Smartcuts by Shane Snow

The Big Idea
Work smarter, not harder.

Key Takeaways

  1. Hacking the Ladder: sometimes the fastest way up is side-to-side; eg. US presidents with little political experience, movie stars with little acting experience
  2. Training with the Masters: find a successful mentor to accelerate your learning; eg. Jimmy Fallon, Steve Jobs
  3. Rapid Feedback: embrace failures but always learn from them, develop a system and culture of experimentation; eg. Upworthy, Second City, heart surgery
  4. Platforms: take advantage of existing platforms to maximize leverage and avoid reinventing the wheel, build platforms when necessary, don’t repeat yourself; eg. David Heinemeier Hanson, Ruby on Rails, car racing, calculators, Finland schools
  5. Waves: riding a wave is good, riding two converging waves is much better, learn to spot trends and move quickly, first-mover advantage is overrated; eg. Scrillex, surfing
  6. Superconnectors: building relationships can accelerate progress like a turbo booster, become a superconnector by being generous with your time; eg. Fidel Castro, JJ Abrams, Mint.com
  7. Momentum: parlay small wins into big wins to keep the momentum going; eg. Michelle Phan, Oreo
  8. Simplicity: less is more, small is beautiful, taking on less focuses your resources and energy; eg. Embrace, Mac, Finland schools
  9. 10x Thinking: big thinking can galvanize teams and partners, fewer competitors can focus your efforts; eg. SpaceX, GoogleX

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