This book, written by the co-founder of Contently, is about Lateral thinking. How can one college kid from his dorm room defeat the world record for Mario Bros Nintendo game in 1/5th the time of the previous record? How can it take Rockefeller 46 years to become a billionaire and the founder of Groupon only 2 years?

• They questioned the assumptions surrounding a problem.

Shortcuts mean acceleration to your desired goal without regard for adding value. SmartCuts adds value while accelerating towards your goal.

For more info visit: Shanesnow.com/booklist

The “traditional” career path says “start young, work hard, climb the ladder, and get lucky when positions open.” However, when compared to US senators, almost every US President has bucked that career advice. Many Presidents built their own ladder and spent little time in the federal government prior to becoming the chief in command.

The number one character trait a President can have is strong leadership qualities, not “paying your dues” in the government system. A majority of Presidents barely had any experience. They did as Sinatra sang, “If you can make it ‘New York’ you can make it anywhere.” Eisenhower was a general, Reagan was an actor and governor.

Cheetahs are the fastest land animals in the world. But their advantage is not their speed, it’s their agility and leaping ability that gets them so many gazelles.

Likewise, many companies’ and peoples’ success is due to pivoting. Think Apple from PCs to iPhones or James Patterson from ad exec to best-selling author. Much growth results from working hard in one path, then moving laterally to another arena.

We have to think like computer hackers.

Mentors

The reason why Bieber and Fallon are household names at such a young age. They had mentors to guide them and pull them up.

But unstructured, organic mentors work much better than the structured in-person relationships.

Failure myth

Failing in business doesn’t make us better or smarter. Only succeeding makes us more likely to succeed again.

Second City comedians don’t “fail fast, fail often.” They use rapid feedback, depersonalize the feedback, and start small to gain confidence. Laughter is their feedback.

Effort myth

Effort for the sake of effort is the same as paying dues. Successful people and programs learned how to hack the ladder. Leverage your platforms.

Many times, it’s not the person who works or paddles hardest or even the best surfer, it’s the person who waits long enough (and can see trends happening) that catches the right or best wave that wins.

First Mover Advantage myth

First mover theory is rarely an advantage. Pioneers often miss out on opportunities. Fast followers take advantage of tech advances to become market leaders. This is how Sonny “Skrillex” Moore went from Screamo to Rock, to Dubstep, and eventually won Grammys for his patience and experimentation.

Superconnectors

JJ Abrams leverages the networks of other famous Hollywood producers but then gave other lesser-known directors a chance by collaborating with them. He took away value from his mentors, became the super-connector, and then gave back t0 his mentees.

Pivot

What do you do after you’ve walked on the moon? What do pajama billionaires do after cashing out? They put their efforts elsewhere, into another challenging endeavor. Instead of trying to do the same thing over and over. Parlay your success in one field and leverage it into another. (Buzz Aldrin was an alcoholic after he walked in the moon, but Alan Sheppard was a successful businessman.)

Momentum was huge. Michelle Fawn, a YouTuber who already had a small following but a huge backlog of great videos, rode the wave of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and made a makeup tutorial based on Gaga’s look. She posted it on her blog and Reddit and it went viral. She parlayed that into a makeup line and a video production company. She had a huge backlog and years of cultivating her craft.

Simplicity

Most tech advances are done by simplifying things not just lowering costs. Think about the Apple iPod or Magic Mouse. Fewer buttons, fewer choices. More choices equal less willpower. Willpower is a depletable resource. Constraints lead to creativity. Creativity comes easier within constraints. Less is more. Finland doesn’t have school-sponsored sports teams, allowing the focus on education.  No general education either, only vocational, which allows them to lead the world in education.

10x

It’s actually easier to 10x, to look for high hanging fruit, than to improve 10% and look for low-hanging fruit. When competing against only a few, we subconsciously increase our performance than when competing versus many. The hardest problems may involve a reframing of perspective or a look at first principles. Think of Elon Musk at Space X or the horse versus the automobile.