smartcuts book report

As retold by…

Katie Sears

Technological change is exponential

Meaning people are getting richer and achieving their

dreams faster

And there’s a pattern:

Innovators break convention to find better routes, like computer hackers

They also useLATERAL THINKINGWhere problems are attacked sideways and basic assumptions are questioned

The difference between

a SHORTCUT and a

SMARTCUT is that shortcuts get you rapid, short-term gains while smartcuts are sustainable successes that create value.

They are

‘shortcuts with integrity’

HACKING THE

LADDER

‘The average president spent just seven years as an elected official before

reaching the White House. Five were never elected to any office before

becoming president.’

They did this by hacking the ladder. They ‘parlayed’ or

moved forward after each small win, to reach a

different ladder.

Ladder switching, or pivoting, makes ‘overnight success’ possible(See: Zoe Saldana, Nintendo, James Patterson, and the iPhone)

Companies that pivot perform much better than others who stay

on the same course.

Note: paying your dues does not matter!

TRAINING WITH

MASTERS

How did J-Biebs get so famous so fast??

Two music industry mentors pulled him to the top of the ladder

Train with successful people to achieve success faster.

For example…

But not just any mentor…the student and the master have to come together on their own and form personal relationships.

NOT TO WORRY!

Don’t live near your mentor?Mentor died a long time ago?

Becoming a ‘first class noticer’ can help you model your mentor and pick up the same skills from afar

RAPID FEEDBAC

K

Failing in business doesn’t make us better or smarter…

BUT, succeeding makes us more likely to continue to

succeed

‘Failure makes you wiser’ isn’t actually true

Interestingly… surgeons who

saw their colleagues fail

did better in the future, while

those who saw a colleague

perform successfully saw

no effect on their future

success.

Awesome!

This is because when we fail, we blame it on external conditions and when we succeed we says its because internally we are

Bad Feedback?- high-pressure- Focuses attention on ourselves- A barrage of feedback

Failure=Feedback Good

feedback?- Depersonalized- Turns experiences into experiments

(low pressure, low stakes)- Focuses on task, not person- Early and often!

PLATFORMS

Hackers, like David Heinemeier Hansson, find and build layers of abstraction in business and life that allow them to

multiply their effort.

With platforms you can search for the least wasteful way to learn something. DHH calls this ‘selective slacking’

(Aka PLATFORMS)

A+

IN AN AGE OF PLATFORMS, CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN COMPUTATIONAL SKILL. WE SHOULD RETHINK OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM BASED ON THE PLETHORA OF NEW PLATFORMS.

Like Finland!!

WAVES

There are 2 ways to catch a

wave:1. Exhausting hard workOR 2. Pattern recognition (placing yourself at the right place at the right time, seeking opportunity instead of waiting for it)

Deliberate pattern spotting can compensate for experience. A wave like…

can take an amateur farther faster than an expert can swim.

Online music communities

EDM Electronic mail

THE 20% DOCTRINE

Companies should always have a toe

in the water, constantly

tinkering with potential trends.

Budget time for swimming!

First Movers- 47% fail- Don’t have the advantage- Miss the best technological and market

opportunities - Acquire the ‘wrong’ resources

It is better to be a fast follower or an early leader

SUPERCONNECTORS

“The act of making mass connections by tapping into

hubs with many spokes”

These superconnectors actively use their networks to help individuals reach many people at once

Aaron Patzer of Mint says ‘when we give and teach, we build up fan bases that become more likely to support us.

Superconnectors are GIVERS: it is the smartcut for creating serendipity

=

MOMENTUM

If you keep moving, you’ll be happy!!

Why are billionaires so depressed?Lack of progress!

Investors are so sure that momentum is a powerful

predictor of success, they will place huge bets on companies that

are rapidly growing, even if the company is losing money

SIMPLICTY

Creativity comes easier without constraints For example: Tell me something funny (overwhelming)ORTell me a knock-knock jokeKnock-knock. Who’s there? Ach. Achoo? Bless you!

This is why important peoplelike (Obama and Steve Jobs)

wear the same colored suits or turtlenecks.

They minimize distractions and maximize good decision making!

10XTHINKI

NG(The art of the extremely big swing)

“In order to get really big improvements, you usually have to start over in one or more ways. You have to break basic assumptions.”

-Astro TellerThis includes…creating the first privately-made spaceship

building self-driving cars

creating infant incubators for $20

making augmented reality glasses

To do these things, one must think radically different, use creativity, and come up with smartcuts

10X better is easier than 10% better

10% 10%Better at sales and mktg,

have to convince people to change their behavior for a marginal increase in value

Produce huge amounts of new value, the money will find you.

Le End