I get this internal turmoil when it comes to certain sound principles.

A lot of what I hear seem to point in opposite directions.

And I know I’m taking this a bit literally…but even hearing both makes my brain start to loop.

Am I being thoughtful…or just hesitating? Open-minded…or weak in my beliefs?

I can’t help it. But I found some relief recently, and I want to share with you, so we can end this madness.

I was listening to The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel. He was talking about two ideas: Mental liquidity and conviction.

I love that phrase: mental liquidity. It’s so elegant. But I digress.

It’s the ability to stay flexible in your thinking. To take in new information. To hear another perspective. To change your mind when the facts or nuances change.

Conviction is different. It’s the ability to make the call. To decide with authority. And to move.

I want both. I want to stay mentally flexible. But I also want to be decisive. But those feel contradictory.

For context: this tension really matters to me because I think decision-making sits underneath almost everything important in business.

I’m then reminded of another seemingly contradictory take coined by Rory Sutherland: “The opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea.”

For example, low friction is good. It increases conversion. But also adding friction is good because it can increase trust and value (e.g., subscription service).

Or low prices are good because it often increases the probability for more buyers, until high prices creates demand (e.g., expensive wine). Both good.

I think the same is true for principles too.

The opposite of a good principle can also be a good principle.

It just depends on the context. Because a lot of principles only feel contradictory when we treat them like absolutes. But they’re usually not absolute. They’re more like relative truths.

Relative to a time horizon, a moment, or a specific context.

Removing the notion of absolute means I can operate with mental liquidity (over time) and have conviction (in any moment).

They are longer fighting each other. They’re just doing different jobs.

I think this is where a lot of smart people get stuck. Not because we’re bad thinkers, but because we default to thinking in absolutes.

If you feel like you’re a contradiction, you’re not. The framing is. A lot of what looks like disagreement, confusion or misalignment is just bad framing. Same with pricing. Same with value. Same with decision-making.

So let’s stop beating ourselves up. And start to think in terms of relative truths instead of absolutes.

Hope this one helps you.

Thank you for reading.

Be well. Talk soon.

— Peter

P.S. This one is a good next read since its related but more concrete to business. Or this one on decision-making.