The Subtle Skill of Observation: Observing Without Judgment for Better Outcomes

Today's topic is going to be observation. I read a quote the other day that observation without judgment is the highest form of intelligence. Let's understand what this means at a deeper level. Observation means looking at the world in simple terms. "Without judgement" means that you do not label anything good or bad. For example, if you see a man eating a frog, you just saw a man eating a frog, there's nothing good or bad about it. If you see a friend talking bullshit about another friend, there's nothing good or bad about it. It's just a friend talking about another friend. Don't label anything. If you see a charger charging a mobile, it's just a charger charging a mobile, it's just law of conservation of energy, energy can never be created or destroyed, it can only be transformed from one form to another. So here I want first talk about why observation in life is so so powerful and more important than we think it really is. 

1. Discovery: Every discovery in the real world was brought about by observation, Newton saw an apple fall down from the tree and he asked the question why? He did not say it's good or bad, but he asked why did an apple fall down from the tree, it means there's some force that pulls all objects downwards and that's how he discovered gravity. 

A. Galileo: Galileo was the first one on this planet who said that there are moons revolving around Jupiter. How did he discover it? He discovered it by observing through the telescope. He challenged the belief that all the celestial objects revolved around earth, but just by observing, he had the ability to challenge the status quo at that time. 

B. Pasteur and Germ Theory: I don't know if people know about Germ theory but Lous Pasteur, a French chemist was the first one to observe that microorganisms were responsible for the process of fermentation and disease. This further lead to the invention of germ theory and pasteurisation of foods. 

Although there are many such examples, but all of these examples convey just one simple thing. All of the discoveries in the world have a root cause of observation somewhere down the line. 

2. Problem Solving: Observation is important in coding and problem solving as well. For an example, imagine if your code is running and there's some bug that's coming, observing the bug carefully, looking at the root cause and then tuning the code to solve that issue would be how people go about it. But what do people do first, they observe the bug, the issue, in programmers language we look at the stack trace first, identify what is the issue and then we go about fixing it, right? 

3. Safety: When you observe your surroundings carefully, whether you are soldier or a normal human being, you also observe the threats in your surrounding and being well aware of the threats helps you to recognise and deal with the threats even before they come. People with great observational skills are bound to be more self aware and more safe also. 

4. Communication: When you observe people, you start learning better ways to communicate as well. One thing is when you observe how people are reacting to a specific point, if they get defensive, you understand that the other person is not interested in the topic, if they are really interested in the topic that's when you talk about these things. So having good observation helps you improve communication as well, verbal and non-verbal. 

5. Decision Making: Let's say you need to buy a house, or buy a car, now that you have a goal, you start thinking about what all options are available, and now when you look at the options, you have to carefully observe those options to make a very clear decision, for example, you observed that a particular car makes more noise, but is comfortable on the inside and there's one car who does not make noise, is comfortable on the inside but its having a slow pick up, you can then decide what exactly you would want to have in your car. But without observing certain things, you would not be able to make a wise decision. So observation is a very important part of decision making. 

6. Learning: As I look back, I was grown in a family where my brother would just play wonderful cricket. He would learn about how to hold a grip, how to hit a square cut, how to hit a pull etc, at home and practice alone with a sock. He was simply so good at it, I was too young at that point but all I did was observe and I was able to learn so much just by looking at my brother. It's not that I did not practice but I first observed. Even if you are learning a dance step, you first need to observe someone doing the step and then do it right. I always say this curiosity is the mother of all learning, but I correct myself today, observation and curiosity is the mother of all learning. 

7. Efficiency and organisation : The first step to effective time management is knowing where you wasted your time. I remember there was a teacher I had who would ask us to write down all the things you did in the day, where did you spend your time, what activities did you do and after observing everything we would know, oh we wasted so much time in the phone, so much in random activities and so much doing nothing. I would not call having fun as wasted time because having fun is a part of a successful life is what I believe in. 

As you can see, having great observational skills will help you in all these areas of life. In fact it's just one skill and the output of the skill is multiplied into all areas of your life. So the next natural question is how do we really gain observational skills? If I had to give one single answer it's just practice. But being even more practical let's think what can genuinely improve our skills: 

1. Slowing down: Sometimes we live life in a rush. No no that's the right way, we want to live life slowly. Look at the trees around you and just observe them. Look at that person around you and just observe. See what they are wearing, how they are sounding and what are they thinking. Look at the flowers around you, smell them, are they smelling good or bad? Use all your senses while living your life. 

2. Mindfulness: This goes without saying but be present in the present moment. Don't try to go to the future, don't go back to the past but just be there doing what you are doing. If you are watching a movie, watch the movie completely, if you are talking to a friend, talk to a friend but keep doing things so that you remain in the present moment. 

3. Go to new places: Humans are hardwired to be curious and they want to discover new things as they live life. When you go to places you have never been before, you naturally are more curious and attentive towards them. Travelling helps you observe the world a little better, after all its these details that matter. 

4. Ask Questions: Sometimes the best way to bring your mind back to the present is ask a question to yourself, why is this building so tall, why is that person so rude, how do businesses really work, how does life really work, these are all questions that drive curiosity and they bring about happiness in your life as well. But the point is when you ask questions, you will observe a little better and try to find solutions within your mind itself. 

5. Patterns: When you analyse patterns, you are closely looking at something and analysing that the same pattern repeats every time. For example, in a business there might be some problem that might be recurring again and again, now that you have analysed the pattern, you would be able to come up with a solution for the same. But for analysing the pattern, you do need some basic level of observational skills. 

Practice: Go for a walk to a completely new place, look at the strangers around, see what they are wearing, hear what they are talking about and just try to engage all your senses there. Now write down all the things you have heard, seen or sensed in a journal or a notebook.