You can get a lot of mileage out of knowing just one thing. So long as it’s the right thing.
More precisely, having an understanding of one thing that matters is far more critical to outcomes than understanding everything else surrounding or leading up to it. Let’s take a quick journey through what I mean.
I don’t have to understand how my car works to get in it and drive to the grocery store.
I don’t have to understand supply chain logistics to throw items into my cart.
I don’t have to understand agriculture to enjoy grabbing a batch of plump strawberries during what, just a generation or two ago, would have been out of season.
I don’t have to understand the chemistry involved in mixing up my batter or how my oven works as it uses thermodynamical processes to produce a tasty shortcake I’m about to bury under those fresh strawberries and Cool Whip (no understanding of how to milk a cow or refrigeration required!).
I don’t have to understand how taste buds or dopamine or the metabolic process work to enjoy the final product: Strawberry Shortcake.
But I do have to understand that my daughter—while never opposed to enjoying a sweet treat of any variety—would in fact prefer a chocolate delight for Valentine’s Day.
When it comes to doing something meaningful, there’s a meta-understanding that has to be active in process. That is, understanding what need be understood.
I have to understand something else entirely different in nature to know what’s valuable in this scenario. What exactly? I have to understand that today is a holiday focused on love; that I want my daughter to feel an extra measure of love and attention; that she has a sweet tooth; and that she has sweet things she likes more than others and sweet things she likes less than others.
Working backwards: I could understand every single one of those incredibly complex things mentioned above, but if I don’t understand what makes my daughter happier when I make her a little Valentine’s Day dessert—then who fucking cares?
What do you value? What problem are you solving? Understanding these things allows one to understand what in fact needs to be well understood versus what should understandably take a back seat.
Time to go get some ingredients. 👋