我们时常会听到：如果是 xxx 处于你当前的境地，Ta 会怎么做？这篇文章把这句话更加具象化：想象 Ta 像天使一样悬停在你的肩膀上，然后你把问题丢给 Ta，Ta 会如何应对？

作者实践了这个理念，切实地解决了他的很多问题：

Helped me overcome fear of physical actions I was capable of safely performing (backflips, broad jumps at height)

Helped me make rapid mood shifts (e.g. yanked me off the path of "I'm about to lose my temper" and restored my perspective and calm)

Headed off large failure modes in important projects before they cropped up (e.g. pointed out a thing that would go disastrously wrong under the current plan)

...

not to mention that having robust copies of my actual friends and colleagues has much better equipped me to interact with those friends and colleagues, by giving me a head-start on how they'll respond to any number of things.

听上去有点像精神分裂，但我觉得更像是六顶思考帽的另一个版本。要做到能够「在合适的时间点召唤合适的人出来」这件事需要训练，作者也提供了一些他的建议，如：

• 从可模拟性（熟悉度）和实用性角度出发，去筛选合适的人选。如果一个人的形象、声音对你来说是模糊的，就不适合成为 Shoulder Advisor。
• 可以考虑的角色：朋友、上司、客户、老师、影视剧中的角色、名人、对你的世界观产生重大影响之人。

Instead, a far more interesting person to have on my shoulder is one who can remind me of virtues I don't have down pat. One who can snap me out of my normal patterns, cause me to smack my own forehead and mutter a rueful "of course."

相反，一个更有趣的人是能够提醒我那些我还没有完全掌握的美德的人。一个能让我摆脱常规模式，让我拍着自己的额头，苦笑着说“当然”的人。

这个技巧有助于实现从 Zoom In 到 Zoom Out 的转换。让你暂时从当前的处境中抽离出来，换一个视角来看。