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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Eric Barker
Read between
February 5 - February 23, 2022
but sometimes an ugly duckling can be a swan if it finds the right pond.
“Valedictorians aren’t likely to be the future’s visionaries . . . they typically settle into the system instead of shaking it up.”
“They’re extremely well rounded and successful, personally and professionally, but they’ve never been devoted to a single area in which they put all their passion. That is not usually a recipe for eminence.”
School has clear rules. Life often doesn’t. When there’s no clear path to follow, academic high achievers break down.
Following the rules doesn’t create success; it just eliminates extremes—both good and bad. While this is usually good and all but eliminates downside risk, it also frequently eliminates earthshaking accomplishments.
The first kind rises up through formal channels, getting promoted, playing by the rules, and meeting expectations. These leaders, like Neville Chamberlain, are “filtered.” The second kind doesn’t rise up through the ranks; they come in through the window: entrepreneurs who don’t wait for someone to promote them; U.S. vice presidents who are unexpectedly handed the presidency; leaders who benefit from a perfect storm of unlikely events, like the kind that got Abraham Lincoln elected. This group is “unfiltered.”
His theory predicted presidential impact with an almost unheard of statistical confidence of 99 percent.
“The difference between good leaders and great leaders is not an issue of ‘more.’ They’re fundamentally different people.”
They didn’t need a more filtered leader; they needed someone the system would have never let in the door.
The Gospel of Thomas says, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
And knowing yourself, in terms of achieving what you want in life, means being aware of your strengths.
To find out what those things are, he recommends a system he calls “feedback analysis.” Quite simply, when you undertake a project, write down what you expect to happen, then later note the result. Over time you’ll see what you do well and what you don’t.
that one of the keys to happiness is emphasizing what are called “signature strengths.”
You were successful because you happened to be in an environment where your biases and predispositions and talents and abilities all happened to align neatly with those things that would produce success in that environment.
When you choose your pond wisely, you can best leverage your type, your signature strengths, and your context to create tremendous value. This is what makes for a great career, but such self-knowledge can create value wherever you choose to apply it.
The lesson from cases of people both keeping and losing their jobs is that as long as you keep your boss or bosses happy, performance really does not matter that much and, by contrast, if you upset them, performance won’t save you.
Why do jerks succeed? Sure, some of it’s duplicity and evil, but there’s something we can learn from them in good conscience: they’re assertive about what they want, and they’re not afraid to let others know about what they’ve achieved.
There are three categories: “right,” “wrong,” and “everybody does it.”
anymore, like Moldova. Once trust goes, everything goes. What quality do people, when surveyed across a number of arenas—work, athletic teams, family members—say they desire most in others? Trustworthiness.
In fact, the data show that street gangs don’t create crime. It’s the exact opposite: crime creates street gangs.
So treating those around you well can lead to far greater success than selfishness—even if your goal is to make mischief.
This is where the Moldovans have it all wrong. By not trusting, by not helping others, they miss out on a lot of what makes us happy. Studies show spending money on others makes us happier than spending it on ourselves. Volunteering even just two hours a week predicts increases in life satisfaction. Even more surprising, those who donate their time to help others feel less busy and like they have more free time.
Don’t worry how well the other side is doing; worry about how well you’re doing.
