The core theme of the book is about making yourself indispensible, or in Seth's words a Linchpin, in all facets of life. The many examples used to illustrate the key points of playing long-term games, always leaving room to explore for new and better frontiers, and avoiding zero-sum thinking were surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable, and does not feel overly repetitive. Gave me a good burst of energy so pick it up if you feel like you need a good pick up.

Seth also has a great podcast "Akimbo" and a slew of other materials I highly recommend looking up.

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Key Ideas:

The social contract of the past era is now broken. Workers were promised security with a income stream (and healthcare, pension etc.) for being good workers. In this era, that now seems to be a deal with the devil. The new era rewards creativity and art more than obedience.

None of us were born to be cogs in machines. This is the result of societal conditioning. So, it is possible to de-condition and retrain, to be someone that is not just a fungible commodity. Be an artist.

This is a brilliant point. You would think businesses hire the best and most skilled workers for a job. But in fact, the "perfect business" is one that hires the lowest possible level of skill for each job. Why? This makes them replaceable, and hence the business would retain the maximum level of bargaining power and control. It's like having a Ferrari vs. a Toyota. You want parts that are cheap, durable and easily replaced.

Seth argues that the problem is easy replication. Others will enter the market, replicate the model, then it is a race to the bottom through price competition. The alternative is a business he calls "Indispensible Business" which races to the top. I take this point not to mean hiring a bunch of talented, creative individuals, but they find ways to allow individuals to express and show their indispensability instead of just mundane, operational work without purpose. I personally have seen this in many businesses. Treat your workers not as raw inputs into a product, they are co-creators that will enable your business to produce outputs that will delight the customer.

See things not as a zero-sum game, but one that has unlimited potential. A market where talent creates growth and the market increases in size. I extend this to encourage everyone to play long-term games, and more importantly, seek players that want to play long-term games. In a zero-sum game, the generous are seen as fools, easily taken advantaged of. But playing and believing in the alternate game, generosity is the best strategy.

Don't make excuses and believe in special circumstances. I can at times fall into that black hole. It is easy to fall into a hole and bemoan those who have more resources and better luck. Don't do that. Be resourceful, not resentful. Be generous, not selfish.

Everything is a choice. You either want or don't want to. Stop with the I Can't(s).

Interesting point made about Marissa Mayer. Seth wrote "If you could write Marissa’s duties into a manual, you wouldn’t need her. But the minute you wrote it down, it wouldn’t be accurate anyway. That’s the key. She solves problems that people haven’t predicted, sees things people haven’t seen, and connects people who need to be connected."

Organisations seek out people who are fearless, but weed out those that are reckless. What's the difference? Being fearless is about avoiding imagined threats so as to accomplish something. Being reckless is about rushing without consideration into things, usually at the expense of the business.

The Pursuit of Perfection is actually the wrong strategy. I see this also as the exploration-exploitation trade-off, or rather necessity. This is one of my values I talk about. Always leave room for exploration and trying new things. This is how you can keep on discovering new and higher frontiers. Also, no one really likes a drone.

Many more highlights in the book, I do recommend picking it up and enjoying it as much as I did.

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