Have you heard of Paul Erdos? Erdos (pronounced “air-dish”) was a quirky Jewish mathematician who could mentally, and rather quickly, calculate the number of seconds a person had lived at the age of four. Time Magazine called him “the oddball’s oddball.” He was known for showing up at people’s doors at odd hours saying, “My mind is open.” What that meant was, “I’m ready to take on new mathematical challenges.”
3 Lessons in Collaboration and Networking from Paul Erdos
#1 Don’t focus on who gets the credit.
October 18, 2022
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Summary.
In this personal essay, the author narrates what he has learned from reading about Paul Erdos, who probably the most loved, most well-networked, and most talented mathematician of his time. The author came across Erdos’ work and philosophy when he was working on the mission statement for his company. He wanted to figure out a way to enable meaningful connections at scale and found some lessons in Erdos’ philosophy:
- Leave room for serendipity: Erdos believed in giving serendipity a chance in order to discover new areas of collaboration. He would enter conversations with an open mind and open heart. The result was that he not only helped his collaborators solve problems they were grappling with, but also empowered them to discover new ideas to work on.
- Be clear about your goals: Erdos was not a man with hidden agendas, and he did not mind healthy conflict. If he needed something, he would be clear about it. If he wanted to offer critical feedback, he would do so straight up. His disagreements came from a place of curiosity, not judgement. By repeatedly showing up to help his collaborators and being consistent, he demonstrated his commitment towards making them successful.
- Focus on adding value: Erdos’s superpower was making others great. Instead of thinking about what he could get out of people, Erdos collaborated with the intent of adding value to their lives, specifically by making their research more robust. This is why people wanted to collaborate with him, despite his quirks.