Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking

by Shane Snow

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

Leverage is the overachiever’s approach to getting more bang for her proverbial buck.

lateral thinking is how the most successful people have always made it.

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

Mentorship is the secret of many of the highest-profile achievers throughout history.

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

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.

In an age of platforms, creative problem solving is more valuable than computational skill.

Effort for the sake of effort is as foolish a tradition as paying dues. How much better is hard work when it’s amplified by a lever? Platforms teach us skills and allow us to focus on being great, rather than reinventing wheels or repeating ourselves.

Luck is often talked about as “being in the right place at the right time.” But like a surfer, some people—and companies—are adept at placing themselves at the right place at the right time. They seek out opportunity rather than wait for it.

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

“Success is like a lightning bolt,” Phan once declared in an interview with Mashable. “It’ll strike you when you least expect it, and you just have to keep the momentum going.”

OFTEN, THE THING HOLDING us back from success is our inability to say no.

“Less is more” and “small is beautiful”

Academic research actually shows that we’re less likely to perform at our peak potential when we’re reaching for low-hanging fruit. That’s in part because there’s more competition at the bottom of the tree than at the top. And competition in large numbers doesn’t just decrease general odds of winning. It creates underperformance.

You can make incremental progress by playing by the rules. To create breakthrough change, you have to break the rules. Let’s break some big ones together.