Overview by Joshua Harper

1. Smartcuts: How Hackers,
Innovators, and Icons
Accelerate Success
Joshua Harper

2. Overview
 Smartcuts examines the behaviors of the exceptionally successful. It studies
their processes and creates a loose guide to circumventing unnecessary cycles
most find themselves stuck in on the way to the top. Shane Snow calls these
tips “smartcuts” because unlike a shortcut they don’t negate the necessity of
hard work, rather, they direct that work to smarter, better routes allowing for
greater success more quickly.

3. Lateral Thinking
 Lateral thinking is a term that is used consistently throughout the book and
understanding it is critical to understanding the following principles. Lateral
thinking is approaching a problem sideways rather than straight on while
simultaneously challenging the assumptions constraining you. In essence it
means…

4. Shorten. Leverage. Soar.
Shorten-The shorten section of the book looks at how one can use a hacker
mentality to curtail part of the path to success. Basically it demonstrates how to
skip unnecessary rungs on the ladder.
Leverage-Leverage examines how you can get the most out of your effort. It is
essentially an application of the mantra, “work smarter not harder.”
Soar-Finally, Soar tests the differences between the good and the great. It
explains how to leverage momentum, simplicity, and big dreams so as not to
plateau at moderate success.

5. Shorten. Leverage. Soar.
Snow takes the patterns he’s observed and breaks them into 9 principles
spanning 3 categories.
1. Hacking the Ladder
2. Training with Masters SHORTEN
3. Rapid Feedback
4. Platforms
5. Waves LEVERAGE
6. Superconnectors
7. Momentum
8. Simplicity SOAR
9. 10x Thinking

6. 1. Hacking the Ladder
 The Basics:
The first principle explores ways to hack the proverbial ladder by skipping “rungs”
and moving laterally on your way up.
 Pivots and ladder switches:
Snow presents the idea that we can take what we’ve learned and built in one field, or
ladder, and apply it to another for exponential success. These pivots, however, still
need to leverage logical adjacencies between fields to be successful. For example
pivoting from military general to president, positions that value similar qualities,
makes more sense than trying to pivot to become a medical doctor.
 The psychology of small wins:
“By itself, one small win may seem unimportant. A series of wins at small but
significant tasks, however, reveals a pattern that may attract allies, deter opponents,
and lower resistance to subsequent proposals.”
-Dr. Karl Weick

7. 2. Training with Masters
 The Basics:
This principal examines the effects mentors can have. It discredits the idea that
simply having a great mentor leads to success and suggests ways that mentors and
mentees can interact more effectively to reach their full potential.
 Building a rapport:
Simply having a first class mentor doesn’t guarantee success. Building a rapport and
mutual respect is important so when it comes time, the mentor will deliver the hard
advice and you’ll be more inclined to accept it. Organic mentorships are also
preferable as they let you and your mentor develop a process that fits rather than
trying to force something that isn’t working. Having a relationship is also important so
that the mentor knows your goals and can guide you on your overall journey instead of
just blindly helping you through part of it.
 First class noticer:
It isn’t enough to simply study a master in your field. In order to learn quickly and
effectively you need to focus in on noticing just exactly what the master does that
makes them so effective.

8. 3. Rapid Feedback
 The Basics:
This principle examines the best processes for learning from failure and implementing
feedback.
 Fail fast, fail right:
The idea that failing fast and often leads to success is misleading. Simply failing
doesn’t make you better, it’s how you learn and apply the lessons from failure that
returns dividends. Nothing is at its best on the first iteration so failing fast and quickly
then integrating feedback is the best way to optimize and reach your full potential.
 Attribution Theory:
Attribution theory is our tendency to internalize success and externalize failure. It is a
method of coping that blocks our ability to pick out what caused failures or successes.
In order to truly learn from failure we need to recognize what caused it and then
iterate. Snow suggests that studying others failures is more conducive to growing
because we won’t implement those self defense mechanisms.

9. 3. Rapid Feedback
 Don’t take it personally:
In 1996 researchers Kluger and DeNisi scrutinized a multitude of studies on
feedback and found that it is actually harmful when it causes us to focus on
ourselves instead of the task. By removing our egos and turning each failure into
a learning experience we can take good advice and become better without the
negative effects of discouragement. In essence the key to learning from failure is
to cultivate a mindset that depersonalizes the process.

10. 4. Platforms
 The Basics:
This principle discusses how important it is to leverage existing platforms and to learn
and practice in the correct way.
 Standing on the shoulders of giants:
Why would you waste time inventing something if it already exists? Snow stresses the
importance of using what is already there to elevate our own work. To illustrate this
point he uses the example of computer languages and how they stack to make
operating a computer accessible so someone can do extraordinary work without
needing to understand binary.
 It is better to know how to learn than to know:
“You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper.” This
quote exemplifies the idea that bad learning won’t make you smarter no matter how
hard you try. It highlights the importance of learning correctly through developing
important skills like problem solving, which can be applied anywhere, rather than
memorization.

11. 5. Waves
 The Basics:
This principle examines how being in the right place at the right time to catch a trend
or “wave” can propel you to massive success.
 20% Time:
This idea suggests that you spend 20% of your time exploring potential trends so you
recognize “waves” and are ready when they hit. For example Gmail and AdSense were
two Google side projects that were scaled up and became wildly successful by
capitalizing on trends. Focusing on non-core operations like these may seem like a
waste of time but helps companies stay abreast of innovation so they aren’t caught
unprepared like Kodak was with the advent of the digital photography market.
 Recognizing opportunity:
Being good at something isn’t enough to ensure success. Sonny Moore, better known
as Skrillex, was a talented musician but wouldn’t have had the same level of success
with EDM music if had he started producing it in the early 2000’s. Instead he waited to
strike until EDM started to gain a following and became the figurehead for an entire
genre of music.

12. 6. Superconnectors
 The Basics:
This principle discusses how to leverage superconnectors to reach a larger audience
and how to convince these connectors to collaborate with you.
 It’s who you know:
The radio example says it all. You can individually give a speech to 1,000 people or
you can deliver it over a radio and reach them all instantaneously. In order to achieve
massive success it is important to link up with superconnectors or people who can
introduce you to markets, channels, and exposure you couldn’t reach on your own.
 Givers vs. Takers:
Superconnectors are usually well known and probably receive hundreds of requests a
day, so how do you get through to them? Snow submits that those who are genuine
and willing to pay it forward tend to have a better chance. You need to ask how you
will help the superconnector rather than simply focusing on how they can help you.
This is the same principal that drives successful content marketing. Customers are
much more likely to engage with genuinely good content than something created as a
gimmick to drive views or traffic.

13. 7. Momentum
 The Basics:
This principle examines how to utilize momentum to turn success into greatness.
 The monkey bars:
Snow uses the analogy of the monkey bars to describe this principle. When
swinging it is much easier to grab each incremental handle while momentum is
propelling you foreword, whereas if you stop it becomes nearly impossible to
continue again. This translates into business in the form of hype. People are
more willing to believe in you if they can see your momentum and recognize the
success. More momentum leads to more belief which leads to more momentum
as long as you don’t stop.

14. 7. Momentum
 One hit wonders:
Sometimes we hit it big and enjoy fifteen minutes of fame only to plateau and
wonder why the victories don’t continue. To avoid this it is important to actually
do whatever it is that brought you success so as to generate a backlog of
content. Snow refers to this as potential energy and it is the difference between
a Paul Vasquez who sees a rainbow and gets fifteen minutes of fame and a
Michelle Phan who covers the right musician at the right time and uses that fame
to launch even further.

15. 8. Simplicity
 The Basics:
This principle examines how thinking laterally and simplifying is often more effective
than trying to be bigger and better.
 Innovation vs. Invention vs. Improvement:
Innovation is defined as a new idea, device, or method. It isn’t necessarily an
invention, something entirely new, or an improvement, an incremental increase,
rather it is something different entirely. This is where lateral or out of the box
thinking comes into play. Sometimes the best solution isn’t to add features or create
something more complex but to simplify.
 Disruptive Innovation:
Disruptive innovation occurs when a lower priced product displaces the current
option. For example Microsoft Word is a paid word processor with a multitude of
features the average user will never utilize. Recognizing this Google trimmed the
excess features and released their own word processor (Google Doc’s) for free stealing
market share from Microsoft.

16. 9. 10x Thinking
 The Basics:
This principle describes how it is preferable, and can even be easier, to aim for 10x
results rather than a 10% increase.
 Shooting for mars:
The reason it is easier to reach 10x results over a 10% increase is the different
mindset 10x thinking puts you in. When working for 10% we tend to stick to known
processes that are already saturated and tapped for potential. This makes any
increase very difficult. If we aim for 10x instead we are forced to abandon
assumptions and think laterally about how to get there. Although this is both difficult
and risky it is also instigates the most successful innovations.
 Nice guys don’t finish last:
One of the most interesting anecdotes in the book is the idea that businesses with
noble intentions tend to do better than those without. This is because of mankind’s
inherent desire to want to support a just cause. Despite this tendency it takes more
than just a noble cause to succeed.

17. 9. 10x Thinking
 The N-Effect:
This is the subconscious tendency for people to perform better when there are a
smaller number of competitors.
 “Shoot for the moon because even if you fall short you’ll land among the
stars.”
Although cliché and astronomically inept this saying delivers an important lesson
in the vain of 10x thinking. In essence it articulates that we can’t be great
without trying and even if we fall short we go farther than if we had settled for
mediocrity.

18. Thank you