Hit Makers

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Hit Maker takes an in-depth look at what makes a viral or popular product. In this book, Thompson provides detailed research on the key factors that cause content and products to become popular. Thompson argues that the products that become popular are a balance of familiarity and newness. He cited Raymond Loewy, the industrial designer, whose approach was summed up in his acronym MAYA “the Most Advanced Yet Acceptable” idea. This theory explains that people are simultaneously Neophobic, afraid of the new, and Neophilic, attracted to the new. In order for a new idea, content or product, to be popular, it must balance this tension. It is not the most innovative or advanced products that become sought but those that blend acceptability with innovation.  He also argues that there is a need for newness, as there is a danger in too much familiarity or too much of the same content which leads to a sharp fall in popularity. There must be a balance between newness and innovation.

Derek Thompson believes that familiar ideas or content leads to more liking of the content. He quotes an interesting study where people were asked to either name two things they liked about their partner or ten things they liked. The study found that people liked their partner more if they are asked to name just two things they liked. When asked to name ten things, it became harder and they rated their partners lower after the exercise. He uses many examples where companies use familiarity, including movies. Because we like familiarity, a key ingredient of popularity is repeated exposure. Most of the top revenue grossing movies of the last ten years have been based on popular novels. There is safety and familiarity in such movies. Also, car manufacturers blend familiarity with newness by changing a car’s style every few years. Derek Thompson also explores products that manage to make it big through the combination of timing, weird circumstances and savvy use of repetition while their pairs never made a splash. After reaching a tipping point, customers do not just buy a product but the popular conversion. A great example of this is Apple products. It is no secret that Apple has somehow lost its magic when it comes to disrupting markets through innovative products and yet, it became the first American company to surpass a trillion dollar value as I write this Bite.  No one wants to be the last to read or watch so they buy to participate in the conversion.

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One of my favorite sections of the book is on the power of creating popular phrases. It talks about the power of repetition. Through Thompson’s lens, repetition can explain anything that is popular. He argues that human beings love music because of our love for repetition. Repetition, he says, is the God particle of music.

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Hit Makers is full of “aesthetic aha”. This is a term for the moment when you look at something and for the first time, you understand and everything just clicks and comes together. The moment when you read an essay’s thesis and feel that it’s expressing something you’ve thought of before but never had the chance to put into words. It is that moment when your eyes light up because something clicked and was understood in your brain, the “aha moment.” It is beyond the feeling that something is familiar. It’s when something new, challenging or surprising that opens a door into a feeling of comfort, meaning or familiarity.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Popularity will always be found in the balance between familiarity and newness.

Key point #2: Repetition is key in creating popular and viral phrases.

Key point #3: It is not the most innovative or advanced products that become sought after but those that blend acceptability with innovation.

One Last Thing

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”

― Derek Thompson, Hit Makers: Why Things Become Popular

GREAT BY CHOICE: UNCERTAINTY, CHAOS, AND LUCK WHY SOME THRIVE

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Great by choice is a masterpiece of Jim Collins in-depth research. It was written in collaboration with another influential management analyst, Morten. T. Hansen.  Great by Choice aims to solve the problem of “why in spite of ambiguity, chaos, uncertainty, and market volatility, a few companies thrive, and others struggle.” Collins tackles this question by comparing those who outperformed their competitors by a factor of 10 (10Xers) in given time frame and set of variables.

The authors confirm that the great companies are no luckier than good companies, average companies or bad companies. Luck does not make them succeed because even in times of chaos and uncertainty, they go on working as if nothing has happened. These companies succeed because they have acquired an antifragility trait through a process which combines discipline and preparedness. It is not something in the DNA or something you get by luck or sheer courage. It is through a process that can be learned.

The authors successfully illustrate their point with the story of conquering South Antarctica. In 1911, two explorers made dangerous trip to Antarctica in an attempt to become the first people to reach the South Pole. One was led by a Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, while the other was led by a British Navy officer, Robert Falcon Scott.  Looking at both explorers, you would expect the latter to be remembered by history. That was not the case. It was Amundsen’s expedition who won the race to immortality. Why? Simply put:

PREPARATION. Roald Amundsen didn’t know where he was going, but he had a good idea of the conditions that he may be facing and spent as much time as he could researching Eskimo habits and trying all potential food sources.  Scott, on the other hand, wanted to reach the pole faster, so he carried a lot less weight and used the “untested –for-that-terrain” motor sleds. No one remembers if Scott’s team ever made it home. Neither Amundsen nor Scott knew what they would face on Antarctica, but the former did better in preparing for it.

My favorite part of the book is how much research was included. The authors analyzed the companies which beat their industry indexes Y at least ten times in as many years (10X companies) and found out that they were able to overcome stressful situations because they were prepared.

Firstly, they were disciplined. They were not in a hurry to become better than anyone else; they choose consistency over a rapid rise. By setting targets for themselves and hitting them precisely year by year, they became immune to external influences.

Secondly, they were bold. Their leaders weren’t interested in taking unnecessary risks and as a consequence weren’t required to be anymore of visionary than those of merely good companies.

Lastly, they were productively paranoid, just like Amundsen. The polar explorer tried dolphin’s meat to prepare for the worst-case scenario. The 10x companies do this regularly. In the event that something terrible happens, they already have a good strategy.

The 10x companies are neither more innovative nor more bolder than competitive companies; they were merely more attentive. They use bullets until they are entirely sure of their target and then they fire the cannon balls.

In conclusion, be SMaC: Specific, Methodological and Consistent. That is how discipline is implemented within a company. However, it is  only one aspect of what will help you through hard times. The other is being productively paranoid. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best!

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Key point #1: Be Attentive. Fire the bullets, then the cannonballs.

Key point #2: Be specific, methodological, consistent and productively paranoid

Key point #3: Greatness is a long-term strategy, strengthened by a consistent discipline in tactics.

One Last Thing

“The great task, rarely achieved, is to blend creative intensity with harsh discipline so as to amplify the creativity rather than destroy it. When you marry operating excellence with innovation, you multiply the value of your creativity.” Jim Collins & Morten Hanson. Great By Choice

Cashflow Quadrant. Guid to Financial Freedom

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Robert Kiyosaki is an active investor in real estate and specializes in the development of small-cap companies. He teaches business and investment principles and shares some of his knowledge through his book, CashFlow Quadrant.

The Cashflow Quadrant describes the four ways income can be generated:

EMPLOYED: Working for someone for a paycheck.

SELF EMPLOYED: Working for yourself, receiving an income that depends on you.

BUSINESS: Owning process/system, i.e., work happens without them being present, so they get a paycheck even when they are not present.

INVESTMENT: Making your money work for you. none or little interaction is needed for getting a paycheck.

Robert does a great job explaining the complicated financial and economic concepts in a very simplistic way. He offers a plan for those on the left side of the quadrant (employed and self-employed) to move to the right side of the quadrant (business owners and investors). The right side of the quadrant is where the rich focus all their attention in order to become financially independent. As part of his plan, Kiyosaki explains that it is not enough to be making a lot of money. What is really important, what makes the difference, is to be financially free. Being financially free is the difference between a medical doctor, a highly paid employee and Jeff Bezos, wealthiest man in history.

Robert Kiyosaki’s main point is to earn enough financial literacy to move from one quadrant to another.

The quadrants are:

EMPLOYEE: This is probably the most challenging quadrant in which to become financially free. Most people fall into this quadrant because of the way their mindset has been programmed since childhood. They get the same suggestion from their parents while growing up, “study hard, find a high paying job and have a secure life.” Your parents’ advice, coupled with schools and colleges is designed to create employees who need security, live from paycheck to paycheck and depend on allowances. There is very small proportion of children who get advice from their parents to start investing or open their own business.

To this group, job security is more important than financial freedom. Although you can become rich in this quadrant, it is quite tough compared to other quadrants.

SELF-EMPLOYED: Those in this quadrant have the mindset of “if you want to do it right, you have to do it yourself.” They are sometimes referred to as “solo-people.” They own their job and often do their work because of the perfectionist mindset, and they do not trust anyone else with their job. A few examples are the retail shop owner, small company, doctor, etc. They trade their time for money. Unlike employees who enjoy the benefits of medical allowances and paid leaves, the earnings of a self-employed is very fragile. If they get sick, it would be hard for them to make an income. The self-employed have to devote more time if they want to earn more. Their income is directly dependent on how much work they can do, i.e., their time equals money. Also, their freedom is more important than their financial independence.

BUSINESS OWNERS: This quadrant allows the best opportunity to become financially free. Those here are people who own the system or process where people work for them. According to Forbes, big companies are those with over 500 employees. However, in recent times, this rule is no longer valid. There many big companies which do not require 500 employees to work. For example, Whatsapp is a multi-billion company with less than 50 employees. Unlike the self-employed who can not stop working if they want a regular  income, the business owner does not need to trade his time for money as he owns the system. Even in their absence, their employees will work for them.

INVESTORS: This group of people make their money work for them. Investors are the fourth and highest level of the cashflow quadrant. You cannot jump into this quadrant without being successful in one of the other three quadrants mentioned above. The investors are one of the most financially free groups who make their money work for them. They invest in business stocks, real estate, etc. Most times, they do not need to get involved in the working of the business or asset they’re investing in; hence they get plenty time, money and freedom.

In conclusion, it is comparatively easier and faster to become wealthy when you’re working on the right-hand side of the quadrant. You do not need to shift to another quadrant entirely at once. You can keep your feet in two or more quadrants. However, the best way to get rich is to stay on the right side of the cashflow quadrant.

 

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Key point #1: The self-employed believe if you want to do it right, do it yourself.  Often self-employed people think they have a business, but if your business requires you to be there in order to keep generating an income, you don’t own a business, you own a job.

Key point #2: If you own a process/system where others work for you, you’re a business owner. As a business owner, you are more comfortable to reach the ultimate goal, financial freedom by having your money working for you as an investor.

Key point #3: Everyone has money problems. For most people, money leaves faster than it comes. For others, they have money but cannot reinvest it fast enough. For those who can reinvest it, more money comes in. Yes, the rich do get richer.

One Last Thing:

“A lot of people are afraid to tell the truth, to say no. That’s where toughness comes into play. Toughness is not being a bully. It’s having  backbone.” ~ Robert T. Kiyosaki, The Cashflow Quadrant.

Unfuck Yourself

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Gary John is a personal development expert in the industry. His “Urban Philosophy” approach represents a new trend of empowerment in both personal career and life mastery that has provided miraculous results for people in the quality and performance of their lives.

The author focuses on giving the readers the best way of living their best life and helping the reader find everything they have ever wanted residing within them. In this book, Gary differentiates assertive self-talk and narrative self- talk or affirmation. Instead of telling yourself “you’re not going to be great” rather tell yourself “you’re great.” Self actualization has a great impact on self-perception. Take control and be the captain of your own ship. Stop limiting yourself to the reality you choose. To succeed, you have to prove those firmly held (negative) beliefs WRONG. And believe me, there is a solution for everything.

Unfuck yourself also talks about embracing uncertainty. We often steer away from uncertainty because of the need to feel safe. And today, this instinct can give rise to a negative effect. The author believes that if you want to win, you have to be willing to let others judge you. The worst decision is making no decision. The absence of decision leads to the absence of experience and  that ultimately boils down to the absence of learning. This can lead to the worst regrets in life. Another important way of getting out of your head and into your mind is to conquer fear. If you want to improve be comfortable to be thought of as foolish and stupid. There is no destination, there is always an exploration. You have to believe that you are what you do and not your thoughts. Who cares about your thought? Focus on your deeds. You don’t have to feel that you like it in order to do it. This mindset is the only way to happiness.

The author explores the art of relentlessness. You have to take what you want out of life. Do not wait to be given to you. It will be painful but nothing worth having comes easy. Be focused. Destroy obstacles one after the other. Expect nothing and learn to accept everything. Disappointment is an unmet expectation. The idea is to accept reality as it comes and deal with it with no emotional bias.

Love what you already possess and be in control of your emotional state. Dispute your beliefs. Dispute your interpretation of things. Accept and act. Own your reactions. Real life has more value to your outcomes than the narrative you have about it. Make a habit of questioning your mind, always put things in perspective. There is always a solution to everything.

Keep your mind set on winning. You are wired to win. If you find yourself suddenly struggling with something you normally excel at or you’re stuck in a shitty relationship, remember that you always have a choice to change the game. Just understand the rules of the game and understand the players, including yourself. Do not limit yourself to the reality of your choices. Do not stop doing what you want to keep winning, as the only way to unfuck yourself is by getting the reaffirmation of your greatness as you keep winning. When you lose, see it as a learning experience and win again.

 

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Key point #1:  Be relentless. Don’t give up and be prepared for disappointments.

Key point #2: Expect nothing and accept everything that keeps you moving towards your goal.

Key point #3: Embrace uncertainty and strategize as most as possible.

 

One Last Thing:

“Life won’t stop for your pauses and procrastination. It won’t stop for your confusion or fear. It will continue right along without you. Whether you play an active part or not, the show will go on.”

― Gary John Bishop, Unfuck Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life

You Are a Badass

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You Are A Badass is a book which explains how and why we are the way we are. The author shows how we can embrace our inner badass, how to get over our own badass and finally, how to get out there and kick some ass!

Jen Sincero says, “My subconscious made me do it!” She emphasizes the important role the subconscious mind plays in every decision we make. She describes the subconscious mind as the blueprint for our lives; essentially comprising we consider to be our beliefs. She went further emphasizing  the importance of embracing the moment and being present. Doing it will let you lead a richer, joy-filled life. She says “being present gets you out of your head and connects you to source energy, which raises your frequency and attracts things like frequency to you.” And all the high-frequency things and experiences are already here, just waiting for you to be part of the party. All you have to do is shut up, show up and usher them in.

You Are A Badass also describes ego as a false self, the self that is essentially being an asshole. Ego is a big snooze because if your ego is acting up, it’s because we are still asleep and yet to realize how amazing we are and how wonderful the world is. The big snooze will do everything it can to stop you from changing and growing, especially since you’re attempting to obliterate the very identity that you and everyone else has come to know as ‘you’. The author took a step further by offering some thoughts to prevent the ugly ego from acting up. Some of which are:

-Stop at nothing

-Have faith

-Stay on course no matter what happens

-Believe that you are awesome

Jen prioritizes the concept of self-love, believing you can’t be unhappy with self-love. You have to start appreciating how special you are, drown yourself in affirmations, do things you love, let the love in and don’t compare yourself to others. You have to stop worrying about what others think and stay true to yourself. You can’t control people’s perception about you because it says more about them than it does you. What you can control is what you say and do. So keep being you and celebrate you.

This book also talks about the act of positive thinking. Through your life, send awesomeness to everyone around you. It can be as simple as smiling or by complimenting people and making them laugh.

In life, we get to choose and experience and in essence, our reality which comes down to choosing to create a life you want to live. Let go of things that don’t serve you well and change your reality to one filled with joy and happy experience. Jen said “most of the time, it’s not lack of experience that’s holding us back but rather lack the determination to do the needful to be successful. We put so much energy into coming up with excuses why we can’t be, do or have the things that we want, so our next step is, designing the perfect distractions to keep us from our dreams.” Jen highlights procrastination as one of the key ways you constantly self-sabotage.  All it takes to turn the fear factor around is learning to be comfortable instead of terrified of the unknown. And this is done through hope, the greatest gift to us humans is to belief in things not seen. So, we have to take a leap of faith into a real realm that you strongly desire to be in. Demand of yourself that you rise to the occasion and start living your damn life already.

As a closing argument, Jen sums it up by saying “give yourself the permission and the means to be who you are, regardless of what anybody else thinks or believes is possible. You are powerful, you are loved and you are surrounded by miracles. Believe what you desire is here and you can have it all, yes, all!  If haters going to hate, then doers going to do. So start doing!

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Don’t worry what people think about you. Keep doing what needs to be done. as a principle, only actions bring reactions. Do productive and positive actions.

Key point #2: Forgive yourself. Mistakes along the way are learning experiences. Perfection is an illusion for the ego.

Key point #3: Don’t let your ego or any one’s ego gets in the way.

 

One Last Thing

“We only get to be in our bodies for a limited time, why not celebrate the journey instead of merely riding it out until it’s over?”

― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

Hacking Work. Breaking Stupid Rules for Smart Results

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The authors identified the most straightforward way of working smarter and faster and therefore decided to expose the workaround codes that enable people to work more intelligently. The system is HACKING, that is, how to break free and really get stuff done.  Once staff members learn how to hack their work, they accomplish more in less time.

What many business leaders missed to admit, or probably afraid to explore is, that businesses structures and processes as we know it, is broken. Although hacking work is not new, technology is creating vast of opportunities to work smarter and faster.  Leaders that encourage new ways of doing things are outcast, outliers and judge by their C-suite counterparts, leading to isolation and accusations. This is a cruel reality that leaves most of us screwed and feeling helpless about change. We have become slaves to our infrastructures, to business controlling tool, procedures, and mandates.

The authors, write about some real-life examples from ordinary day folks like, Elizabeth a manager whose bosses would not approve her customer satisfaction project, even though the entire senior team deemed it crucial because of payoff wouldn’t be realized for at least four fiscal quarters. So she secretly videotaped customers voicing their complaints as well as their wish lists for enhancing the company’s product lines and posted it on YouTube. Within days, there was enough public outcry that senior management reversed their decision and approved her project.

Also, Matt, a new hired, that disagreed with his employer’s assessment process, he Googled “performance assessment” and built a seventeen-question mash-up that matched his career goals— not just the company’s goals for him. His boss and the HR department were shocked and pissed off, but he had spent months refining his performance tool. He did his homework, seeking advice from one of the gurus in the assessment field whom he’d contacted through LinkedIn. With the support of his co-workers, Matt stood his ground, and management ended up using his assessment in conjunction with their own.

These are not isolated incident. Bill and Josh are outing the most prominent open secret of the working world. Today’s top performers are taking matters into their own hands. They are bypassing sacred structures and breaking all sorts of rules just to get their work done. They are set to expose the cheat codes for work and to share them with the world.

Want to work smarter not harder? Start hacking. Wanting to leave a legacy that makes a difference? Start hacking. Wanting to be a better manager, leader or entrepreneur? Start hacking. Hackers never stayed within the lines of their coloring books neither do they allow childlike wonder to be squeezed out of them. They tend to figure out why anyone would give up digging their fingers into everything just to learn how it works and how they could be changed, that’s the core to any hackers drive: unleashing the untapped potentials in everything, reworking the status quo, so it works better.

Hacking work speaks to all workers who feel defeated by overbearing and outdated bureaucratic rules, regulations and old school paradigms that prevent work from getting done smoothly and efficiently.  Hacking work is a forbidden innovation. It is the act of getting what you need to do by identifying loopholes and creating workarounds.

It is taking the usual ways of doing things, and creating a bypass to produce improved results. Once employers know how to hack theory work, everything is up for grabs.

The authors dedicated this book to the benevolent hackers and introduced two things about benevolent hackers. Firstly, benevolent hackers challenge outdated rules and procedures. Secondly, see the future and pulls us towards it in whatever way works best.

Benevolent hackers are on a mission to save the business from itself and you from the business.

In conclusion, benevolent hacking is the duct tape of the work. It is the universal solution to every poorly designed and corporate centered procedure, tool, rule, and process.

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Key point#1: Hacking work is not new

Key point#2: Hacking is bypassing, reworking, and bending the rules that keep you from doing your best.

Key point #3: Hacking work is not just for techies sometimes it involves simple changes in a relationship, sharing information differently or using tools you already have.

One Last Thing

The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

 ~Warren Bennis

The Art of Thinking Clearly

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The Art of Thinking Clearly translates complicated results from cognitive bias experiments, interprets and synthesizes them into short, easy to understand summaries.  Humans experience diverse reasoning patterns out of which many are limitations to logical thinking. Most cognitive errors made by humans are standard and can be identified when you know what you have been and are dealing with.

Knowing these will help you to minimize them, and then you can open yourself up to logical alternatives. The author opens up the reader’s mind to human psychology, reasoning and how to avoid cognitive errors for better decision making.

Among the logical errors, Dobelli explores survivorship bias or systematic overestimation of the chances for success and social proof or feeling that an action or decision is right because a lot of people are doing it. You come across survivorship bias when dealing with money and risk. It becomes especially pernicious when you become a member of the winning team. The author suggests an amazing solution to help clear your mind against survivorship bias, which is a frequent visitation of graves of once-promising projects, career and investment.

Clustering Illusion: When it comes to recognizing a pattern, we are oversensitive. However, it is best to regain your skepticism. If you or someone, close to you, thinks you have found a pattern, first take in consideration that may be pure chance. If it seems too reasonable to be true, see a mathematician and have the data tested statistically.

Social Proof:  It dictates that individuals tend to think they are behaving correctly as long as they act the same as other people.  In other words, the more people follow a particular idea, the better we think the idea is, and therefore support it.

Outcome Bias: Attributing positive outcomes to our capabilities and blaming external issues on external circumstances. This attribute was tested by having two groups of subjects take a personality test then arbitrarily assigning good or bad scores. The students with positive outcome believed the test results were fair and reflected their abilities. The students with the not so good score, on the other hand, found the test was garbage and didn’t reflect their personality. An excellent way to overcome your judgment is to listen to honest feedback and to learn from it without taking it personally.

An illusion of attention:  We often think that we notice everything around us but this couldn’t be farther from reality. As a Harvard study found, it is easier to lose attention than what we think. The experiment had subjects watch a video of students passing balls back and forth while counting how many times the player in white shirts passed the ball.  Later they were asked if there was something unusual that caught their attention. Half of the subjects did not notice anything unusual, unaware of the fact that in the middle of the video, someone dressed as a gorilla walked across the room pounding his chest. We tend to remember things which happen at the beginning and end of a stream of information forgetting what comes in the middle.

Lastly, amongst others is alternative blindness. Whenever people think about an offer, they become blind to alternatives. However, to be able to make the right decision, you have to go out of your mental limit.  

To overcome these cognitive errors in reasoning, we have to be aware of them and take a conscious effort to defeat them.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Cognitive biases cause simple errors in most of our day to day thinking.

Keypoint #2: Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. Therefore, make decisions based on facts, only lazy minds are comfortable with the illusion that perception is reality, perception is perception, reality is reality.

Keypoint #3: We are drunk on our own ideas. To sober up, take a step back now and then and examine their quality in hindsight.

 

One Last Thing

“If you ever find yourself in a tight, unanimous group, you must speak your mind, even if your team does not like it.”

― Rolf Dobelli, The Art of Thinking Clearly: Better Thinking, Better Decisions

Principles

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Ray Dalio believes an idea meritocracy (a system that brings together smart, independent thinkers and has them disagree to come up with the best collective thinking and resolve their disagreement in a weighted believability way) is the best decision-making system because it requires honesty and leads to continual improvement.

 

The first part of Principles, Where I’m Coming From, primarily reflect Dalio’s biography. Here are a few points:

 

  •    Meaningful work and meaningful relationships are better than money.
  •    Bad times with good reflections provide the best lessons.
  •    The most significant success is having others do well without you.
  •    Happiness comes from struggling well.

 

There are fewer types of people than there are people and far fewer types of situations than there are situations. Hence, matching people and situations is vital.  Dalio realized the best way he could succeed was to seek out the smartest people and identify who disagrees with him so he could understand their reasoning. He learned why not to have an opinion, develop tests and systemize universal time principles and balance risks in a  process that keep significant upsides while capping downsides.

 

The second part of Principles focuses on life principles. Dalio views problems as games and puzzles that he must solve. Ray Dalio says he has learned to become such a fan of reality that he loves fact even when it’s cruel. He furthermore added that we aren’t born knowing what’s true, we have to find that out. He claims that the best way to achieve that is to be radically open-minded and radically transparent. We learn with a feedback loop from our actions and beliefs. He feels radical open-mindedness improves those feedback loops.

 

Radical transparency, on the other hand, means facing the truth and speaking the truth freely. It can be difficult because it opens one up to criticism, but fearing criticism can be tragic because, without it, you will not learn.The more you face criticism, the comfortable you will be.

It is evolution and progress itself that makes us happy and fulfilled rather than achieving the goal or the material wealth. But to evolve, remember “no pain, no gain.” Ray Dalio says there is no avoiding pain, especially when you’re after an ambitious goal. What Ray Dalio wants to give people is not what they wish, which ultimately makes them weaker, but the strength to deal with reality to get what they want by themselves, which eventually will make them stronger and more independent.

 

As you gather it all together, to have the best life possible you have to know what decisions aren’t the best ones, which ones are and dare to make them. To acquire principles that work, it is essential that you embrace reality and deal with it as it is.

 

The third part of this book focuses on work principle. Ray Dalio says for groups to function well, the working principle has to be aligned with the members’ life principles. Not aligned with everything but on to the most important ones. To get the culture right, you have to :

 

  • Trust radical truth and radical transparency, i.e., it is always best to shoot straight and be honest even when the news is not positive. Ray Dalio says he believes in a healthier form of loyalty founded on exploring what’s true
  • Cultivate meaningful work and relationships: i.e., develop a meaningful relationship whereby you care about each other and can have a great time together both inside and outside the organization.
  • Create a culture of learning from mistakes, i.e., making a mistake is painful and okay, but it’s not okay to not learn from them.

 

Pulling it all together, Ray Dalio says, we work together to accomplish three things: more leverage to achieve our goals, quality relationships, and money that allows us to buy what we want for ourselves and others.

 

In conclusion, it is important to highlight that all rules have exceptions and you should use your judgment and common sense.

 

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Idea meritocracy is the best system for decision making

Key point #2: Radical mindedness and Radical Transparency are the best ways to find out what’s true.

Key point #3: Work Principle and Life principle are the primary focus of Principles.

One Last Thing

“If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing your limits, and if you’re not pushing your limits, you’re not maximizing your potential”
― Ray Dalio

The CEO Next Door

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The authors, Elena and Powell carried out groundbreaking research which reveals the common attributes and counterintuitive choices that set apart successful CEOs. The CEO Next Door draws on the most significant dataset of the CEOs in the world with the real habits of top leaders. Elena and Powell focus on the “four Genome behaviors” that separate great leaders from the rest.

  1. Great leaders are decisive. They make fewer decisions, make them faster and get better every time.
  2. Great leaders engage for impact. They lead with intent, understand the players and build relationships through routine.
  3. Great leaders are radically and relentlessly reliable. They embrace “the thrill of personal consistency,” set bold but realistic expectations, “stand up to be counted on,” and adopt the drills of highly reliable organizations”.
  4. Great leaders adapt Boldly. They ride the discomfort of the unknown, respect but are not a hostage of the past and build an antenna for the future.

Great leaders are women and men who hold themselves to very high standards for personal character and professional achievement. Only then can they hold others to the same very high standards. CEO Next Door debunks a host of popular myths about CEOs which has created a misconception about what a CEO is like. The authors set to eradicate the myth with facts that are derived from an impressive database of intensive interviews with executives. Some of the myths are:

  • CEOs are from Ivy league universities while the truth, based on research, is only 7% of CEOs graduated from Ivy league university. 8% of CEOs did not even have a college education
  • CEOs are destined for greatness from an early age while the truth is over 70% of the CEOs interviewed did not set out to be CEOs
  • CEOs have larger than life personality with enormous charisma and confidence while the fact is a third of the CEOs described themselves as introverted.
  • To become a CEO, you need a flawless resume while the truth is 45% of CEOs interviewed had at least one major blow up or mishap in their career.

The fact is, successful CEOs stood out for decisiveness itself- the ability to make decisions with speed and conviction. They make decisions with only 80% of the information available to them, and they reach out for others perspectives because they realize that all input is not created equal.

Drawing on an exceptional analysis of thousands of current and potential CEOs, they find that the best of the best share some similar traits. They may not come from outstanding schools, but they do know how to make smart decisions, adapt to changed circumstances and work honestly and directly with customers and employees. Culled from the breakthrough study of most successful people in business and illustrated by real-life stories from CEOs and boardrooms, The CEO Next Door offers career advice for anyone who aspires to get ahead. Botelho and Powell, utilizing research, tell us how to:

  • Fast-track careers by deploying the career catapults used by those who get to the top quickly.
  • Overcome the hidden handicaps to getting the job you want
  • Avoid the hazards that most commonly derail those promoted into a new role.

 

This book is recommended not only for the aspiring CEO, but for anyone who aspires to accelerate their career trajectory and looking to raise their leadership to a higher level.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: CEO Next Door uncovers Four Genome Behaviors of a CEO:decisive, engaging, reliable, and adaptable.

Key point #2: One of the greatest myth is that great CEOs are from Ivy league universities while the truth, based on research, is only 7% of CEOs graduated from Ivy league university. 8% of CEOs did not even have a college education.

Key point #3: One surprise is that 70% of the CEOs didn’t intend to become CEOs when they set out on their career paths, or even mid-tenure in their career. It was only when that role became within striking zone for them that it became a relevant career aspiration.

One last thing:

“Every time you make the hard, correct decision you become a bit more courageous, and every time you make the easy, wrong decision you become a bit more cowardly. If you are CEO, these choices will lead to a courageous or cowardly company.” – Ben Horowitz, CEO of Opsware

The Radical Candor

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The author, Kim Scott was the previous Director of AdSense with over 700 direct reports. Now, she is the CEO of Candor, Inc. where she serves as an executive coach for several notable CEOs, including those at Twitter and Dropbox.  Kim perceived radical candor as the ability to care personally about people you work directly with while still challenging them directly. When you care about them, you want to help them get better. Radical Candor is a simple, direct and candid book that puts emphasis on being sincere and putting a stop to beating around the bush. The author gave a formula which is:

Radical Candor = Care Personally + Challenge Directly

The first dimension, care personally, is about being more than just professional. It is about giving a damn, spending  time beyond necessary work, sharing more than just your work self and encouraging everyone who reports to you to do the same. If those that report to you hide behind policies, ethical politics and strict-minded process, they should not be on your team and not join you as part of your leadership team.

The second dimension, challenge directly, involves telling people when their work is not good enough and why. This can include, being honest when they are not going to get the promotion they wanted, when you are going to hire a new boss over them or telling them when the result does not justify the investment.

Radical Candor reveals that most people are afraid to challenge directly and many fail to care personally.  In Radical Candor, the author helps us to understand the essentials of communicating, precisely in terms that drive efficient team performance.  She provides a practical framework to help guide your interactions and help you recognize when you are not challenging directly and caring personally. The framework includes four quadrants:

  1. Manipulative Insincerity: This is not caring or challenging the person at all. It is failing to give needed criticism or giving praise when you don’t really mean it.
  2. Ruinous Empathy: This is caring for the person but in the wrong way. It is worrying about hurting the person’s feelings so you soften the criticism to protect them or giving praise that isn’t specific enough for the person to understand what they did well.
  3. Obnoxious Aggression: This is challenging the person without showing that you care. Giving criticism in an unkind manner or offering praise that in a manner belittling to them or others.
  4. Radical Candor: This is challenging the person while showing them you care. It is being specific in your criticism so they understand how to improve. It is being clear with your praise so they know exactly what you appreciate about them and their work. In essence, giving a damn about your people that you take the time to properly give them the good and the bad when it is needed, even when it is uncomfortable.

The author urges that radical candor should be practiced not only in organizations but amidst teams as well. She said “to be radically candid; you need to practice it “up,” “down” and “sideways.”  Create honest and attainable growth management plans once a year for each person who works for you. Hire the right people, fire the appropriate people, promote the deserving people and reward only the people who are doing great balanced work. Too many leaders focus on being professional and do not care personally. In doing so, we actively avoid crossing lines of friendship and ultimately wind up caring about things that actually stand in the way of our end goals.

We are in a beat-around-the-bush culture; Radical Candor dispels that mentality and helps transition managers into leaders who are able to successfully provide guidance to their people and it provides the framework for a leader to be effective when managing people in uncomfortable situations.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Don’t just work hard at being professional, adopt the radical candor approach.

Key point #2: Don’t triangulate in interpersonal conflict.

Key point #3: Radical candor is about caring enough to speak directly, and as a leader, being honest with yourself and the people that report to you.

One last thing:

“When leaders are too invested in everyone getting along, they also fail to encourage the people on their team to criticize one another, other for fear of sowing discord. They create the kind of work environment where being “nice” is prioritized at the expense of critiquing and therefore improving actual performance.” -Kim Scott