%% ID: 13751960 Updated: 2022-02-24 %% ![](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article2.74d541386bbf.png) # About Title: [[Other/Obsidian Starter Vault(Second Brain)/Readwise 1/Articles/Learning Speed- What Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates Know That Most People Don’t]] Author: [[medium.com]] Category: #articles Number of Highlights: ==72== Last Highlighted: *2022-02-20* Readwise URL: https://readwise.io/bookreview/13751960 Source URL: https://medium.com/accelerated-intelligence/learning-speed-what-jeff-bezos-elon-musk-and-bill-gates-know-that-most-people-dont-220f830e1d53 # Highlights Hidden games are played in sandboxes that people don’t even realize exist. Hidden games have a higher return, but they are more long-term and abstract ^289564166 --- popular games with immediate and obvious benefits often end up being quick fixes that plateau or fail. Hidden games that are harder and unsexy at first often end up having exponential benefits over time. ^289564167 --- Popular games are often those with the most short-term, concrete rewards. For example, a popular career game is getting good grades, going to a top university, and then graduating into a prestigious job. ^289564168 --- Many of the things that feel the best in the short-term feel the worst in the long-term. ^289564169 --- I’ve gone from feeling like I don’t have any distinct perspectives to my writing making a small dent in millions of people’s lives ^289564170 --- Playing hidden games allows these innovators to walk to their own tune, to make incredible innovations, and to be camouflaged even when they are well known. ^289564171 --- I now spend 3–4 hours per day on deliberate learning focused on durable mental models that span disciplinary boundaries. ^289564172 --- For example, a hidden game is starting a business in an unsexy industry (i.e., building tunnels with Elon Musk). ^289564173 --- How The Game Of Speed Is Underappreciated ^289564174 --- Higher leverage ^289564175 --- Execution Speed ≠ Learning Speed ^289564176 --- Learning speed is special in two ways: ^289564177 --- Almost all of the world’s largest modern companies and top innovators had speed as their №1 value at one point or still do. ^289564178 --- But, if you look closely, there is also a deeper lesson to be had from these quotes. The innovators aren’t just talking about one type of speed ^289564179 --- Fewer sacrifices. ^289564180 --- “Speed is the ultimate weapon in business. All else being equal, the fastest company in any market will win. Speed is a defining characteristic — if not the defining characteristic — of the leader in virtually every industry you look at.” ^289564181 --- execution speed and learning speed. Both are important, but they’re not the same. More on this later. ^289564182 --- “For pretty much any technology whatsoever, the progress is a function of how many iterations do you have, and how much progress do you make between each iteration.” Elon Musk ^289564183 --- I associated speed with being hurried, working long hours, low quality work, and feeling overwhelmed. I was wrong. There was a lot of nuance I didn’t appreciate — nuance like the quote below offers… ^289564184 --- By systematically increasing our execution speed and learning speed, five surprisingly powerful things happen in our careers and businesses ^289564185 --- Execution speed is a popular game. Learning speed is a hidden game ^289564186 --- “I still underestimate the compounding power of the rapid execution and iterated learning feedback loop. A commitment to this, over the course of a career, is the closest thing you can get to guaranteed success.” () ^289564187 --- “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” — John Wooden (most successful college basketball coach of all time) ^289564188 --- I realized that speed isn’t fundamentally about “doing more” or “running faster.” Rather, it is more a way of thinking. ^289564189 --- Execution speed is about getting more done by either putting in more resources or by operating more efficiently ^289564190 --- You can increase your learning speed in several ways:Spending more time learningLearning knowledge that doesn’t become outdated so your knowledge compoundsFinding breakthrough knowledge in a sea of info overwhelmRemembering what you learn so you can use it for the rest of your lifeCreating an experimentation engine so you can rapidly try new ideas without procrastinating and without taking on huge riskSystematically identifying and removing your blindspots ^289564191 --- When people ask me that question, ‘What keeps you up at night?’ I always say speed.” Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors ^289564192 --- “Everybody must realize that if you don’t meet customer demand quickly enough, without sacrificing quality, a competitor will.” Bill Gates ^289564193 --- “The only way to win is to learn faster than everybody else.” Eric Ries, creator of Lean Startup Movement ^289564194 --- #1. The pace of life is increasing, and our pace needs to increase with it or we will be left behind ^289564195 --- Working a longer dayMaking decisions fasterFinding a tool that helps you work fasterMaking sure people aren’t waiting on one another to move forwardRemoving a bottleneck in an assembly line ^289564196 --- the rate of paradigm shift in the world is doubling every 10 years. This means that by 2040, the pace will be 4x what it is now. And in 100 years, it will be 1,024x what it is now. ^289564197 --- Bezos determined that the only way to win was to get big fast — to move so fast that by the time that Barnes & Noble launched an online effort, Amazon would be so far ahead that Barnes & Noble couldn’t catch up. His strategy worked. ^289564198 --- #2. Being a little bit faster can be the difference between winning and losing ^289564199 --- #3. Little gains compound into huge gains ^289564200 --- Once a company like Amazon or Facebook or Apple becomes the best, it’s extremely hard to unseat them. ^289564201 --- #4. Speed is the underdog’s #1 weapon ^289564202 --- Changing markets create new customer needs. In other words, customers are always open to a better mousetrap.New technologies create new ways of meeting those needs. Because those technologies are new, individuals who go all-in early can rapidly become world experts.Startups don’t have sunk costs, and they can rethink how to solve a new customer need from scratch. Then, they can go all-in on the solution and “burn their boats.” For startups, getting the new idea to work is existential, whereas it isn’t for the large company.Finally, startups can iterate faster than larger companies. Large companies have multiple layers of approvals and have a brand to protect. ^289564203 --- Being a little bit ahead vs being a little bit behind is the difference between winning and losing. Therefore, be proactive rather than reactive. ^289564204 --- “If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.” —Jeff Bezos ^289564205 --- As the world becomes more global and digital, tens of millions of people will realize that they are further behind than they realized and that catching up feels impossible. The solution is to increase your learning speed now and not wait until you are forced to. ^289564206 --- Little differences make all the difference. ^289564207 --- A big implication of this prediction is that we shouldn’t expect things to return to normal. In fact, the opposite is more likely. Simultaneous destabilizing events are the new normal ^289564208 --- we fall behind the rate of change in any given field, over time, we get outcompeted and fall further and further behind. In the worst-case scenario, we fall so far behind that it is virtually impossible to catch up. When we operate above the rate of change, we get further and further ahead. ^289564209 --- Speed can be the little advantage that makes all the difference over time. You can think of speed as being the first to release a minimum viable product to a market or to have a new skill that is really valuable to your employer ^289564210 --- This increasing rate of change is important because the amount of effort we need to stay up-to-date increases with that rate of change. ^289564211 --- As each round passes, the slightly better restaurant gets more and more momentum ^289564212 --- That experience taught me an important lesson about compounding gains and what it takes to be world-class. I never wanted to fall that far behind again in any area that was important to me. ^289564213 --- Amazingly, Barnes & Noble didn’t even launch their online store until 1997. By that point, Amazon was already on the verge of going public and had hundreds of employees. ^289564214 --- In other words, what matters is relative speed, not absolute speed. If two people or companies are competing against the other, the one who is slightly faster has a huge edge, because the one going slower is constantly reactive and disoriented. ^289564215 --- #5. The best career opportunities are often time-bound ^289564216 --- The best opportunities attract lots of people and become less compelling over time as they become crowded. If you can notice them sooner, you have an advantage. ^289564217 --- Immediately, the opportunity alarm bells went off in his head. “Things just don’t grow that fast!” The Internet might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ^289564218 --- People who operate at a faster speed more quickly notice important changes in their environment. They understand them and invest in the best ones. ^289564219 --- If you’re a startup or early in your career, being fast in quickly changing markets can be how you set yourself apart. ^289564220 --- We can see time-bound opportunities on a few levels… ^289564221 --- Tool adoption. If you’re the first to adopt a game-changing technology in your industry or position, you can use that to stand apart. ^289564222 --- Investment opportunities. The earlier you get in on a great investment opportunity, the larger the return. ^289564223 --- Cultural shifts. The sooner you realize an important cultural trend, the more you are seen as a pioneer rather than as out-of-touch. ^289564224 --- Startup opportunities. ^289564225 --- Gross did an in-depth analysis to try and understand what separated the winners from the losers. He looked at teams, markets, ideas, funding, business models, and timing. Amazingly, he found that timing was the #1 key. ^289564226 --- Social media. When a new social media platform gains traction, new users tend to be looking for people to follow. ^289564227 --- Skills. When a new skill suddenly becomes in demand, there is a shortage of workers to fill that demand. As a result, employees can earn a premium for having that skill. ^289564228 --- Speed is great in theory, but it’s difficult in practice. ^289564229 --- If we are too late, we will miss out on the best opportunities. We also risk being considered out of touch. ^289564230 --- There is one rule that has helped me find the balance between the two poles in my own life. I call it the Hockey Stick Rule. ^289564231 --- When I see something grow exponentially in the shape of a hockey stick, like Bezos did with the Internet, at the very least I immediately devote 10 hours to truly understanding it before passing judgement on i ^289564232 --- he shared his strategy: when a new platform emerges, he immediately spends several hours on it, even if it means staying up late to do so. ^289564233 --- Bottom line: Speed is critical in today’s world for several reasons… ^289564234 --- The pace of life is increasing, and our pace needs to increase with it or we will be left behindBeing a little bit faster can be the difference between winning and losingLittle gains compound into huge gainsSpeed is the underdog’s #1 weaponThe best career opportunities are often time-bound ^289564235 --- In this free training series, I will help you…Overcome information overwhelm (the №1 reason why most learners fall behind, and fail to get real-world results from their learning)Find breakthrough knowledge that gives you a lasting competitive edge (and ultimately transforms your life)Use a simple memorization strategy that Greeks and Romans used to remember what they learned (that is also backed by science)Find time in your busy schedule to build a bulletproof learning habit ^289564236 --- To help you immediately increase your learning speed, I created a free 5-lesson course. ^289564237