Five Life Lessons From Originals

“The merit of originality is not novelty, it is sincerity. The believing man is the original man.” ―Thomas Carlyle

Last week, I stumbled onto the recently published book Originals by Adam Grant.

The first thing that caught my eye was the forward by Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg. Intrigued, I read down the Amazon page to see who else had endorsed the book.

There were some heavy hitters: JJ Abrams, Arianna Huffington, and Seth Godin.

One blurb stood out.

“It can sometimes seem as if one must learn everything old before one can try anything new. Adam Grant does a masterful job showing that is not the case; we are lucky to have him as a guide.”

— Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal and Palantir, and author of Zero to One

Sold! While snowed in, I devoured Originals. I’m thankful I did.

Five Big Takeaways

1

“All In” is Not Always a Sign of Commitment

At Wharton, Grant taught several of the eventual founders of Warby Parker. Early on in the company’s formation, they approached Grant to invest. He declined for what appeared to be good reasons:

• the founders weren’t “all in” on the company (several of them were pursuing other jobs on the side)

• they weren’t racing to build it (they took six months to decide on a name!)

Warby Parker went on to become a billion dollar plus company. Missing out on the investment cost Grant a fortune. But, it inspired him to analyze why he didn’t invest and study the creation of originality.

2

It’s Hard Work to Build a Culture that Fosters Originality

Would you want to work for a company that:

• records almost every meeting and call

• has 200 core principles to guide all decision making

• has a, “believability score on a range of dimensions” for every employee

What if that company was Bridgewater Associates, one of the most successful hedge funds in the world?

“The company has two major funds, both of which have… been recognized for making more money for clients than any hedge fund in the history of the industry. In 2010, Bridgewater’s returns exceeded the combined profits of Google, eBay, Yahoo, and Amazon.” — Adam Grant

Bridgewater’s founder, Ray Dalio, has built a culture that is maniacal about personal achievement, objectivism, and meritocracy. He didn’t build that culture with free food, benefits, and standing desks. Dalio creates it through difficult conversations and arguments that encourage employees to tactfully challenge him. Building a mission-driven culture where constructive dissent is allowed takes serious perseverance and commitment.

3

Radical Missions Draw Recruits from Simple Pitches

It’s difficult to sculpt, shape, and simplify our ideas. But if we want to transmit them clearly and effectively, we must work hard at it. As one of my favorite philosophers says,

“There is an obligation on each one of us to carry our ideas clearly. Because in the same way that a gene must be copied correctly to be replicated or it will cause some pathological mutation, a meme must be correctly replicated or it will cause a pathological mutation.” –Terence McKenna

Originals helped me remember how important it is to turn radical ideas into simple memes. The book told the story of UBeam’s founder, Meredith Perry. She is working on wireless charging for devices, and in the early days, she had a difficult time recruiting engineers. Many would hear her idea and immediately shut it down. They thought it was impossible, or maybe subconsciously they realized how hard it would be! So Perry whittled her grand vision into simple engineering ideas (or memes). She then presented these to prospective engineers. Because these ideas were in the realm of what they considered possible, she was able to recruit them for her mission.

The lesson is, when we’re trying to transmit our ideas, it’s not productive to say, “let’s build this radical innovation.” Instead, when presenting your ideas, just say, “I’m building this simple thing, want to help?” In this way, it doesn’t take a lot of mental resources for a possible co-conspirator to become intrigued and say, “yes!”

All entrepreneurs or aspiring originals must master this art. If you want your creation to help as many people as possible, sell it in bite-sized, easily digestible pieces. Otherwise, you risk alienating those who might help you reach your largest ideas.

4

Start Your Journey With A Single Champion

When Jerry Seinfeld first pitched the Seinfeld show to NBC, the pilot was rated as mediocre. Seinfeld didn’t make much progress until he found a single champion inside NBC, Rick Ludwin.

“At that point in his career, Rick Ludwin didn’t even work in the comedy department but handled variety and specials. When the Seinfeld pilot didn’t take off, he went on a mission to help give it another chance. He found a few hours in his lineup that hadn’t been assigned, divided them into half-hour slots, and took the money from his specials budget to fund more episodes.” –Adam Grant

Ludwin covered his downside and took a calculated risk becoming the champion for Seinfeld. It paid off, and he went on to champion the renewal of a show called The Office.

Find a single champion for your mission. From there, keep going, and don’t be self concious if your project gets off to a humble start.

5

Start Embarrassingly Small

After all the work Seinfeld, Ludwin, and others put in, they didn’t get a big yes from NBC. They got an offer to order just four episodes. According to Ludwin, that was the smallest amount of episodes ever ordered for a show.

“Later, Jerry Seinfeld would remark that an order of six episodes, ‘is like a slap in the face.’ NBC ordered just four.” –Adam Grant

Many people would have considered this an embarrassment, given up, or stopped taking the project seriously. Seinfeld, on the other hand, knew he had his foot in the door, and that was all that mattered. Sometimes, the path towards originality isn’t pursued because its origins are so humble. Take any start or foothold you can get. Embrace humble beginnings and do the work that others don’t want to do.

The Path to Originality

The path to becoming an original isn’t guaranteed. It’s a struggle, and without a map, the journey can be maddening. In Originals, Adam Grant does an excellent job of constructing that map for us. Through stories and carefully selected research, he presents us a map of the frontier territory where originality can be won.

Grant’s work teaches us to embrace paradox as we explore and endure the necessary trials required in becoming original. Through its pages, readers can uncover an operating system to become a monopoly of one.

This well-edited treatise is for those who seek to break free from conformity. It also, perhaps most importantly, provides us context and symbols to help enjoy that journey.

In the author’s words:

“I don’t think we have a shortage of creative ideas in the world. I think where the shortage exists is that people don’t know how to champion them. They don’t know how to speak up, they don’t know how to get heard, they don’t know how to find allies, they don’t know whether one or two of the dozen ideas they’ve come up with is any good. So basically, this is a book about how — once you have an idea — you bring it into reality.” –Adam Grant in the Washington Post

We’re entering a strange new world where software and hardware will re-write, replace, or reform our current operating systems and institutions. This new world is increasingly aligned with the laws nature delivers to each of her species: either become original and create value for those around you… or perish.

Originals is a guide to build, thrive, and master this new world. You can’t ask for much more from a non-fiction book.

If you liked this article, please recommend or share it!