Cultural Heritage Partners recently hosted rocket scientist and law professor Ozan Varol to discuss his book Think Like A Rocket Scientist, chosen by Adam Grant as his #1 pick of leadership books of 2020. Drawing on his own experience writing code and building technology for NASA’s 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers project, Varol introduced our audience to best practices he has gleaned from rocket scientists for opening up our thinking, learning from failure, and generating good ideas for any type of project.
CHP Partner Eden Burgess interviewed Varol about the purpose behind his book and what inspired him to lend a hand to those who do not have exposure to NASA’s methods. He said, “The decision-making skills, the critical thinking skills, the frameworks that rocket scientists apply to solving complex problems while the clock is ticking—those skills apply far outside of rocket science. There’s a huge gap between what rocket scientists have figured out and what the rest of the world does, and I wanted to write a book that bridges that gap.”
As a law professor, Varol also spoke extensively on ways that he encourages his students and practicing lawyers to learn from how scientists approach problems. He added, “One of the things that scientists have to do is to come up with a hypothesis and then try to falsify it. Trying to prove yourself wrong, basically, requires you to adopt the perspective of someone who’s coming at the problem from a very different position. That’s, I think, a crucial skill in the law—being able to spot the opponent’s arguments and really figuring out what the opponent’s arguments are better than the opposing party does, and that’s what sets apart the best lawyers from the rest.”
Varol also encouraged the audience to embrace the freedom of not having all the answers, learning from failures, and opening up space for play in their schedules. Simply going on a walk, without distractions, he noted, helps our brains “[make] connections and [create] associations and [generate] original insights…I have so many stories in the book of scientists literally walking themselves into the answer.”
You can watch the video of the entire conversation with Ozan Varol below. Do you have an author to suggest for a future event? Please email Katherine Sorrell at katherine@culturalheritagepartners.com.