Force Multipliers

Force multipliers can be extraordinary engines of leverage and growth. Here’s some abstract concepts that I aspire to develop in my life.

Multipliers

Flywheel effect

Keep pushing in a consistent direction until the flywheel kicks in. From then on, the work is easy.

Bicycle effect

A bicycle helps travel faster than walking. The added bonus is we can do more for lower energy.

Iteration speed

Every minute spent setting up for the iteration, is a minute of iteration wasted.

Unregulated work

Arguably, working in unregulated niches allows the best breathing room for ideas. Think why Silicon Valley is what it is. Or think why software is eating the world. By regulation, I mean any central system in place to keep you in check. Crudely, call it bureaucracy and run away as much as possible.

Asymmetric upsides

I’ve realized that the most productive-looking people have found a knack for doing work that has low downside and disproportionately high upside.

Strategies

The Spherical Cow

A classic approach to prove things about complex phenomena is to consider extreme cases first. Extreme cases are simpler to analyse and build up from.

Other Public Lists

15 of the most useful razors by George Mack on Twitter, is a fun read.

Some Advice Gathered from People Smarter than Me by Sasha Chapin.