Second-order thinking is a tool that will help you examine the long-term effects of your decisions. Some decisions seem like wins at first, but turn out to be losses over time. What looked like a good decision earlier is now a bad one. We need to make sure we’re okay with more long term consequences of decisions today.
How to use it?
Consider a decision you have to make.
- Look at the most immediate effects of making the decision – the first order – and then, “And then what?”
- Repeat this for as many orders as you find practical
- Think about the decision in different timelines – what will be the consequences of this decision in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years?
Second-order thinking in practice
Consider the decision of buying a house outside of the city.
- The immediate effects might be having a garden, more space for your family, but also suddenly living an hour away from work
- Look at higher-order consequences of each: Having a garden → able to grow your produce, having fresh herbs and vegetables
- More space for family, more rooms to clean, more stress from a messy home
Put it to practice
A handy worksheet to help you put this tool into practice includes a simple how-to guide including an example.
- Print out the PDF or fill it in digitally and use it to make better decisions
- Preview of the worksheet and guide
