The Feynman Technique: if you can't explain it to a 12-year-old, you don't understand it.

Richard Feynman — Nobel Prize-winning physicist — had a learning method so effective it's now taught in every study skills course. It works for anything: physics, programming, finance, or even understanding a legal contract.

Step 1: Study the concept. Read, watch, listen — absorb it however you learn best.

Step 2: Explain it in simple language. Write or speak as if teaching a 12-year-old. No jargon, no hand-waving. If you say "it leverages synergies," you're hiding behind words. Say what actually happens.

Step 3: Identify the gaps. When you get stuck — when you can't explain a part simply — that's where your understanding breaks down. Go back to the source material for just that part.

Step 4: Simplify and use analogies. The ultimate test: can you create an analogy a child would understand? "An API is like a waiter — you tell the waiter what you want, the waiter tells the kitchen, and brings back your food. You never need to enter the kitchen."

Why it works: most people confuse recognition with understanding. You recognize a concept when you see it explained. You understand it when you can explain it yourself, without notes, in simple language. The Feynman Technique ruthlessly exposes the gap.