A Few Lessons from Sherlock Holmes

Criticize ourselves - Have we tried to find evidence against what we believe? Why might we be wrong? What have we overlooked? What (new) information or evidence is needed to make us change our mind? When we meet a fact which contradicts a prevailing theory, we must accept the fact and abandon the theory, even when the theory is supported by great n

It is easy to be wise after the event, but very difficult to be wiser It is easy to be wise after the event. (Holmes; Thor Bridge) “How absurdly simple”, I cried. “Quite so...Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you.” (Holmes; The Dancing Men)

Don’t think about how to get things done, instead ask whether they’re worth doing in the first place He will hold a card back for years in order to play it at the moment when the stake is best worth winning. (Holmes; Charles Augustus Milverton) You must play your cards as best you can when such a stake is on the table. (Holmes; Charles Augustus Mil

Watch out for overconfidence My case is, as I have told you, almost complete; but we must not err on the side of overconfidence. Simple as the case seems now, there may be something deeper underlying

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes Well, now, let us put ourselves in the place of Jonathan Small. Let us look at it from his point of view...Now what could Jonathan Small do? (Holmes; The Sign of the Four)

It we could see the world the way others see it, we easier understand why they do what they do

A rule is only a rule if it’s always true I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule. (Holmes; The Sign of the Four)

I knew that seclusion and solitude were very necessary for my friend in those hours of intense mental concentration during which he weighed every particle of evidence, constructed alternative theories, balanced one against the other, and made up his mind as to which points were essential and which immaterial. (Dr. Watson; The Hound of the Baskervil

You’ll get results, Inspector, by always putting yourself in the other fellow’s place, and thinking what you would do yourself. It takes some imagination, but it pays. (Holmes; The Retired Colourman)