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Smartcuts
How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success
Smartcuts (2014) is about the secrets used by innovative companies and bright minds to achieve big successes in the shortest possible time. It outlines the reasons why unconventional methods are much more powerful than traditional ones in today's business world, and what you can do to take advantage of them.
- Entrepreneurs
- Anyone interested in productivity or innovation
Shane Snow is an award-winning journalist whose work has been featured in Wired, Fast Company and the New Yorker. He co-founded the company Contently and serves on the Contently Foundation Board for Investigative Journalism.
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Smartcuts
How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success
- Read in 16 minutes
- Audio & text available
- Contains 10 key ideas
Synopsis
Smartcuts (2014) is about the secrets used by innovative companies and bright minds to achieve big successes in the shortest possible time. It outlines the reasons why unconventional methods are much more powerful than traditional ones in today's business world, and what you can do to take advantage of them.
Key idea 1 of 10
Don't climb the career ladder from the bottom up – hack into it instead.
A lot of people assume that climbing the career ladder step by step is the best route to success. That's rarely the case, however, because success isn't just about working hard – it's about working smart.
That's where lateral thinking comes in. Lateral thinking is about making unseen connections between ideas and searching for smart solutions outside the box. It allows you to uncover possibilities you might not otherwise notice.
Lateral thinking helps you find smartcuts, the most efficient and sustainable means to success. Don't be turned off by the term's similarity to “shortcut," which has a negative connotation and implies that quality might be skimped. Smartcuts get you to where you want to be in the smartest way possible. Remember: there's nothing wrong with taking the quickest path to success. In fact, that's the best way to use your time and resources.
A lot of successful people have made good use of smartcuts, even several US presidents.
About one-third of US presidents didn't follow the traditional route of serving in Congress for a considerable period before running for the presidency, instead spending only about seven years in an elected office. They gained relevant experience in other fields, then managed to “hack” into the presidential ladder at just the right time.
Consider that Woodrow Wilson was the head of a university and Dwight Eisenhower, who went on to defeat Hitler, had never held an elected office before he became president. These men didn't climb their way straight up the political hierarchy – they moved across it diagonally. This is what you too need to aim for as an entrepreneur.
Key ideas in this title
- Don't climb the career ladder from the bottom up – hack into it instead.
- Expert mentors help you realize your full potential.
- Don't take failure or negative feedback personally – use it to improve your company instead.
- Make use of existing platforms relevant to your particular field.
- Know your field and don't be afraid to change strategies when new patterns emerge.
- Use superconnectors to help spread the word about your product or service.
- Use the momentum of your early successes as a springboard for further success.
- Constantly reassess your approach and strive to make things as simple as possible.
- Applying 10x Thinking can be a shortcut to success.
- Final summary
