A New Source Code

How many times have you taken “the long way” to get home, just because? I’d be willing to bet that you haven’t done it in a while. Why?

Because it’s slower. Because it’s longer. Because it wastes time.

And if you’re someone who loves control, that’s true. But are you absolutely sure that getting home quickly is the best option out of all possible options?

What if instead of racing home, you extended the journey? What if instead you took the long way around? Where would you end up? What might you see and do instead?

We lose the capacity for wonder, excitement and mystery when we try to control life. When you control, by definition, you’re saying to the world that you don’t want a surprise. You’re saying, “Nah I’m good, thanks. ”

The question is: How much of life are you missing out on? In your haste to control, how much are you not experiencing? How many things are you unconsciously saying no to?

The change here is simple. Let go of the plans. Extend the journey. Allow life to come in and surprise you.

It might just change your life.

 

Take the headline: “Two people were shot today near the banks of a lake.”

This is horrific and attention grabbing. But it tells you nothing of interest. You have no idea if this is normal behaviour. You have no idea if this behaviour has been increasing or decreasing compared to years past. You have no idea what the cause of the shootings really is. You have no idea of the relationship between the people who were shot. You have no idea of the relationship between the people who watched them get shot.

And yet, we continue to gobble up stories like these because we are addicted to them. They provide an emotional rush. Even though they provide no value to us. They are surface problems.

Now the reality is, most problems are surface problems.

And surface problems are distracting. They tell you nothing about the true cause and they distract you from the real problem.

The challenge is to dig a little bit deeper. Seek to understand the true cause. Question relentlessly until you get it.

Because rarely, if ever, does anyone find gold on the surface.

 

In physics, a fluid is a substance that does not have the ability to resist an external force. It means that if you apply a force, it will always move in that direction.

On the other hand, solids aren’t able to exhibit those dynamic properties. When you try to move a solid, it may move depending on the force. Until eventually, it breaks. So the key point here is that: Solids always have a breaking point. 

Now, when you compare fluids to solids, you can see that fluids are different. They can move. They can flow. They bend. They conform to the space that they are in. And as soon as the walls are broken, then they expand to fill a new space. In short, fluids are free.

Strangely, in our society, we have this assumption that being a solid is generally better.

Think about this for yourself. When you were young, you were more fluid. You embraced new opportunities and loved new experiences. But as you got older, you started to grow up. You started to develop your own strong opinions and beliefs. You started to believe that people should be consistent and rigid. So you started to become more solid yourself.

But in the process of becoming more solid, you also unknowingly developed a breaking point. You limited your ability to flow, to move, to expand beyond yourself.

And a curious fact of life, is that you will always be forced to move. There will always be an event that tests your breaking point. For example: Your mom passes away and that shakes up your foundation. Or you lose your job and that forces you to reassess your thinking. Or you find out suddenly that your partner no longer cares for you.

What will you do? Stay solid and wail at the injustice of the world? Or will you become a fluid and roll with the event as it happens?

The key thing to remember is that fluids don’t have a breaking point. Ever.

Maybe becoming a fluid is the way to go.

 

Warren Buffett once said: “What an investor needs is the ability to correctly evaluate selected businesses. Note that word “selected”: You don’t have to be an expert on every company, or even many. You only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital.”

And I think that this is true for life. Most people are smart. But only in the areas that they know well. They should avoid playing in areas that they don’t know very well.

But you see this all the time. People can get sucked into pursuing the more exciting opportunity because it sounds “sexy”. They leave their circle of competence.

The problem is that once you’re out of the circle, you can’t rely on your skill. You need a lot of luck to help you. You’re effectively gambling.

So my question to you is: Are you feeling lucky?

Otherwise, stay inside your circle and do what you know you can do. And do it well. Forget all of the distractions outside of that circle.

I’m no longer surprised by comebacks.

Yes they happen. And yes they are news to people who care. But I’m no longer surprised.

It’s because you can tell when a comeback is going to occur. If you look carefully at the losing team, you can see it happening. There’s an inner shift. They get focused. They summon their belief. They know that it is going to happen.

And it’s that knowing that’s the key. There is no space or room for doubt in their minds.

My question is: do you know that you’ll come back out of the hole? Do you have that inner belief and absolute faith that you’ll make it?

If not, then don’t ever expect the comeback to happen, to you.

 

Your friend tells you : “I lost 20 pounds in 3 months just by doing kettlebell swings for 5 minutes a week. You should do it too!”

So after hearing it, you copy the same thing. You think, “Well, if it worked for him, (and he’s an idiot), then surely it’ll work for me.”

You go out and buy a kettlebell. You start doing your exercises. Only 5 minutes!

3 months goes by and you see no real results. If anything, you’ve gained 3 pounds. Now you want to kill your friend because he misled you.

But the problem is that you’ve misled yourself. 

You assumed that the relationship between cause and effect is linear. That if you do one thing, you’ll repeatedly get the other outcome. And in most situations that’s flawed.

We see it daily in the media and when we read about success. “If you work hard, you’ll become CEO.” “Stock prices fall because oil prices have risen.” or “You can lose 20 pounds in 3 months if you just do 5 minutes of kettlebell swings a week.”

We believe that to be true because we like the simple explanation. For one, it sells better. For example, “Housing prices in Vancouver are high because of the Asian influx.” That’s a sexy headline and it’s easily shareable.

But maybe it’s not the only reason that housing prices are high.

Maybe there is a low supply in the “nice to live in” areas. Maybe after the Economist released the Most Liveable City Rankings, people decided to flock to Vancouver. Or maybe Canada’s immigration laws allow people to come to the country easily.

So the next time that someone suggests that you do A, to get B, tell him to stop. It’s never that simple. There is some combination of skill and luck involved.

A leads to B, sometimes.

One day, a partner in the firm gave a speech to her team. She was brutally honest about where the team was in relation to its goals. She acknowledged that she wanted to win (and badly) but that the team was falling short. She laid out action plans to take the team to the next level. After hearing the speech, the team felt encouraged and pledged to do more to make things work.

But what happened next is the shocking part. After the meeting, she met with the newest people in the team and asked : “What did you think? What feedback do you have for me?”

That my friends, is a leader.

Now most people won’t do this. Most people won’t directly solicit feedback. And it’s because we attach a lot of fear to feedback. We remember all of the times when we were reprimanded as children. So we avoid asking for feedback because of that stored pain.

But when you ask for feedback, you implicitly are acknowledging for help. You’re saying to the team: “I’m being vulnerable. I’m not perfect. I need you to help me get to where I want to go.”

For some reason, it’s magic. Maybe it’s instinctual to give help when someone needs it. I don’t quite understand it.

But all I know is that I’m going to be asking for more feedback regularly.

Will you? 

When Microsoft launched Windows 10, it started by updating the source code. The source code is the original code that is used to program the computer. It specifies what instructions and commands a user can execute. As a result, the source code is the most powerful program on your computer.

Most source codes are closed. For example, Apple’s iOS system is only programmed by Apple. However there are a few source codes that are open and allow anyone to make changes. Google’s Android and Linux are good examples of this.

When you allow anyone to update the source code, you’re putting in a risk. The risk exists because you can’t control what the final output might be. You have to trust. You trust that people want to improve the system. Otherwise, it can’t function well.

I guess I wouldn’t be surprising you by saying that you have a source code too. Long ago, you were “programmed” by your parent’s beliefs. By things that your teachers and friends told you, you could and couldn’t do. And you believed them because you were too young to question them.

But now, it’s time to update your source code. It’s time to reprogram and become the best version of yourself. You do this by taking in the thoughts and beliefs of people you admire. You do this by holding yourself to a higher standard. You do this by opening up the source code.

Let me be clear: This is NOT easy. But it’s the most important work you’ll ever do.

We need you to release the new version of you.

When the autopilot function was invented in 1914, it was a groundbreaking invention. Who would have thought that you would be able to remote control a plane?

It immediately allowed the pilots to focus on other more pressing concerns like watching the weather and the gauges. It freed up resources so that the pilot could think. Eventually, pilots started to trust that the autopilot would always work.

And that became a problem.

Plane crashes started happening which were a direct result of the reliance on autopilot. It even still happens today.

Why do we feel that autopilot is a net benefit? Because it (mostly) works.

The challenge for us now is to choose when to operate in autopilot. If you’re always in autopilot you will have a problem.

Get out of your habits and change the strategy. Autopilot isn’t always good.

Blending a smoothie and forming a good team, require a bit of the same things.

To make the perfect smoothie, you need a little bit of everything. Strawberries. Bananas. Sugar. Water. A blender. Electricity. Ice cubes.

These all need to come together in the perfect amount. And there needs to be just the right amount of love in order to really make it pop.

But there’s one key ingredient that people forget to add:

Salt.

When you add salt to the smoothie, it enhances the flavor of the fruits. It is the secret to making the smoothie pop.

Similarly, when you’re making a team, it helps if everyone blends together well. You need good team chemistry and camaraderie to make it work. But you also need some salt.

You need that diversity of opinions. You need the little bitter taste when everyone challenges each other. It brings out the flavor of the group.

Challenge each other’s opinions. Add some salt to the team. It’s a forgotten element but it really works.