having an impact

Having an Impact

http://paulbohm.com/

Saturday, July 14, 12

http://paulbohm.com

http://paulbohm.com

In the book


A magical book


the first of its kind


was made


to educate a duke’s daughter.


But through a series of events


was lost


and found


by Nell(a peasant girl)


This book


explains the world in stories


and when Nell’s life becomes too bad


it urges her to leave on her own


And as Nell grows up...


...the book...


keeps teaching her...


about the human body, ...


... turing machines ...


and other wondrous things.


And so she became pretty badass.


And even changed the course of history.


What made Nell special?


Was it the book?


Many rich girls got the same book.

It turns out


But they didn’t change the world


But they didn’t change the world

(not even a little bit)


So was Nell a genius to begin with?


So was Nell a genius to begin with?

Maybe. But statistically, she likely wouldn’t have had an impact without the book.


Opportunity Need for Approval Need for Impact

Nell

Rich Kids

The difference between Nell and the entitled rich girls


Bad News


You’re entitled and everyone tells you

you are smartSaturday, July 14, 12

You have more resources


and a better network


than most people who’ve had an impact in the past


Tell someone they are smart &they perform worse.


Praise and Approval are addictive

(like candy)


You already know


Grades Impactdon’t measure


And Approval...


...even from those that you respect


Approval Impactdoesn’t measure


In fact


counterintuitively


being persistent


is often easier


when faced with adversity


and solitude.


In fact, many successful writers


chose not to talk about their work in progress


Praise for unfinished

work =candy

Because

Which makes them less likely to do a good job


But


ImpactPersistence doesn’t measureeither


You still need opportunity



Nell

Rich Kids

Nell had an impact, because she could and needed to.



Nell

Rich Kids

Many ? ?

Many don’t have an impact because they can’t



Nell

Rich Kids

Many ? ?

You ? ? ?

What about you?


You


Being here


Have the Network


And Resources


To Have An Impact



Nell

Rich Kids

Many ? ?

You ? ? ?

What about you?



Nell

Rich Kids

Many ? ?

You ? ?

You have the opportunity



Nell

Rich Kids

Many ? ?

You ? ?

Your choice

{Saturday, July 14, 12

Your biggest risk


is measuring candy


instead of impact


Turns you into...


A dancing monkey


The problem with being a dancing monkey is...


Even when the audience claps, you’re still a dancing monkey.



Nell

Rich Kids

Many ? ?

You ? ? {I realize that

knowing...Saturday, July 14, 12

...that you have opportunity


creates a lot of pressure


and expectations


=

Measuring yourself by other people’s expectations is

measuring candySaturday, July 14, 12

Your only chance:


Measure Impact


What do I mean with that?


Let me try to explainwith a story


This is my Go board


I’ve taught a lot of people to play Go


And as I saw a lot of people learn Go...


I started to notice patterns


Some learned faster...


than others.


And after a while...


A pattern emerged


Those who learned faster...


Focused more on playing...many many games


And less on thinking...

(what are you thinking about?you just started learning! play more games!)


They didn’t care about being original and were willing to

imitate better players(imitation is a very effective way to learn!)


And they played many more games, because losing was ok

for them


That’s a huge deal!


OTOH I’ve played with people


who no doubt were smart


That thought about their FIRST MOVE in their FIRST

GAME for TWO MINUTES

That’s like a lot of the people I talk to, who want to figure out what to do with

their life, without doing anything. Iteration is key!


Their hands were wet

and shaking


That’s what happens when expectations...


trick you into measuring candy


True: Without opportunity no success


And part of the reason you have opportunity is because people THINK you are smart


Sure, play their game.


Have them call you names like “prodigy” “genius” or “visionary”

if it helps you succeed.


Use socially constructed reality as a tool


But don’t start believing it yourself

even for a second


The moment you stop learning or doing things because they

don’t LOOK smart...


You’re just a dancing monkey


In fact, I can tell you for sure:


Somewhere out there...


is Nell


And she wasn’t invited here


And no one thinks she’s smart


And she doesn’t care if she LOOKS


like a rhinoceros to you


...or that you’re best pals with Peter Thiel


She’ll work her ass off


And she WILL have an impact


Will you?


How you know?do


How you know?can


Measure your impact


.

Look at progress


.

Not as a Dot

.


.

But

. . . .


.

As A Line

. . . .


Never trust other people’s opinions


Stop assuming that anyone else knows what they are

doing!


That’s why measuring the candy doesn’t work!


Learn about your own biases and


study rationality in forms like


Probability Theory


Game TheorySaturday, July 14, 12

And why people cooperate at all


Then realize that alldecisions that matter are

undecidableSaturday, July 14, 12

And train your intuition for solving such unsolvable

problems


Maybe With Go


Or Texas Hold’em


And then


Pick an ambitious goal

(you can always change it later)


When your goal is to colonize mars...


Or building the nervous system to awaken the slumbering giant and turn

humanity into the first superintelligence.


Learning to build rocket engines


studying graph theory


Or building a company


seem merely like minor distractions required to

accomplish a larger plan.


That plan is for you - not for sharing with others.


If you told others, and they didn’t think you are crazy, it’s

probably not ambitious enough!


What it is important for, is that you move towards something, and don’t

just frantically jump between all interesting fields.


Having and impact might even require years of studying or working

on someone else's project to learn.


But that’s just what I think


You can take an entirely different approach too


I don’t know what I’m doing myself.


We all look towards others to reassure us that what we’re

doing is right.


But since everyone else does the same, there are no real

answers.


I’m not trying to put you down or build you up - I just want to share my belief that I think impact matters more than

impressions.


Unlike most of you I probably would have never made it into the 20-under-20 or even here


When I was fourteen, my parents talked me out of going to a technical

school because they didn’t think I had what it takes


I didn’t win any awards, nor scholarships. I dropped out of school

before it was cool. And I haven’t had a huge impact yet.


I have had days where people thought I’m brilliant, and days where people thought I’m an idiot. And it’s all the

same. That’s just the candy.


What matters to me is: Just like Nell, I work my ass off every day, I try to measure my progress, I try not to worry what people think about me too much, and one day I WILL have an impact.


In Summary


Measure yourself against your own standards


Ignore Candy


And you’ll have an impact!


having an impact

Technology