On Simple and Hard Paths to Success

“I’ve been able to stand on the shoulders of giants,” — Warren Buffett.

Unless you’re a scientist breaking entirely new ground, everything you’re doing has already been done by someone before you — and done well.

Take SpaceX. When Elon Musk and his team were building their rockets, they studied Soviet technology closely. The key decisions of Soviet engineers, especially in liquid-fuel engines and modular design, had a real influence on what SpaceX built.

And yet it’s striking how many people reinvent the wheel every single day.

Maybe they’re flattering their own ego by walking every step alone. Or they’re convinced they know more than everyone else, so they brush off the experience of more seasoned colleagues. Or they’re out to prove that their ideas, in the end, are the ones that will win. But what are their odds — and what will it cost?

When you offer these people honest, practical advice, showing them how it worked for others, they often push the help away, clinging proudly and stubbornly to their own opinion. Yes, that’s a path too. But is it worth it?

“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows,” — Epictetus.

Ask people in business or in a craft what “best practices” exist in their field. You’ll be surprised how few can answer. Most simply do what they do for as long as it keeps working. But how effective their approach actually is — no one knows and no one measures, because there’s nothing to compare it to, and sometimes no reason to.

Any mastery — a craft, music, sport, the martial arts — begins with the monotonous repetition of the basics under a teacher’s guidance. After countless repetitions of what has already proven itself, improvisation arrives, and that’s where the real magic happens. The student becomes a master who finds his own individual style. But not a moment sooner.

“Mastery comes not from talent, but from the endless repetition of simple actions,” — John Wooden (the legendary basketball coach).

We choose for ourselves which path to take: the simple one — learning and applying the experience others have already gathered — or the hard one, figuring it all out from scratch.

Here’s to all of us choosing our own path to mastery! 😎