#90 Charlie Munger Poor Charlies Almanack

In this episode, the host delves into the teachings of Charles T. Munger, the lesser-known yet equally influential partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway. Munger's comprehensive guide to better investing and decision-making, "Poor Charlie's Almanack," is explored, revealing his multidisciplinary approach that champions clear thinking and the virtues of lifelong learning and intellectual curiosity. The book, likened to a textbook, is a treasure trove of Munger's wisdom, encapsulating his insights on human misjudgment, the importance of understanding incentives, and the power of focus and discipline. Munger's philosophy emphasizes learning from the past, the pitfalls of ideology, and the necessity of engaging with multiple disciplines to navigate the complexities of life and business successfully.

• Charles T. Munger is a key figure behind Berkshire Hathaway's success.
• Munger is known for his multidisciplinary approach to investing and decision-making.
• "Poor Charlie's Almanac" is a collection of Munger's speeches, quotes, and ideas.
• The book emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning and intellectual curiosity.

"Warren Buffett is the public face of Berkshire Hathaway and is rightly credited with its tremendous long term success. But there's another major contributor to the firm's legendary performance record, Charles T. Munger."

This quote introduces Charles T. Munger as an influential but less public figure compared to Warren Buffett in the success of Berkshire Hathaway.

• Acquiring worldly wisdom should lead to behavior change, even if it results in temporary unpopularity.
• Munger believes learning is pointless if it doesn't affect how one acts.
• His approach assumes that learning leads to action.

"Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group, then to hell with them."

Munger emphasizes the importance of applying learned wisdom to one's behavior, regardless of peer approval.

• Munger repeats ideas in different ways to reinforce them.
• He believes repetition is key to deep understanding.
• His concept of "lattice work of mental models" stresses the importance of anchoring ideas to other knowledge.

"Charlie's redundancy in expressions and examples is purposeful for the kind of deep fluency he advocates."

This quote highlights Munger's intentional use of repetition to instill a deep understanding of concepts in his audience.

• Munger worked at Buffett & Son, experiencing strict working conditions.
• His teachers recognized his intelligence and propensity to challenge conventional wisdom.
• Munger's childhood during the Great Depression influenced his views on financial security.
• His admiration for Benjamin Franklin shaped his virtues of thrift, duty, hard work, and simplicity.

"Charlie initially crossed paths with the Buffett family during the formative years of his life when he worked at Buffett and son, an upscale grocery store in Omaha."

This quote details Munger's early connection to the Buffett family and the working conditions that would shape his work ethic.

• Munger admires physicists like Albert Einstein for their problem-solving processes.
• He advocates for studying physics to understand the power of sound theory.
• Munger's multidisciplinary approach includes learning from various fields to prepare for uncertainty.

"He was impressed by the process, followed by physicists such as Albert Einstein to address the unknown."

This quote explains Munger's appreciation for the methodologies used by physicists in solving complex problems.

• Munger faced personal tragedies, including divorce and the death of his son.
• He pursued a law career but was dissatisfied with the limitations of billable hours.
• Munger developed an interest in business and investing, leading to his eventual partnership with Warren Buffett.

"Despite outward appearances, all was not sunny in Charlie's world, his marriage was in trouble, and he and his wife finally divorced in 1953."

This quote reveals the personal challenges Munger faced during his early professional life.

• Munger believes studying the lives of successful individuals through biographies is essential.
• He considers biographies a source of valuable lessons that can be applied to one's own life.

"Charlie Munger has spent a professional lifetime studying lives that have worked well, and others that have glitches or have experienced failure."

This quote underscores Munger's commitment to learning from the lives of others, both their successes and failures.

• Munger values the ability to work alone and adapt to various partnership roles.
• He believes in learning to follow before leading.
• His partnership with Warren Buffett exemplifies his adaptability and lack of ego.

"A partner, ideally, is capable of working alone. You could be a dominant partner, a subordinate partner, or an always collaborative equal partner."

This quote captures Munger's philosophy on the dynamics of partnerships and the importance of versatility.

• Munger prefers anonymity despite his wealth.
• He emphasizes the importance of focusing on the present task and controlling spending.
• Munger's investment strategy involves reinvesting profits for growth.

"While he doesn't mind the wealth, he regrets having his name on any such list, despite his healthy self-image, Charlie would prefer to be anonymous."

This quote reflects Munger's preference for privacy over public recognition of his wealth.

• Warren Buffett criticizes extreme ideologies for turning the brain into mush.
• The human condition is prone to miscognition and poor life choices.
• It's an individual's duty to learn skills to avoid the default state of bad decisions.

"Don't latch on to extreme ideologies, he says. It turns your brain into mush."

The quote emphasizes Buffett's belief that extreme ideologies impair critical thinking and decision-making.

• Lifelong learning is essential, as exemplified by Warren Buffett and Charlie T. Munger.
• Finding joy in one's work and aiming to do it every day is crucial.
• Durability in work and ideas is admired, as it leads to benefits from long-term efforts.

"Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, both talk about the idea that they're going to be learning till the day they die."

Buffett and Munger's commitment to continuous learning is highlighted as a key to their success.

• The ability to focus intensely is increasingly important in the information age.
• Buffett humorously recounts Munger's extreme focus, even to the point of absent-mindedness.

"He has the ability to focus on one thing at the exclusion of everything else. That is a superpower."

The quote reflects the value Buffett places on the ability to concentrate deeply on a single task.

• Charlie Munger uses simple, humorous expressions to teach complex ideas.
• His "Mungerisms" make learning more engaging and memorable.

"When discussing the intelligence of offspring, he refers to the genetic lottery."

Munger's use of relatable and humorous terms is mentioned as an effective teaching method.

• Berkshire Hathaway's investment strategy involves waiting for clear, major opportunities and then investing heavily.
• They maintain a large cash reserve for when these opportunities arise.

"A few major opportunities... will usually come to one who continuously searches and waits with a curious mind."

The quote outlines the patient and selective investment approach of Buffett and Munger.

• Viewing the free market as an ecosystem helps understand the importance of niche specialization.
• Businesses that focus on a simple idea and execute it well can achieve great success.

"In business, we often find that the winning system goes almost ridiculously far in maximizing and/or minimizing one or a few variables."

The quote describes how businesses succeed by intensively focusing on a few key aspects.

• Charlie Munger advocates for the use of mental models to make sense of complex situations.
• He encourages replacing old ideas with better ones as they become available.

"When a better tool, an idea and approach comes along, what could be better than to swap it out for your old, less useful tool?"

The quote suggests the importance of adaptability and the willingness to change one's mind in light of new information.

• Buffett and Munger prioritize investing in companies with strong competitive advantages, or "moats."
• They understand that few companies survive multiple generations, so they look for those with the best chance.

"Charlie refers to a company's competitive advantage as its moat."

The quote highlights the strategic importance Buffett and Munger place on a company's ability to defend against competition.

• Munger practices a combination of extreme patience and decisiveness in investing.
• He believes that a few key decisions can define a successful investment career.

"If you look at our top 15 decisions, if you took our top 15 decisions out, we'd have a pretty average record."

Munger's quote underscores the impact of a small number of significant investment decisions on overall success.

• Paying up for quality is essential, as demonstrated by the experience with See's Candies.
• Munger and Buffett value constructive criticism and learning from mistakes.

"There are some things you should pay up for, like quality businesses and people."

The quote reflects Munger's realization of the importance of investing in quality and his openness to learning from others.

• Henry Singleton, co-founder of Teledyne, is admired by Buffett and Munger for his management and capital allocation skills.
• Singleton's success is attributed to his strategic share repurchases and operational excellence.

"Henry Singleton has the best operating and capital deployment record in American business."

Buffett's quote praises Singleton's exceptional business performance, indicating the importance of studying successful individuals.

• Munger advises gradual improvement and discipline for achieving wealth.
• He also recommends reducing material needs as a defense against inflation.

"Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up."

Munger's quote encapsulates his philosophy on personal development and the incremental path to success.

• Unreliability is a significant trait that leads to a miserable life.
• Being unreliable undermines all other virtues one may possess.
• Unreliability leads to distrust and exclusion from valuable human contributions and company.
• Even those with less skill, including "mediocre turtles on crutches," will surpass the unreliable person.

"First, be unreliable. Do not faithfully do what you have engaged to do. If you will only master this one habit, you will more than counterbalance the combined effects of all your virtues."

This quote emphasizes the detrimental impact of unreliability, suggesting that it can negate all positive traits and virtues one has.

• Learning from personal experience alone leads to misery and subpar achievements.
• Ignoring the lessons from others' experiences prevents tapping into one's full potential.
• Common disasters like drunk driving deaths and business failures are examples of not learning from others.
• Learning from predecessors, as exemplified by Newton's "standing on the shoulders of giants," is crucial.

"My second prescription for misery is to learn everything you possibly can from your own experience, minimizing what you learn vicariously from the good and bad experience of others living and dead."

The quote criticizes the approach of solely relying on personal experience for learning, highlighting it as a recipe for misery.

• Surrendering to adversity after initial setbacks guarantees permanent misery.
• Persistence in the face of adversity is crucial for a successful and happy life.

"My third prescription to you for misery is to go down and stay down when you get your first, second or third severe reverse in the battle of life."

This quote advises against the tendency to give up after facing difficulties, as it leads to a life entrenched in misery.

• Inversion is a powerful tool for problem-solving, as demonstrated by Johnny Carson and Jacoby.
• Darwin's success was due to his willingness to prioritize disconfirming evidence over his cherished theories.
• Einstein's success came from curiosity, concentration, perseverance, and self-criticism.

"If I've seen a little farther than other men, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants."

This quote, attributed to Newton, underscores the value of building upon the knowledge of those who came before us.

• Modern education systems often fail to impart worldly wisdom effectively.
• A multidisciplinary approach and multiple mental models are essential for understanding the world.
• Understanding probability is crucial for navigating life successfully.

"This next talk is about worldly wisdom, mental models, etc."

The quote introduces the topic of worldly wisdom and the importance of mental models, setting the stage for a discussion on effective thinking and decision-making.

• Explaining the reason behind actions or directives leads to better understanding and compliance.
• The psychology of influence and persuasion demonstrates the effectiveness of providing reasons.

"Always start with why. If you wrote a letter or directive in the Braun company telling somebody to do something and you didn't tell them why you would get fired."

This quote highlights the importance of giving reasons for actions to ensure better adherence and understanding.

• Specialization in business can lead to good economics and success.
• Sam Walton's success with Walmart came from mastering and applying the best ideas of others.
• Understanding one's aptitudes and working within one's circle of competence is crucial.

"Walton invented practically nothing, but he copied everything anybody else ever did that was smart."

The quote illustrates the power of learning and applying successful strategies from others, rather than needing to innovate from scratch.

• Actions speak louder than words; beliefs are revealed through actions rather than stated opinions.
• The discrepancy between what people teach and how they invest their own money can reveal true beliefs.

"His textbook always taught that the stock market was perfectly efficient and that nobody could beat it. But his own money went into Berkshire and made him wealthy."

This quote points out the irony of an economist's actions contradicting his teachings on market efficiency, suggesting a lack of true belief in the theory he espouses.

• Making large bets when confident and holding back otherwise is a simple yet effective strategy.
• Most people fail to act on this principle despite understanding it.

"The wise ones bet heavily when the world offers them that opportunity. They bet big when they have the odds."

The quote encapsulates the strategy of betting heavily when the odds are in one's favor, a principle often emphasized by Munger.

• Incentives greatly influence behavior in business and personal life.
• The Federal Express case illustrates how changing incentives can solve operational problems.

"Finally somebody got the idea to pay all these people not so much an hour, but so much a shift. And when it's all done, they can go home."

This quote explains how Federal Express solved its package sorting delays by aligning employee incentives with the company's goals.

• Even intelligent people have few truly valuable insights.
• It is more effective to concentrate on a few insights rather than pretend to have expertise in everything.

"How many of you have 56 brilliant insights in which you have equal confidence? Raise your hands, please."

The quote challenges the audience to consider the rarity of valuable insights and the importance of focusing on these few insights.

• A multidisciplinary approach and mental models from various disciplines enhance cognition.
• Academia often discourages crossing jurisdictional boundaries, but individuals can correct this themselves.

"What you need is a lattice work of mental models in your head."

The quote advocates for a framework of mental models from different disciplines to improve understanding and decision-making.

• Hershey's unique flavor is difficult to replicate, even for Hershey itself, indicating a strong competitive advantage.
• Difficulty in product replication serves as a barrier to entry for competitors.

"Because if it's so hard for Hershey to copy their own flavor, how hard is it for their competitors to copy their flavor?"

This quote highlights the strategic advantage a company has when its product has unique characteristics that are hard to imitate, even by the company itself.

• Strong adherence to ideology can severely distort perception and decision-making.
• Early indoctrination and expression of rigid ideologies can lock the brain into unhelpful patterns, impacting general cognition.

"Heavy ideology is one of the most extreme distorters of human cognition."

This quote emphasizes the negative impact that rigid ideological thinking can have on one's ability to perceive and understand the world accurately.

• Acknowledges the inevitability of human error in all endeavors.
• Emphasizes the importance of creating systems that can survive mistakes through learning and adaptation.
• Encourages learning from others to minimize errors and correct them swiftly.

"You can learn to make fewer mistakes than other people and how to fix your mistakes faster when you do make them."

The quote underscores the value of developing a mindset and systems that are resilient to mistakes, allowing for continuous improvement and learning.

• Charlie T. Munger expresses passion for wisdom, accuracy, curiosity, and generosity.
• Rejects the idea of ideological passion in favor of disciplined learning from others' discoveries.
• Stresses the importance of multi-disciplinary study for problem-solving.

"I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have figured out."

Munger's quote reflects his belief in the value of learning from others rather than relying solely on one's own ideation, highlighting his passion for wisdom and knowledge.

• Advocates for the study of multiple disciplines to identify optimal solutions that may lie outside one's primary field of expertise.
• Shares an example from Harvard Business School illustrating the necessity of this approach.

"If you don't study multiple disciplines, you won't know the right move to make when the right answer lies outside of your field."

This quote encapsulates the idea that a broad knowledge base across various disciplines is crucial for effective problem-solving in complex situations.

• Discusses the spectrum of investment strategies from total market indexation to selective concentrated investment.
• Munger criticizes the orthodox view of diversification, favoring concentrated investments in a few well-understood opportunities.
• Highlights the success of individuals who have amassed wealth through concentrated investments in valuable assets.

"A person or institution with almost all wealth invested long term in just three fine domestic corporations is securely rich."

Munger's quote challenges conventional wisdom on diversification and advocates for focused investment in a small number of high-quality assets.

• Munger criticizes the efficient market theory, suggesting it ignores the irrationality that can pervade the stock market.
• Emphasizes the importance of understanding psychological factors and real-world experience over purely rational economic models.

"My foregoing acceptance of the possibility that stock value in aggregate can become irrationally high is contrary to the efficient market theory."

Here, Munger acknowledges the potential for irrational market behavior, which contradicts the efficient market hypothesis that assumes all information is reflected in stock prices.

• Munger stresses the moral duty of lifetime learning for personal and professional advancement.
• Cites the continuous learning of Warren Buffett as an example of adapting skills over time for sustained success.

"The skill that got Berkshire through one decade would not have sufficed to get it through the next decade with comparable levels of achievement."

The quote highlights the necessity of continuous learning and adaptation to maintain success over time, as exemplified by Warren Buffett's investment career.

• Munger emphasizes the importance of historical knowledge for a comprehensive understanding of the present and future.
• Quotes Cicero on the significance of history in shaping a well-rounded individual.

"To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child."

This quote from Cicero, as referenced by Munger, underscores the importance of historical awareness for intellectual maturity and informed decision-making.

• Advocates for the inversion technique in problem-solving to simplify and clarify issues.
• Recommends considering how to avoid harm as a means to identify the best course of action.

"If you turn problems around into reverse, you often think better."

Munger's quote suggests that looking at problems from the opposite perspective can lead to clearer and more effective solutions.

• Munger advises against self-pity and encourages reliability and diligence.
• Promotes the idea of becoming a "learning machine" and the pursuit of areas of intense interest for excellence.

"The safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want."

The quote conveys the principle that personal merit and effort are the surest paths to achieving one's goals.

• Munger discusses the underestimated power of incentives in shaping behavior and cognition.
• Encourages a focus on the proper alignment of incentives to achieve desired outcomes.

"Never, ever think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives."

This quote highlights the critical importance of considering incentives when seeking to understand or influence behavior.