A Circle of Competence is the set of topic areas that align with a person's expertise.
If the entire world of information were to be expressed in a circle, an individual's Circle of Competence is the small sub-circle that represents their expertise.
A Circle of Competence is the set of topic areas that align with a person's expertise.
If the entire world of information were to be expressed in a circle, an individual's Circle of Competence is the small sub-circle that represents their expertise.
The idea surfaced in the 1996 BH annual letter.
"You don’t have to be an expert on every company...you only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital."
A Circle of Competence is built over time.
It is built through experience, reading, dedicated study, and effort.
It is dynamic, not static.
It can expand as you deepen your knowledge in new areas. It can contract if you fail to nurture your existing areas of expertise.
To engage this mental model in your life, there are two key processes to go through:
(1) Identify what falls within your circle
(2) Identify the boundaries of your circle
(1) is all about figuring out what you know, while (2) is about humbly admitting what you don’t.
Let’s look at a few examples of where we see the Circle of Competence in action and how it can help you win.
In investing?
Berkshire Hathaway provides the classic example of investing success from sticking within the boundaries of your Circle of Competence.
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have consistently passed on investment opportunities that fell outside of their respective Circles of Competence.
At times, it led to what might look like big misses, including failing to see the potential and invest in Google and Amazon.
But while you hear about these misses (“the anti-portfolio”), you don’t read about all of the bad decisions it saved them from making.
As Munger once said, you can become a consistent winner by “trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent."
In business?
The best operators know their core competencies and are honest about their incompetencies.
The visionary CEOs hire field general, execution-focused COOs.
The field general CEOs hire visionary product leaders.
Own your competencies, outsource the rest.
So how can you implement the Circle of Competence model into your life?
First, identify your circle and its boundaries.
What topics do you know more about than most people?
What topics do others look to you on?
What are you constantly excited by and learning more about?
Next, be ruthlessly honest with yourself about that circle and its boundaries.
Build checks into your decision process that pressure test whether you are remaining true to your Circle of Competence.
Consistently sticking to your circle will lead to good long-term outcomes.
Finally, keep expanding and deepening your Circle of Competence.
Embrace intellectual curiosity!
Is there a new topic you are excited about? Read everything you can get your hands on.
We live in an unprecedented era of access to information.
More from Jack Butcher
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TradingView isn't just charts
It's much more powerful than you think
9 things TradingView can do, you'll wish you knew yesterday: 🧵
Collaborated with @niki_poojary
1/ Free Multi Timeframe Analysis
Step 1. Download Vivaldi Browser
Step 2. Login to trading view
Step 3. Open bank nifty chart in 4 separate windows
Step 4. Click on the first tab and shift + click by mouse on the last tab.
Step 5. Select "Tile all 4 tabs"
What happens is you get 4 charts joint on one screen.
Refer to the attached picture.
The best part about this is this is absolutely free to do.
Also, do note:
I do not have the paid version of trading view.
2/ Free Multiple Watchlists
Go through this informative thread where @sarosijghosh teaches you how to create multiple free watchlists in the free
3/ Free Segregation into different headers/sectors
You can create multiple sections sector-wise for free.
1. Long tap on any index/stock and click on "Add section above."
2. Secgregate the stocks/indices based on where they belong.
Kinda like how I did in the picture below.
It's much more powerful than you think
9 things TradingView can do, you'll wish you knew yesterday: 🧵
Collaborated with @niki_poojary
1/ Free Multi Timeframe Analysis
Step 1. Download Vivaldi Browser
Step 2. Login to trading view
Step 3. Open bank nifty chart in 4 separate windows
Step 4. Click on the first tab and shift + click by mouse on the last tab.
Step 5. Select "Tile all 4 tabs"
What happens is you get 4 charts joint on one screen.
Refer to the attached picture.
The best part about this is this is absolutely free to do.
Also, do note:
I do not have the paid version of trading view.
2/ Free Multiple Watchlists
Go through this informative thread where @sarosijghosh teaches you how to create multiple free watchlists in the free
\U0001d5e0\U0001d602\U0001d5f9\U0001d601\U0001d5f6\U0001d5fd\U0001d5f9\U0001d5f2 \U0001d600\U0001d5f2\U0001d5f0\U0001d601\U0001d5fc\U0001d5ff \U0001d604\U0001d5ee\U0001d601\U0001d5f0\U0001d5f5\U0001d5f9\U0001d5f6\U0001d600\U0001d601 \U0001d5fc\U0001d5fb \U0001d5e7\U0001d5ff\U0001d5ee\U0001d5f1\U0001d5f6\U0001d5fb\U0001d5f4\U0001d603\U0001d5f6\U0001d5f2\U0001d604 \U0001d602\U0001d600\U0001d5f6\U0001d5fb\U0001d5f4 \U0001d601\U0001d5f5\U0001d5f2 \U0001d5d9\U0001d5e5\U0001d5d8\U0001d5d8 \U0001d603\U0001d5f2\U0001d5ff\U0001d600\U0001d5f6\U0001d5fc\U0001d5fb!
— Sarosij Ghosh (@sarosijghosh) September 18, 2021
A THREAD \U0001f9f5
Please Like and Re-Tweet. It took a lot of effort to put this together. #StockMarket #TradingView #trading #watchlist #Nifty500 #stockstowatch
3/ Free Segregation into different headers/sectors
You can create multiple sections sector-wise for free.
1. Long tap on any index/stock and click on "Add section above."
2. Secgregate the stocks/indices based on where they belong.
Kinda like how I did in the picture below.
Fake chats claiming to be from the Irish African community are being disseminated by the far right in order to suggest that violence is imminent from #BLM supporters. This is straight out of the QAnon and Proud Boys playbook. Spread the word. Protest safely. #georgenkencho
There is co-ordination across the far right in Ireland now to stir both left and right in the hopes of creating a race war. Think critically! Fascists see the tragic killing of #georgenkencho, the grief of his community and pending investigation as a flashpoint for action.
Across Telegram, Twitter and Facebook disinformation is being peddled on the back of these tragic events. From false photographs to the tactics ofwhite supremacy, the far right is clumsily trying to drive hate against minority groups and figureheads.
Declan Ganley’s Burkean group and the incel wing of National Party (Gearóid Murphy, Mick O’Keeffe & Co.) as well as all the usuals are concerted in their efforts to demonstrate their white supremacist cred. The quiet parts are today being said out loud.
The best thing you can do is challenge disinformation and report posts where engagement isn’t appropriate. Many of these are blatantly racist posts designed to drive recruitment to NP and other Nationalist groups. By all means protest but stay safe.
There is co-ordination across the far right in Ireland now to stir both left and right in the hopes of creating a race war. Think critically! Fascists see the tragic killing of #georgenkencho, the grief of his community and pending investigation as a flashpoint for action.
Across Telegram, Twitter and Facebook disinformation is being peddled on the back of these tragic events. From false photographs to the tactics ofwhite supremacy, the far right is clumsily trying to drive hate against minority groups and figureheads.
Be aware, the images the #farright are sharing in the hopes of starting a race war, are not of the SPAR employee that was punched. They\u2019re older photos of a Everton fan. Be aware of the information you\u2019re sharing and that it may be false. Always #factcheck #GeorgeNkencho pic.twitter.com/4c9w4CMk5h
— antifa.drone (@antifa_drone) December 31, 2020
Declan Ganley’s Burkean group and the incel wing of National Party (Gearóid Murphy, Mick O’Keeffe & Co.) as well as all the usuals are concerted in their efforts to demonstrate their white supremacist cred. The quiet parts are today being said out loud.
There is a concerted effort in far-right Telegram groups to try and incite violence on street by targetting people for racist online abuse following the killing of George Nkencho
— Mark Malone (@soundmigration) January 1, 2021
This follows on and is part of a misinformation campaign to polarise communities at this time.
The best thing you can do is challenge disinformation and report posts where engagement isn’t appropriate. Many of these are blatantly racist posts designed to drive recruitment to NP and other Nationalist groups. By all means protest but stay safe.
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1/OK, data mystery time.
This New York Times feature shows China with a Gini Index of less than 30, which would make it more equal than Canada, France, or the Netherlands. https://t.co/g3Sv6DZTDE
That's weird. Income inequality in China is legendary.
Let's check this number.
2/The New York Times cites the World Bank's recent report, "Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations Around the World".
The report is available here:
3/The World Bank report has a graph in which it appears to show the same value for China's Gini - under 0.3.
The graph cites the World Development Indicators as its source for the income inequality data.
4/The World Development Indicators are available at the World Bank's website.
Here's the Gini index: https://t.co/MvylQzpX6A
It looks as if the latest estimate for China's Gini is 42.2.
That estimate is from 2012.
5/A Gini of 42.2 would put China in the same neighborhood as the U.S., whose Gini was estimated at 41 in 2013.
I can't find the <30 number anywhere. The only other estimate in the tables for China is from 2008, when it was estimated at 42.8.
This New York Times feature shows China with a Gini Index of less than 30, which would make it more equal than Canada, France, or the Netherlands. https://t.co/g3Sv6DZTDE
That's weird. Income inequality in China is legendary.
Let's check this number.
2/The New York Times cites the World Bank's recent report, "Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations Around the World".
The report is available here:
3/The World Bank report has a graph in which it appears to show the same value for China's Gini - under 0.3.
The graph cites the World Development Indicators as its source for the income inequality data.
4/The World Development Indicators are available at the World Bank's website.
Here's the Gini index: https://t.co/MvylQzpX6A
It looks as if the latest estimate for China's Gini is 42.2.
That estimate is from 2012.
5/A Gini of 42.2 would put China in the same neighborhood as the U.S., whose Gini was estimated at 41 in 2013.
I can't find the <30 number anywhere. The only other estimate in the tables for China is from 2008, when it was estimated at 42.8.