1/ There's a lot of admiration for Lee Kuan Yew in the business/investing circles I hang out in. Perhaps because Charlie Munger has been very public about his admiration for LKY.
But I think most people, outside of Singapore, don't have a good sense for his thinking ...
Conversation
2/ ... so here's a hack.
If you want to emulate the man, there is one question you can ask to be as irritatingly-LKY-like as possible:
"So?"
Sample usage:
> Someone tells you about a new study.
"So?"
> Someone presents a new idea.
"So? How is this useful?"
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3/ "Wait," I hear you say. "Isn't this irritating?"
Yes.
"Isn't this remarkably focused on only the bits that are most useful?"
Uhhuh.
"Doesn't this mean that there's little space to talk about ideals?"
Welcome to Singaporean pragmatism!
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4/ I'm kinda-sorta joking about the question.
I mean, LKY actually DID talk like this when presented with new data. Probably as a time-saving measure.
Former principal private secretary Heng Swee Keat said that it was LKY's favourite question: asiaone.com/singapore/mr-l
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5/ And I do think the question captures the core frame with which LKY regarded the world. (Read: pragmatism; that man very pragmatic one).
But, err, there's a reason those who are familiar with LKY have a love/hate/grudging respect for the man. Pragmatism is very intense.
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6/ You can give it a try. See how long you can go "so what? so what?" before someone slaps you.
(For me, at least, the answer is ... not very long).
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I should note that Heng Swee Keat's full speech is actually better (giving context around the 'so?'): straitstimes.com/singapore/reca
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