Powerful stuff in here. Fun to read but value comes from using is as a reference and considering his framework so you can come up with your own.
Print out the Summary and Table of Life and Work principles from the middle of the book and hang above your desk.
Part I is interesting as it's about Ray. Pretty good life.
Part III, while impressive, is more relevant to those with the responsibility of creating corporate culture. A CEO can probably ram these things through. Lots of the material is similar to what's practiced at Google, NetFlix, Amazon, etc but what I've come to recognize is that there are some things about culture that a group leader can control (e.g. how decisions are made within a group) and some they can only do with consensus and committments from other leaders (e.g. practice radical truth). That said, there's lots of good stuff in here that resonates with what I've learned in my career, e.g. idea meritocracies, focusing on the issue, being open, holding people accountable, etc.
Part II is my favorite section of the book and what my notes focus on.
My favorite line from the book has to do with the power of rapid experimentation (total lean/agile thinking): Nature improves without thinking. Of course, Nature has a bit longer to experiment than I do.
| Quote | Page |
|---|---|
| 1 Embrace reality and deal with it | 132 |
| Simply put, governance is the system of checks and balances ensuring that an organization will be stronger than whoever happens to be leading it at any one time. I had learned that it's wrong to assume either that a person in one role will be successful in another role or that the ways one person operates will work well for another. |
119 |
| Seeing things from the top down is the best way to understand ourselves | 139 |
| Nature optimizes fo the whole, not for the individual, but most people judge good and bad based only on how it affects them. | 140 |
| Adaptation through rapid trial and error is invaluable I used to think that memory-based conscious learning was the most powerful way to think but I've since come to understand that it produces less rapid progress than experimentation and adaptation. Nature improves without thinking Note: Consistent thinking with Agile, Lean, Customer Development, etc |
148 |
| If you can develop a reflexive reaction to psychic pain that causes you to reflect on it rather than avoid it, it will lead to your rapid learning/evolving If you're not failing you're not pushing your limits, and if you're not pushing your limits, you're not maximizing your potential Every time you confront something painful, you are at a potentially important juncture in your life |
152 |
| Asking others who are strong in areas where you are weak to help you is a great skill that you should devlop no matter what, as it will help you develop guardrails that will prevent you from doing what you shouldn't be doing. All successful people are good at this | 161 |
| 1 Don't confuse what you wish were true with what is really true. 2 Don't worry about looking good - worry about achieving your goals 3 Don't overweight first-order consequences reletive to second- and third-order ones 4 Don't let pain stand in the way of progress 5 Don't blame bad outcomes on anyone but yourself |
162 |
| 2 Use the 5 step process to get what you want out of life | 168 |
| Five step process to get what you want out of life: 1. Have clear goals 2. Identify and don't tolerate the problems that stand in the way of achieving those goals 3. Accurately diagnose the problems to get at their root causes 4. Design plans that will get you around them 5. Do what's necessary to push these designs through to results To evolve quickly, you willd have to do this fast and continuously, setting your goals successively higher |
169 |
| When setting goals, just set goals. Don't think about how you will achieve them or what you will do if something goes wrong. When you are diagnosing problems, don't think about how you will solve them. Blurring the steps leas to suboptimal outcomes because it interferes with uncovering the true problems | 170 |
| Don't confuse goals with desires A proper goal is something that you really need to achieve. Desires are things that you want that can prevent you from reaching your goals. |
172 |
| Never rule out a goal because you think it's unattainable - be audacious | 173 |
| Tolerating a problem has the same consequences as failing to identify it | 175 |
| Think about your problem as a set of outcomes produced by a machine There are many paths to achieving your goals - you only need to find one that works Think of your plan as being like a movie script in that you visualize who will do what through time Write down your plan for everyone to see and to measure your progress against |
177 |
| Great planners who don't execute go nowhere Establish clear metrics to make ertain that you are following your plan. |
178 |
| Weaknesses don't matter if you find solutions Everyone has at least one big thing that stands in the way of their success; find yours and deal with it Write down what your one big thing is (such as identifying problems, designing solutions, pushing throughto results) and why it exists (your emotions trip you up, you can't visualized adequate possibilities). While you may have more than one, if you can remove or get around that one really big one, you will hugely improve your life Note: This is similar to Eli Goldratt's Theory of Constaints |
178 |
| 3 Be radically open-minded | 182 |
| The two biggest barriers to good decision making are your ego and your blind spots Don't let your need to be right be more important than your need to find out what's true |
183 |
| Recognize that your ability to deal well with "not knowing" is more important than whatever it is you do know. Open-minded people understand that you can't make a great decision without swimming for a while in a state of "not knowing" People interested in making hte best possible decisions are rarely confident that they have the best answers |
188 |
| I define believable people as those who have repeatedly and successfully accomplished the thing in question - who have a strong track record with at least three successes - and have great explanations of their approach when probed. Appreciate the art of thoughtful disagreement. To do this well, approach a conversation in a way that conveys that you're just trying to understand. One way to do this is by asking questinos like "Would you rather I be open with my thoughts and questions or keep them to myself?"; "Are we going to try to convince each other that we are right or are we going to open-mindedly hear each other's perspectives to try to figure out what's true and what to do about it?"; or "Are you arguing with me or seeking to understand my perspective" It's important that you prioritize what you spend time on and who you spend it with. It doesn't pay to be open-minded with everyone. If you are at an impasse, agree on a person you both respect and enlist them to help moderate the discussion. Don't waste time disagreeing past the point of diminishing returns; a mutual understanding isn't necessarily the same thing as agreement |
190 |
| Triangulate your view with believable people who are willing to disagree. By questioning experts individually and encouraging to have thoughtful disagreements with each other that I can listen to and ask questions about, I both raise my probability of being right and become much better educated. In some cases in which the subjects are just too complex for me to understand in the time required, I will turn over the decision making to knowledgable others who are more believable than me, but I still want to listen in on their thoughtful disagreement. |
193 |
| Recognize the signs of close-minded people (CM) and open-minded people (OM). 1. CM: Don't want their ideas challenged; OM: Curious about why there is disagreement 2. CM: More likely to make statements than ask questions; OM: Genuinely believe they could be wrong; the questions that they ask are genuine 3. CM: Focus on being understood instead of understanding others; OM: Feel compelled to see things through others' eyes 4. CM: Say things like 'I could be wrong, but my opinion is...'; OM: Known when to make statements and when to ask questions 5. CM: Block others from speaking; OM: Are always more interested in listening than in speaking and encourage others to voice their views 6. CM: Have trouble holding two thoughts in their minds. They allow their own view to crowd out those of others; OM: Can take in the thoughts of others without losing their ability to think well 7. CM: Lack a deep sense of humility; OM: Approach everything witha fear that they might be wrong |
196 |
| How to become radically open-minded 1. Regularly use pain as your guide toward quality reflection 2. Make being open minded a habit 3. Get to know your blind spots 4. If a number of believable people say you are wrong and you don't agree, you are probably biased 5. Meditate 6. Be evidence-based and encourage others to be the same 7. Do everything in your power to help others also be open-minded 8. Use evidence-based decision-making tools 9. Know when it's time to stop fighting and have faith in your decision-making process |
200 |
| 4 Understand that people are wired very differently | 204 |
| I wanted to work with independed thinkers who were creative, conceptual, and had a lot of common sense. It was hard to find these people and, even when I did, I was shocked to see how differently their brains seemed to work. The problem was that conceptual people who visualized what should be done in vague ways expected more literal people to figure out for themselves how to do it. When they didn't, the more conceptual people thought the more literal people had no imagination, and the more literal people thought the more conceptual people had their heads in the clouds. |
206 |
| Having expectations for people (including yourself) without knowing what they are like is a sure way to get in trouble | 210 |
| Reading Duhigg's book (The Power of Habit) taught me that if you really want to change, the best thing you can do is choose which habits to acquire and which to get rid of and then go about doing that. To help you, I recommend that you write down your three most harmful habits. Do that right now. Now pick one of those habits and be committed to breaking it. Can you do that? That would be extraordinarily impactful. If you break all three, you will radically improve the trajectory of your life. Or you can pick habits that you want to acquire and then acquire them. The most valuable habit I've acquired is using pain to trigger quality reflections JBD - Habits to acquire 1. Set lofty goals 2. Plan and execute on said goals |
222 |
| Planning vs Perceiving Perceivers work from the outside in; they see things happening and work backward to understand the cause and how to respond; they also see many possibilities that they compare and choose from - often so many that they are confused by them. In contrast, planners work from the inside out, first figuring out what they want to achieve and then how things should unfold. Planners and perceivers have trouble appreciating each other |
227 |
| Creators vs refiners vs advancers vs executors vs flexors Creators generate new ideas and original concepts. They prefer unstructured and abstract activities and thrive on innovation and unconventional practices Advancers communicate these new ideas and carry them forward. They relish feelings and relationships and manage the human factors. They are excellent at generating enthusiasm for work. Refiners challenge ideas. They analyze projects for flaws, then refine them with a focus on objectivity and analysis. They love facts and theories and working with a systematic approach. Executors can also be thought of as Implementers. They ensure that important activities are carried out and goals accomplished; they are focused on details and the bottom line. Flexors are a combination of all four types. They can adapt their styles to fit certain needs and are able to look at a problem from a variety of perspectives |
228 |
| Focusing on tasks vs focusing on goals Those who tend to focus on goals and "visualize" best can see the big pictures over time and are also more likely to make meaningful changes and anticipate future events. These goal-oriented people can step back from the day-to-day and reflect on what and how they're doing. They are the most suitable for creating new things (organizations, projects, etc) and managing organizations that have lots of change. They typically make the most visionary leaders because of their ability to take a broad view and see the whole picture. |
229 |
| Shapers are people who can go from visualization to actualization I use the word to mean someone who comes up with unique and valuable visions and builds them out beutifully, typically over the doubts of others Shaper = Visionaty + Practical Thinker + Determined |
230 |
| 5 Learn how to make decisions effectively | 234 |
| Recognize that 1) the biggest threat to good decision making is harmful emotions, and 2) decisions making is a two-step process (first learning and then deciding) Failing to consider second- and third-order consequences is the cause of a lot of painfully bad decisions |
236 |
| Getting an accurate picture of reality ultimately comes down to two things: being able to synthesize accurately and knowing how to navigate levels | 237 |
| Be imprecise. "By and large" is the level at which you need to understand most things in order to make effective decisions | 246 |
| Make your decisions as expected value calculations. Think of every decision as a bet with probability. | 250 |
| Raising the probability of being right is valuable no matter what your probability of being right already is. You can almost always improve your odds of being right by doing things that will give you more information. The expected value gain from raising the probability of being right from 51 percent to 85 percent is seventeen times more than raising the odds of being right from 49 percent to 51 percent | 253 |