📖Joel Greenblatt

Know Your Limits

🌱 Beginner★★★★★

Stay within your circle of competence.

💬

The most successful investors stay within their circle of competence. Know what you understand well and resist the temptation to venture outside it.

— The Little Book That Beats the Market,2005

🏠 Everyday Analogy

A process is like a pilot checklist: discipline prevents simple mistakes when pressure rises and keeps outcomes more repeatable.

📖 Core Interpretation

Joel Greenblatt advocates a repeatable process: define criteria, execute consistently, and review decisions against evidence. Process quality drives outcome consistency.
💎 Key Insight:Self-awareness about knowledge limits prevents costly mistakes.

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❓ Why It Matters

Without process, there is no reliable feedback loop. Structured execution and review improve decision quality over time.

🎯 How to Practice

Run a decision loop of research, thesis, execution, and post-mortem; document assumptions and update playbooks with evidence, not hindsight bias.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Having opinions without execution criteria
Reviewing outcomes but not decisions
Abandoning rules during volatility spikes

📚 Case Studies

1
Dr Pepper/Seven Up from Cadbury Schweppes (2002)
Cadbury Schweppes separated its U.S. beverages unit, leaving a more focused confectionery business and an underappreciated beverages spinoff with solid brands and cash flow.
✨ Outcome:Both parent and spinoff rerated upward over time as investors recognized better economics and clearer business focus.
2
American Express Recovery (2002)
Magic Formula ranked American Express highly after the tech bust when it was out of favor and trading at a low earnings yield.
✨ Outcome:Within several years, the stock delivered strong double‑digit annual returns as credit trends improved and valuation normalized.

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