First Principles Thinking: Mental Models for Thinking Clearly and Making Better Decisions

The routine is a container. It holds the chaos on the outside so that the inside stays quiet.

It requires asking whether the automatic response still fits the situation in front of you, or whether it fits only the memory of a situation that no longer exists.

G. K. Chesterton, writing in 1929, suggested a different approach. Before you remove the fence, he said, you need to understand why someone built it. The fact that you cannot see its purpose does not mean it has none.