Intellectually Curious - Edition 19
Welcome to the 19th Edition of the Intellectually Curious Newsletter. I would like to thank all the subscribers and for those who haven’t subscribed, please do so that you don’t miss the editions.
Book for the edition:
This edition of the Intellectually Curious Newsletter is going to be in a different format. Of course there is a book that we are going to discuss. It is a fascinating book no doubts about it, coming from an author who even has his name used to describe other authors who do extensive research.
I am talking about the author Robert Caro. He is known as one of the best biographers in the world with his books loaded with expert research and being very detailed.
The book that we are going to learn from is Working by Robert Caro.
So how did I stumble up on Robert Caro and his writings ? From the 99 percent invisible podcast’s mini-series on first book of Robert Caro – The Power Broker – You can listen to the complete mini-series here: https://99percentinvisible.org/club/ . And no need to add that it was a massive hit with more than 4 million downloads and 40000 copies of Power broker sold in USA in 2024 so far.
In the very first episode, Robert Caro joined the hosts and explained his methodology and how he decided to write Power Broker a book about a powerful New York official called Robert Mosses – who created the New York that we all experience today with its bridges, highways and parks. I was definitely captivated by the entire series and of course to the writing style of Robert Caro. His focus on his subject and continuous thinking about how he is going to tell the story in a way it makes the readers feel that they are in the scene was absolutely mind blowing.
The book was published in September 1974, exactly 50 years ago and Robert Caro won a Pulitzer prize for this book – it was beauty of meticulous research and fantastic story telling. Robert Caro took 7 years to write this book, while he estimated it will take 9 months to complete when he started. NYT published an article on 12th Sep on this occasion - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/books/robert-caro-the-power-broker-at-50.html
I came across his book called Writing. In this book he writes about his methods and thoughts about how he went on to write about Robert Mosses and later Lyndon B Johnson (4 volumes released, 5th in writing). In this book he shares what he has learnt or discovered while working on these biographies and why it takes really long time to complete his books.
There is definitely a lot to learn for a future writer of non-fiction to learn and also to a general reader who wants to understand how a master biographer produces his work. He took three years to research about one single chapter in one of the volumes of the Lyndon B Johnson biographies.
So rather than going through the regular review that I do, in this edition, I am sharing with you all what I learnt from reading the book Writing and also from reading and listening many other articles and podcasts about Robert Caro. I felt there is a clear framework that can be observed in Robert Caro’s working and that has helped him be successful and I have put them in an order that makes sense to me.
1. Stop thinking with your fingers:
Caro from his early years have been a gifted writer. So he took this skill for for granted and he used to write things exactly at the last minute with least effort. Then his professor shares the feedback to him about him not effectively leveraging his best skill and this forces Caro to start thinking. Caro says it is easy to put words to a paper or type it in, but very difficult is to hold yourself till you have thought through and have clear vision what you want to communicate. That is exactly what he did, though he was very skilled writer who could write well even when he had very less time, he deliberately slowed down and started writing long hand first on a piece of paper before type writing. He still had the goal of meeting 1000 words written per day and met it most of the days despite slowing down. Many days he wrote several pages by hand and just threw them as they didn’t meet his standards of thinking.
This is such a simple principle and the most powerful one. Some times we stop putting enough efforts in developing a strength that we already have and we go behind a weakness that is difficult to learn and correct. So it is essential that we don't stop learning on how to better at an already good skill and continue improving it.
We can also apply this principle in a different way also. After the arrival of Smartphones and social media apps, we just write without much thinking. We all need to adapt this principle for having better communications with each other. Don’t write or even say something until you have thought through it completely. This doesn't apply just for interpersonal communication but for anything you write be it an article or a book.
2. Learn as you go:
Many of us when we start anything make the biggest mistaken assumption – We know or have everything needed for executing the idea that we have in mind. What we keep forgetting is that in every project that we have executed so far this has been proven correct - we have to learn a lot as we progress, but we forget it in the very next project and assume that this will not happen and we do not need to learn anything new. Continuously learning and being agile to change our way of working is crucial to be successful.
While speaking in the 99pi mini-series he says: “And I remember thinking, “If I really want to write about political power, I can’t just write about the guy who did this. I have to write about what it was like for the people on whom he did this.” That changed my whole idea of the book.”
This is how he wrote a book that everyone told him that no one will read and made it to a masterpiece and is widely regarded as one of most important books ever written about New York.
3. Putting Real effort :
Robert Caro is known for his meticulous research in order to tell the story in the best way. He puts in lot of efforts to make the reader visualize the physical setting in which the books action is occurring and make the reader feel as if s/he is present there. This is not an easy thing to do in a biography when you were not there along with the subject when the particular fact is being described that happened many many years ago.
A fine example to what extent Robert Caro went when he wanted to explain how Lyndon Johnson was affected by his mother’s unhappiness due to loneliness – he spends few days in a ranch neighboring the Johnson's to experience the loneliness that would have been experienced and this plays a critical role in his understanding of certain aspects of Lyndon Johnson’s character that was impacted by this loneliness. As a biographer this makes a big difference.
In our lives, sometimes we face this. When we are working towards a goal we should continue with our best efforts as long as we believe in our goals. No shortcuts will help us succeed. If you have to put yourself in another's shoes then you need to do it. Nothing else will do. Never assume anything, keep pursuing your goals as long as you are aware that things are going in the right direction.
4. Patience:
While writing The Power Broker Robert Caro's goal was clear – Write about the impact of unchecked political power and how it impacted more than half a million residents of New York.
Despite facing a financial ruin, with great support from his wife Ina, he didn’t not compromise on the amount of effort he was putting in for doing his research for the book. He conducted more than 522 personal interviews, going through several thousand documents and develops a gripping narrative, which of course resulted in a Pulitzer prize winning book.
When you are working on a very complex project or an activity, you need to slow down to go fast. It takes tremendous amount of patience to not get irritated and stop or accelerate whatever you have been working on.
Patience is something we need to cultivate in our lives when we are clear about our goals. Don't let anything derail you because of your lack of patience.
5. Learn from the best:
It is very important to learn from the best in your trade and apply it in your life. Three key incidents in Robert Caro’s young age – his professor telling him that if he doesn’t put in the efforts to think before writing that he will never succeed; his editor telling him to be a successful investigative reporter he needs to turn every page and never assume anything; the best investigative reporter who teaches him where to look for information when researching corruption.
All these three things he puts into action by doing meticulous research and thinking before writing, by never assuming anything about facts and how to prove corruption when investigating and writing The Power Broker.
It is very essential to learn from the best, who need not be sitting next to you or your manager, but always keep looking for learning opportunities from the best in the world now with internet much easily available as e-books, podcasts etc etc.,
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6. Work ethic:
Robert Caro is known for his strong work ethic – whether it is number of pages to be written or showing up every day at a designated work place or spending time in doing his research. There is no compromise.
Many of us have put this in back burner and we complain about not being successful.
7. Never stop being good but pursue greatness:
We keep coming back to Robert Caro’s research again and again. How he achieved it is by not being satisfied with the materials that he had in hand, so to set the scene for the reader, he interviews the same subject several dozen times till he is satisfied that he got what he wanted that the reader will also see and understand the drama that was going on.
When he was writing the Lyndon Johnson’s biography, he moves to Hill Country, Texas to the place where Lyndon was born and raised. He gets access to people there who had been with Lyndon. People trust him and tell more accurate facts. His detailing out of what the arrival of electricity did to the women of Hill country when he learnt from a woman what they had to endure to get water their home. He spent 3 years in that place and it made a huge impact to what he learnt and how he could present the reader the best picture of what happened and what was the impact that Lyndon Johnson had on that place. He says that the delay of 3 years in publishing his book was worth it.
This is crucial piece for success. Many a times, we compromise good over greatness.
8. Identify a Niche and excel in it:
When Robert Caro decided to write books he identified a niche that no one had ever thought of – how political power is gained and how it is used. In Robert Moses case he shows how one single man with no elected office wielded power in a way that a city has been shaped beyond changes.
Once he writes The Power Broker, he now understands the impact of having political power. So he turns his attention towards national political power and selects Lyndon Johnson as the person. Apart from this selection he tops it with his excellent research skills.
Many other writers have written about the same subject, but Robert Caro deals from a perspective that others didn’t cover.
So in our own personal/professional life it is important to identify the niche that will differentiate us from others.
This book is a great read, will definitely give you a sense of awe. Lot of things to learn and apply in our lives. It is something that you should read at least once to understand what greatness is.
I am waiting for Robert Caro to complete the last volume of Lyndon Johnson’s biography and then start reading the complete set.
New Technology / Scientific Curiosities:
Giga train in Germany:
Dark Oxygen – What is it ?
Something new to learn:
How does the sense of smell work:
Podcast episode of this Newsletter:
Do you want to learn to tell stories: Listen to this episode of Knowledge Project:
Something Interesting to know about:
If you have never heard about Peter Principle it is good time to learn:
Interesting isn’t it ?
Hope you enjoyed this edition!
Do share your feedback on the newsletter!
Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Lean Master, Continuous Improvement, Operational Excellence, Business Transformation, Quality Management
2 个月Very nice read Anand V.. "Some times we stop putting enough efforts in developing a strength that we already have and we go behind a weakness that is difficult to learn and correct". That is profound. Lots to introspect on that statement.
Performance & Reliability Engineering Leader??Strategic Transformation Specialist??GenAI Enthusiast??Author??Speaker??Mentor
2 个月Great read with interesting perspectives Anand V. . "It is easy to speak or write what we think., but it becomes super difficult to hold on and think thoroughly before sharing it. SLOW DOWN. That's when we can get the logical thinking & validation done by System 2 (restricting our System 1 thoughts)" is my important key take away.