in isolation.

after all, a medication that's effective by itself could prove lethal when mixed with another drug.

test as thoroughly as possible, and push yourself or your product to the limit.

this will give you confidence in your ability to handle whatever comes your way.

we must carefully study our failures, even in the midst of success.#

chapter 8 of 8 failure is inevitable when you're aiming high.

if you're on the hunt for an original solution, you'll be generating lots of ideas.

many of those ideas won't meet the brief.

but they play an important role by moving you closer to that breakthrough concept.

james dyson clocked up 5,126 failed prototypes over 15 years.

only then did he find the right design for his famous bagless vacuum.

when we carefully study our failures, as dyson did, they provide us with powerful insight.

but it's not enough to dissect past failures.

we should be skeptical of our successes, too.

the key message here is, we must carefully study our failures, even in the midst of success.

the root of many tragedies can be traced back to past successes.

this was the case with the catastrophic challenger space mission in 1986.

mechanical engineer roger beausoleil had repeatedly raised concerns about the space shuttle's o-rings.

these thin rubber bands prevent hot gases from leaking out of the joints in rocket boosters.

but, in previous missions, damaged o-rings still managed to work.

so beausoleil's concerns were dismissed as an acceptable risk.

on january 28, 1986, the challenger successfully launched.

but one minute into its flight, the space shuttle disintegrated, killing seven astronauts.

a special commission found that the o-rings were the cause.

because flying with damaged o-rings had become standard practice, nasa considered it the norm instead of a serious consideration.

confidence that arises from past successes can blind you to reality.

you think you know what you're doing because you've done it before.

but just because you succeeded doesn't mean you didn't make mistakes.

those mistakes might not have led to failure in the past, but they could lead to dire consequences in the future.

even when we think we've succeeded, we must find and learn from our failures.

otherwise, we'll never gain the knowledge that our experiences offer us.

this is why it's crucial to remember that success isn't an ending in itself.

it's a milestone on an endless journey of discovery.

final summary#

Conclusion

but this can only happen if you're willing to confront your blind spots and break away from processes and opinions that limit your creativity.

once you've reconnected with your childlike curiosity and openness, you'll advance towards your goals at an accelerated pace and live an extraordinary life.

and here's some actionable advice.

take your question for a walk.

next time you're feeling stuck while trying to solve a difficult problem, put on your sneakers and go for a walk.

walking puts you in the ideal mindset for innovation because it relaxes you while allowing the cogs of your subconscious to turn.

walking led to important breakthroughs for scientists like darwin, tesla, and heisenberg.

so, next time you need to come up with an original solution, follow in their footsteps and take a good long stroll.

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