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Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking Kindle Edition

by Shane Snow (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Great on Kindle

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Entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow (Wired, Fast Company, The New Yorker, and cofounder of Contently) analyzes the lives of people and companies that do incredible things in implausibly short time.

How do some startups go from zero to billions in mere months? How did Alexander the Great, YouTube tycoon Michelle Phan, and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon climb to the top in less time than it takes most of us to get a promotion? What do high-growth businesses, world-class heart surgeons, and underdog marketers do in common to beat the norm?

One way or another, they do it like computer hackers. They employ what psychologists call "lateral thinking: to rethink convention and break "rules" that aren't rules.

These are not shortcuts, which produce often dubious short-term gains, but ethical "smartcuts" that eliminate unnecessary effort and yield sustainable momentum. In Smartcuts, Snow shatters common wisdom about success, revealing how conventions like "paying dues" prevent progress, why kids shouldn't learn times tables, and how, paradoxically, it's easier to build a huge business than a small one.

From SpaceX to The Cuban Revolution, from Ferrari to Skrillex, Smartcuts is a narrative adventure that busts old myths about success and shows how innovators and icons do the incredible by working smarter—and how perhaps the rest of us can, too.

Length

261
Pages
Language

EN
English
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Sticky notes
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Publisher

Harper Business
Publication date

2014
September 9
File size

1.3 MB
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Enabled
Kindle feature

Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Serial entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow delves into the reasons why some people and some organizations are able to achieve incredible things in implausibly short time frames, showing how each of us can use these "smartcuts" to rethink convention and accelerate success.

Why do some companies attract millions of customers in mere months while others flop? How did Alexander the Great, YouTube phenom Michelle Phan, and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon dash to the top in less time than it takes most of us to get a midlevel promotion? How do high-growth businesses, world-class heart surgeons, and underdog marketers beat the norm?

Like computer hackers, a handful of innovators in every era use lateral thinking to find better routes to stunning accomplishments. Throughout history, the world's biggest successes have been achieved by those who refuse to follow the expected course and buck the norm.

Smartcuts is about bucking the norm.

In it, Snow shatters common wisdom about success, revealing how conventions like "paying dues" prevent progress, why kids shouldn't learn multiplication tables, and how, paradoxically, it's easier to build a huge business than a small one.

Smartcuts tells the stories of innovators who dared to work differently and lays out practical takeaways for the rest of us. It's about applying entrepreneurial and technological concepts to success, and how, by emulation, we too can leapfrog competitors, grow businesses, and fix society's problems faster than we think.

--This text refers to the digital edition.

About the Author

Shane Snow is an entrepreneur and hacker-journalist based in New York City. In 2010 he cofounded Contently Inc., which grew to more than $30 million in its first three years. He writes about technology for Wired magazine and is known nationwide for speaking about the future of media and writing about innovation for Fast Company, the Washington Post, and LinkedIn's Influencer program alongside Bill Gates, Martha Stewart, and Richard Branson--yet, just four years before he was living in Hawaii and didn't own a pair of shoes. Snow has been named one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 Media Innovators, Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 "Coolest Entrepreneurs," and Folio's 15 Under 30 Magazine Innovators. A Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, his work has been featured inthe New York Times, GQ, MTV, and Time.

--This text refers to the digital edition.

Review

“As fascinating as it is fun, Smartcuts is an engaging journey through the types of lateral thinking and creative strategies that so often underlie success.” (Maria Konnikova, New York Times bestselling author of Mastermind)

“Smartcuts solves a major mystery, illuminating how visionaries and pioneers find faster ways to achieve their goals. With spellbinding stories and relevant research, Shane Snow has delivered one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking books of the year.” (--Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of Give and Take)

“Smartcuts is surprising and awesome. It’s Malcolm Gladwell meets Tim Ferriss. Part Good to Great, part McGuyver, this is a book every 21st century entrepreneur should read.” (Scott Gerber, Founder, Young Entrepreneurs Council)

“Shane is living proof that Smartcuts work. He hacked his way into Fast Company, Wired and Ad Age, built a multi-million dollar startup by age 30, and now he’s written his first of what I’m sure will be many excellent books. Follow this guy!” (--Ryan Holiday, bestselling author of Trust Me I'm Lying and The Obstacle Is The Way)

“Shane Snow is a fresh and future-thinking voice in today’s tumultuous business climate. You must read Smartcuts if you are a social entrepreneur or would like to be one, because what Shane teaches us most of all is to be “bigger than just business.” (--Soraya Darabi, Co-founder of Zady and Foodspotting)

“[Smartcuts] is a manifesto for success for those who do not want to toil away unnoticed.” (Financial Times)

“It’s worth its weight in 10 airport business books, in part because Snow is such a clear, beautiful writer who does not succumb to aphorism and business gobbledygook.” (New York Times Insider) --This text refers to the digital edition.

From the Inside Flap

Serial entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow delves into the reasons why some people and some organizations are able to achieve incredible things in implausibly short time frames, showing how each of us can use these smartcuts to rethink convention and accelerate success.

Why do some companies attract millions of customers in mere months while others flop? How did Alexander the Great, YouTube phenom Michelle Phan, and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon dash to the top in less time than it takes most of us to get a midlevel promotion? How do high-growth businesses, world-class heart surgeons, and underdog marketers beat the norm?

Like computer hackers, a handful of innovators in every era use lateral thinking to find better routes to stunning accomplishments. Throughout history, the world's biggest successes have been achieved by those who refuse to follow the expected course and buck the norm.

Smartcuts is about bucking the norm.

In it, Snow shatters common wisdom about success, revealing how conventions like paying dues prevent progress, why kids shouldn't learn multiplication tables, and how, paradoxically, it's easier to build a huge business than a small one.

Smartcuts tells the stories of innovators who dared to work differently and lays out practical takeaways for the rest of us. It's about applying entrepreneurial and technological concepts to success, and how, by emulation, we too can leapfrog competitors, grow businesses, and fix society's problems faster than we think.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

Smartcuts is surprising and awesome. It's Malcolm Gladwell meets Tim Ferriss. Part Good to Great, part MacGyver, this is a book every twenty-first-century entrepreneur should read.

-- "Scott Gerber, founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Council"

As fascinating as it is fun, Smartcuts is an engaging journey through the types of lateral thinking and creative strategies that so often underlie success.

-- "Maria Konnikova, New York Times bestselling author of Mastermind"

Shane is living proof that Smartcuts work. He hacked his way into Fast Company, Wired, and Advertising Age; built a multimillion-dollar start-up by age thirty; and now he's written his first of what I'm sure will be many excellent books. Follow this guy!

-- "Ryan Holiday, bestselling author of Trust Me, I'm Lying"

Shane Snow is a fresh and future-thinking voice in today's tumultuous business climate. You must read Smartcuts if you are a social entrepreneur or would like to be one, because what Shane teaches us most of all is to be 'bigger than just business.'

-- "Soraya Darabi, cofounder of Zady and Foodspotting"

Snow's points are interesting, and his writing both earnest and engaging; readers are sure to find this book both inspiring and helpful.

-- "Publishers Weekly" --This text refers to the audioCD edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00IHZUTGA
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Business (September 9, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 9, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1334 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 261 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0062560751

Best Sellers Rank: #519,825 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #426 in Business Teams
- #732 in Business Project Management (Books)
- #1,674 in Business Leadership

Customer Reviews:
4.3 1,314 ratings

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Shane Snow

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Award-winning entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow has helped expose gun traffickers and gender discrimination, eaten only ice cream for weeks in the name of science, and been variously captured and escorted by armed guards as he's explored and photographed abandoned buildings and tunnels around the world.

Snow is a board member of The Hatch Institute, a nonprofit for investigative journalism, and currently serves as Founder at Large at Contently, which works with Fortune 500 brands and has helped over 100,000 freelance journalists, artists, and photographers put food on the table.

His writing has appeared in Wired Magazine, The New Yorker, GQ, Fast Company, Advertising Age, The Washington Post, and others. He's author of Smartcuts and The Storytelling Edge, and is now releasing his most important book yet: Dream Teams, a journey through history, neuroscience, psychology, and business to reveal what separates groups that simply manage to get by from those that get better together—and how we might make our companies and communities better by understanding the difference.

Snow has been named one of Details Magazine's "Digital Mavericks," called a "Wunderkind" in the New York Times, and honored as a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. Originally from Idaho, he studied journalism at Columbia University and lives in New York City.

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"Sacred cows make the best burgers." Robert Kriegel

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

As I began to read Smartcuts, I was again reminded of the fact that many (if not most) human limits are self-imposed. For reasons that are assumed but seldom explained, we accept as received wisdom that what "they" say has always been true. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been told "We've always done it that way" or "We tried it once and it didn't work." In one of Hans Christian Andersen's most popular tales, "The Ugly Duckling," a bird born in a barnyard is abused because he is an ugly duck. Over time, he matures into a handsome swan. Sacred cows and false assumptions usually go unchallenged.

According to Shane Snow, there are significant differences between "rapid, potentially short-term gains, or shortcuts, and success achieved through smarter work, or smartcuts." That is, "an act of lateral thinking with integrity. Working harder [but also smarter] and achieving breakthroughs without creating negative externalities."

Edward de Bono is generally credited with popularizing lateral thinking in 1967 with the publication of his eponymous book. In Smartcuts, Snow has "catalogued the patterns through which rapid successes and breakthroughs innovators have achieved the incredible through lateral thinking. The nine principles comprise a framework for breaking conventions that explains how many of the world's most successful people and businesses do so much with less."

Here are the principles, each thoroughly explained in the book:

1. Hacking the Ladder
2. Training with Masters
3. Rapid Feedback
4. Platforms
5. Catching Waves
6. Superconnecting
7. Momentum
8. Simplicity
9. 10X Thinking

Smartcut thinking offers dozens of practical benefits:

o Reduction (if not elimination) of waste
o Improvement of first-pass yield
o Reduction of cycle time
o Simplification of process
o Increase of agility and resilience
o Faster modification
o Strengthened verification

I agree with Shane Snow: "We can do incredible things by rejecting convention and working smarter. What would happen if we looked at problems like pollution and climate change, racism and classism, violence and hunger, and instead of waiting for luck to strike, asked ourselves, 'How can we use smartcuts to fix things faster?' You can make incremental progress by playing by the rules. [That is, complying with someone else's rules.] To create breakthrough change, you have to break the rules. Let's break some rules together."

In Leading Change, James O'Toole suggests that the strongest resistance to change is cultural in nature, the result of what he so aptly characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." Never underestimate the difficulty of achieving breakthrough results with lateral thinking. That said, keep in mind this reassurance from Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Snow's more recent book, Dream Teams: Working Together Without Falling Apart (June 2018), as well as Safi Bahcall's Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries (March 2019).

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dominik Goj

adequate

Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

The book satisfied my wants but I expected something a little more professional. The book does a great job of giving examples of principles employed by successful people. A lot of the advice stems from persistence, perseverance, ambition, utilizing the tools around you, and breaking down problems to its most basic needs. This is not a revolutionary book for an already successful person although it is a great motivator to think differently. The book contains many great examples of broken traditional methods such as mentoring and teaching. I do feel that we are in a time where we can change traditional methods and revolutionize many industries. I work in construction management and I feel that my industry has many opportunities for lateral thinking.

Helpful

Tjmax

This Book is Better Than NoDoz! Buy It!!

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

I read about 50 nonfiction books a year, and start many more. Only rarely do I lose sleep reading one, as I did with "Smartcuts."*

What's so special about this book that kept me up late and had me sneaking pages here and there between meetings till I finished less than 3 days later? Well, certainly one thing is the engaging format. Author Shane Snow seems to delight in keeping his reader on the edge of his/her seat, giving us a teaser with one tale, then breaking into another, then another, then taking us back to the first, etc until he ties them all up by the end of the chapter. That trick is excruciatingly delightful to me, the type of intellectual striptease you get with a Malcolm Gladwell book or article, for instance. Note to self for my next book: more of that.

But that's the surface ploy. Narrative structure alone, no matter how clever, will not keep your busy reader's attention through even the first chapter. I don't think I'm alone in requiring substance, and this is where "Smartcuts" (shortcuts that are ethical and savvy) truly excels.

My favorite two chapters come at the end of the book (but please don't skip ahead, as you'll miss too much). Together, Shane makes the case for why it's often easier to improve by a factor of ten than it is by ten percent. "Nice claim," I thought to myself, "And I certainly want this to be true - it's right up this heretic's alley. But how does he back up what I want to hear with substance?" Well, he does, in spades. Take Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is doing... (for more: https://meddle.it/content/8a546f544abc8983014afd90eb291efe/public)

Helpful

Jun Shen Chia

Broad but interesting read

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

A broad based study on what gamers might call “speedrunning” but for career professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, etc. Snow writes of key concepts that can allow a person to exponentially leap towards their goals, versus grinding away at it with no end in sight.

For the seasoned reader, this book might come across as light reading especially when there are other books that deep dive into these concepts with focus, but it is a great light read to keep you on course.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

amazon customer

A fresh perspective

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

The book has fresh perspectives on how to grow yourself and your ideas fast and smart. Based on real life examples - high achievers who skipped conventional steps - the book focuses on the importance of observation and seizing the momentum. Great read for anyone who knows there has to be a way of doing things smart and faster than the ones before.

One person found this helpful

Book Addict

I could not figure out what this was all about

Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

Kinda anecdotally entertaining, but lacking in carry-aways for me. Off it goes to the used bookstore.

One person found this helpful

D. Panchal

You MUST read this book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

Simply incredible. The best book I read in 2014. Shane constructs an elegant piece of literature each broken down into chapters that expertly describe traits that describe the successes of many people and organisations with each chapter concentrating on a specific trait, and well summarised at the end of each chapter. The culmination of the ideas is well presented in the epilogue.

2 people found this helpful

Yogesh Pandey

A Well Wirtten / Researched Book

Reviewed in India on March 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

Great Lesson in today's growing economy on how to identify trends & work through them as you grow along. Very well written with some clear examples and the end summation by Shane on how each of the elements add up is a great example of bringing it all together. Has some great follow-up reference material to go through to build on the subject. A Well Written Book & Hands-on in approach.

3 people found this helpful

Marc

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on February 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

Fun read, and important information in today's world. Success is clearly not clear cut.

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