Checklist Before Commitment

“I’m a great believer in solving hard problems by using a checklist. You need to get all the likely and unlikely answers before you; otherwise it’s easy to miss something important.”

“Part of the benefit of creating a checklist is the process of writing down your ideas. I have always loved the point Buffett made about the importance of making the effort to actually put your ideas in writing. In Buffett’s view, if you cannot write it down, you have not thought it through.”

“The next “Emotion” obviously refers to “information.” You shouldn’t be satisfied with just envisioning. Once you have a vision, you must thoroughly gather information to determine if that vision is truly correct. When exploring what business he should dedicate his life to as an entrepreneur, Masayoshi Son gathered over a meter of materials and researched it thoroughly for each of the forty business models and projects (see below). As a result, he discovered and confirmed the business model he wanted to pursue, and started the business with conviction.”

“Masayoshi Son, returning from studying in the U.S., immersed himself in thinking about what business to do in Japan at a private office near Ohashi Station on the Nishitetsu Tenjin Omuta Line (Minami-ku, Fukuoka City). He first thought he must decide “what job I will devote my life to.” Using this office as a base, Masayoshi Son met various people and thoroughly conducted market research. He read many books and went through various materials.”

“I call such situations experiences of evidence. Evident is something that convinces through immediate perception. It does not require lengthy argumentation, any special method, prior knowledge, or expertise to recognize something as evident. When something is evident, it no longer needs examination or lengthy analysis. Although it is quite likely that you wrote a detailed checklist for apartment hunting. It lists everything that is important to you: location, size, price, amenities. You certainly also had specific demands regarding sportiness and stability for the new bicycle in advance. And possibly you also had clear ideas about the appearance, character, or hobbies of the man or woman of your dreams. But in the concrete situation, you have an experience of evidence before you even considered the first point on your checklist. Only afterwards do you go through the criteria one by one and check whether what seemed obvious stands up to critical scrutiny—where it quite often happens that certain real aspects do not correspond to the ideally conceived conditions. Then you start to correct the checklist, for example by attaching less importance to individual criteria. “A sturdy luggage rack on the bike isn’t really that important to me. After all, I don’t really go on such long bike rides that I would need to carry a heavy bag.” Or by turning the negative points into positives: “It would be more convenient if the nearest supermarket were within walking distance from the new apartment. But it’s only two bus stops away. And it’s much healthier anyway if I ride my bike there, then I get a bit of exercise at the same time.” Or we throw all the good arguments into the balance in order to make up for one or two shortcomings: “Okay, I can’t discuss soccer with the woman, but she looks great, has a big heart, and is incredibly smart!””

“You might know this: that moment when you know that something is right. That something fits. Maybe you’re currently looking for an apartment. You’ve viewed countless apartments, but suddenly you stand in one and think: “This is it! I want to live here!” Or you want to buy a new bike, you’ve already tried this one and that one, until suddenly you sit on a bike and you’re sure: “This is it. This is the right one for me!” And with a bit of luck, you’ve already met a person with whom you suddenly and unexpectedly felt: “This is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with!””