Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking

by Shane Snow

Lateral thinking doesn’t replace hard work; it eliminates unnecessary cycles.

“Once a small win has been accomplished,” Weick continues, “forces are set in motion that favor another small win.”

There’s a big difference, in other words, between having a mentor guide our practice and having a mentor guide our journey.

“Further, since individuals tend to seek knowledge about themselves in ways designed to yield flattering results, even if someone were to engage in reflection after failing, he might seek knowledge to explain away the failure.” (Emphasis mine.)

The difference was how much the feedback caused a person to focus on himself rather than the task.

The research showed that experts—people who were masters at a trade—vastly preferred negative feedback to positive. It spurred the most improvement. That was because criticism is generally more actionable than compliments.

THE SECOND CITY MANAGES to accomplish three things to accelerate its performers’ growth: (1) it gives them rapid feedback; (2) it depersonalizes the feedback; and (3) it lowers the stakes and pressure, so students take risks that force them to improve.

No matter the medium or method, giving is the timeless smartcut for harnessing superconnectors and creating serendipity.

Like Holmes, hackers strip the unnecessary from their lives. They zero in on what matters. Like great writers, innovators have the fortitude to cut the adverbs.