Meta skills are those which don’t fall into the category of skills but enable those both hard and soft skills. They make one effective at multiple levels and sort of set a context in which the person operates. I kind of had a gut feeling about this but lately only I have been able to name and categorize them and pursue them as a key goal in life.
So what are some of the meta skills I am upto?
The first is Mother of all, Reading. Reading far and wide, reading in depth and reading passionately, reading with a pencil and making notes. Naval Ravikant says this is one meta skill that can be traded for any other skill in world. It is such a powerful quote and it gives so much satisfaction to me that I already believe in its power, for whatever I have gained in life can be traced back to a deep believe and interest in reading and tenacity to sit through very boring texts.
Though I would add watching videos and listening to audiobooks as well to this as they are other sensory inputs which work at different efficiency levels and can be effectively utilized to gain knowlege.
The Second is Learning how to learn. Half the interest is filled with criticism of how bad the education system is, and I agree and disagree to it at various levels, but that is not the conversation here. The education system ( in double quotes gesture by hand) would be one way or another and it would probably never suffice. So its on me to discover and decide and work on what are various ways to learn and how can I hack it and optimize it. Being able to learn quickly is a superpower and would be more pertinent as the years go.
https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn by Barbara Oakley is a wonderful MOOC on this. I am a fan of Barbara Oakley and plan to devour all the books and audiobooks she has produced.
The third is Asking good questions. I have been really struck by the realization since some time, that asking good questions is so key to be able to learn, know and relate effectively with people. It is yet another power that can unlock such insights and ideas, as never thought possible before. And I am really on to learning this.
There are quite a number of YouTube videos on this and a book I found on OReilly, but still looking for some definitive source. The Mom Test is quite close but, not quite there.
The fourth is developing an Articulated Speech. Articulation is an art in itself, and if I can articulate well, I can speak and write much better. It will help me not only putting my point across well, but to get the other person better, since it will expand my space of processing communication, mine and others. And it will help me translate complex ideas, thoughts, conversations much better and place them in my lattice of mental models more precisely, more easily and more effectively. One very important access to this meta skill is writing, which I intend to do more of.
Jordan Peterson and some other authors have said a lot about this and for now YouTube remains the key source.
The fifth is studying,understanding and knowing more about the Mental models and biases that govern the world and our lives. Shane Parrish is someone who has really influenced by thinking in this area and this year and next are dedicated to augment my understanding of these.
The Great Mental models is a series of 3 books authored by Shane Parrish. These and some other works are really the key resources in this area.
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