Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned about driving have come from what I’ve learned about other things: flying, music, Hawaiian history, art, other sports, business, leadership, neuro-science, physics, Eastern philosophy, reading, and especially writing.
I get great enjoyment out of merging ideas from one discipline with another, and particularly when it blends into something I can use on the track. After all, all that matters in the world is driving around a track faster than everyone else, and if it’s a wheel-to-wheel competition, to be in front of them at the end. (Now you know all you need to know about me!).
Author, Malcolm Gladwell says that some of his best insights come from exploring “other worlds” that are remotely connected to his writing topic:
My greatest insights about driving have come from when I’ve aggregated information and knowledge of one thing with what I know about our sport.
Here’s a challenge for you:
Okay, I’m going to sit here and wait for you do this. I’ll give you an hour. I’m going to wait for 60 minutes before continuing to write.
Do, do, do, da, da, da, hmmm, hmmm, do, da, hmmm, do, da, hmm, doooo….
Okay, I’m back.
How did that go? Any “Aha!” insights?
As an example: You might have found in business that when a mistake has been made, it’s nearly impossible to go back and fix it immediately, and yet, it is possible to learn from it. Faced with a similar situation again,you’d do something else. That’s no different from turning in later for a corner—or not enough—and missing the apex. At that exact moment in time, you can’t go back and fix it. You can’t go back and turn more so you clip that apex. What you can do is file it away in your mind, focus on what’s next (what you can make a difference with right now), learn from the learning-take, and turn a little earlier or more on the next laps.
Or, you’re listening to some music and you notice that what made a particular guitar riff so great is a little messy, grungy feedback through the amp. It wasn’t perfect, and in fact it sounded a bit rough, but that’s what made it feel so good to listen to. How does that apply to driving? Well, focusing on being perfect with your line, or how smooth you are, sometimes results in a lack of speed. Sometimes, being too perfect is less than ideal. Sometimes you may have to get a bit messy.
Or, what was the thought process that led to some scientific breakthrough, such as Einstein’s mental model of traveling on a beam of light? Can you use that same kind of imaginative thinking to mentally prepare for the way you brake, balance the car, rotate it towards the apex, and drive it off the corner on the ideal line with the throttle?
Or, flip it around and take what you’ve learned from/about driving, and apply it to some other “world.” As I recently wrote for something unrelated to driving, but all about having the desired outcome in mind: “The goal is that we think and do based on providing the desired outcomes for our customers. It’s like driving a corner with the exit in mind, rather than driving from Turn-in to Apex to Exit, connecting the dots. If you know where you’re going, and you have skills, you’ll get there in an enjoyable, memorable, and productive way.”
Or, as you know, driving is not just about what you do, but also what you don’t do. For example, not over-reacting to every small movement of the car, but knowing when to let it go so you don’t scrub off too much speed. One of the best lessons I’ve learned in my work life is knowing what to say “no” to (this is still a work-in-progress thing for me!). The best companies know what they do, and more importantly, what they don’t do.
A smart way of solving a driving challenge is to approach it from a completely different angle, to think assomeone who was an expert in a different field would think about it. What kind of questions would you ask? What could you pull from one area of your knowledge and expertise that will help you sort out the way you should approach your driving?
If you merge what you know about another topic with what you know about driving, you may be more knowledgeable (and understand more) about driving than you give yourself credit for.
As always, I appreciate your comments, feedback, ideas, and insights. Please click on the Comments button below and tell me how you’ve merged a concept or approach to driving from your knowledge and expertise in another “world.”