💰 This Technique Made Elon Musk A Billionaire!

One of my biggest annoyances in business is the blind copying of something from competitors.

I have heard far too many times from staff or partners that we should be doing something or doing it in a certain way, and the only justification for it is that ‘X is doing it too’.

To be clear, I am not saying that just because a competitor or another person or company is doing a certain activity or carrying out a task in a certain way, that it is wrong. But I am saying that we should look deeper, go behind the scenes, and find out why they are actually doing that and if it is actually achieving the desired results.

Very often companies perform well for a particular reason, but it doesn’t mean that EVERYTHING they are doing is perfect.

One example that immediately springs to mind was in my fashion business where senior people were desperately wanting to copy the social media of Net-A-Porter.

Net-A-Porter may be a high turnover business, but that turnover has got nothing to do with their social media presence.

Their social media is dog shit, and to just blindly copy that just shows a level of laziness and lack of understanding of simple core principles.

But this kind of thing happens day in day out.

And it isn’t just demonstrated by people wanting to copy others in the way they do things. It is also used as the reason why things can’t be done too. 

That because something has never been done before, because a certain challenge has never been solved, then it is IMPOSSIBLE and must remain so until the end of time.

Fortunately not everyone is so narrow minded and blinkered. If it wasn’t for those people who are prepared to stand up and say ‘No! I don’t care that it has never been done before. I don’t care that everyone else does it that way. It doesn’t work! There must be a better way and I will find it!’

If it wasn’t for people that were prepared to question how things were done, to want to do things differently there would be no:

• Airplanes

• AI

• Tesla & Space X

• Nuclear Energy

The list goes on and on.

So what do people like The Wright brothers, Elon Musk and Ilya Stuskever (the creator of ChatGPT) all have in common?

The practise a technique called First Principles Thinking.

But what is it?

The concept of first principles thinking comes from physics, is also know as ab initio (Latin for ‘from the beginning’), and teaches us to “start directly at the level of established science and not make assumptions based on existing models.” 

Aristotle phrased it as “the first basis from which a thing is known.”

A bit of Latin and the mention of Aristotle always makes things sound more complicated than they need to be!  The simple translation is that first principles thinking is simply a technique for approaching problems with a beginner’s mind. 

Instead of working within assumptions and what other people “know” to be true, you do the hard work of figuring out what IS actually true and, therefore, what’s really possible.

There are many ways to apply the technique, but essentially you do this by asking questions, challenging people’s assumptions, digging further than other people are prepared to, and going directly to the source to find things out for yourself.

I mentioned Elon Musk earlier on, and he is probably solely responsible for brining first principles thinking in to the limelight with his use of it to create Tesla and Space X.

Elon had an end goal he wanted to reach, and he knew he would have to challenge every single ‘known’ along the way or he wouldn’t be able to change the world.

So if first principle thinking is so good, if it can create such incredible things, then why isn’t everyone using it?

As Ozan Varol, rocket scientist, professor & author, puts it:

And if it is difficult for a rocket scientist then for sure the rest of us are going to have our work cut out!

He goes on to say that normally we reason by analogy, that is, basically copy what other people are doing, which is the equivalent of being in a cover band. As long as you can play an instrument it’s pretty easy. You just have to sit back and play somebody else’s music.

But with first principles thinking, you have to got back to the fundamental raw materials of music. The notes. And you must build an original song from scratch.

That is first principles thinking.

The reason it is really difficult to do because a lot of what we do in life is informed by what we’ve done before, and also by what others are doing around us.

Part of the difficulty comes from picking what to question, because you can’t go through life questioning every single thing you do. Picking what to question and also using knowledge in a way that will inform, not constrain, you.

So as tough as it may be, you can now start to understand it’s benefits and what can be achieved by using it.

It’s not an accident that history’s most important scientists come at problems in this way - with a beginner’s mind.

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” —Albert Einstein

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.” —Stephen Hawking

“The task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen, but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.” —Erwin Schrödinger

How many times have you heard in an office, ‘we do it like that because we have always done it that way’?

How many parents say to their kids when questioned, ‘because I say so’?

Those words are the killer of creativity. The blocker of growth. The death of innovation.

If you are reading this email then you are an entrepreneur. Or at least you want to be one.

Whether you are trying to invent a new product, or just a better way of delivering and servicing an existing one, then you need to question. To challenge. To disrupt.

If you look at everyone else and try and copy them then you have already found your ceiling.

If you want to be remembered then you need to break the mould. To do what has never been done before.

MAKE POSSIBLE THE IMPOSSIBLE.

So over the next few days, whilst you are sleeping off your Xmas lunches and excessive amounts of chocolate, follow these steps:

• Figure out what problem you want to solve

• Identify the blockers that are preventing you from getting there

• Question ever assumption about what is possible within each blocker

• Do the donkey work to find out the facts, from the source

• ACT!

Go create. Go build. And drop me an email to tell me all about it. I want to hear about the problems you have solved, and the ones you are struggling with.

Have an amazing Xmas, and i’ll be back next week with my 2023 run down and big plans for 2024!

C.S. Lewis hit the nail on the head when he said, "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." Age is just a number, and chasing growth, reinvention, and new aspirations is a game that has no finish line. As we wrap up the year, and the countdown to Christmas is most certainly on, don't forget – my birthday is just around the corner (I know you're all eagerly waiting to wish me a happy birthday). So, regardless of how many candles are on the cake, make sure you go into the new year with goals and aspirations because you’re never too old to reach a new target and achieve something new!

Call me Father Christmas because Santa has come early—in the form of me. I'm addressing everyone—young adults, teenagers, and kids alike. Whether you're reading this for yourself or passing it on to your kids, here's some advice for you to embrace and carry into 2024 and your future careers.

If you want to succeed and be light years ahead of your peers, start now. Learn a skill, network, become an apprentice in the field you're interested in, and begin making your own money. Dip your toes into the world of business and finance. You'll thank me later!

P.S…… I know some of you are big fans of this newsletter because you email me and tell me about it. But you still aren’t sharing it with your friends! So use the link below to spread the word and you’ll qualify for some goodies soon!