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When asked what someone can do to be successful in software: > That;s a tough one. get out of the box no1. REALLY out of the box. Abandon every social norm, es
by orthoganol 11y ago
When asked what someone can do to be successful in software:
> That;s a tough one. get out of the box no1. REALLY out of the box. Abandon every social norm, esp those closest to you. Then look at the world with objective eyes. Look what is the thing to do? Every entrepreneur I know (I know Steve Jobs, and he was out of the box) went out of the box. If you can't go work for someone else.
Yeah the older I get the more it becomes clear that there's inherent conflict between following social norms (developing a cushy social life) and achieving something big. Like with being a startup founder I think almost all have to go through intense anti-social periods, admittedly I judge founders as being average or worse if they don't seem to have some anti social or obsessive streak to them.
Kobe is a cool example too, a guy who had a relatively bizarre social life for an NBA player, with a manic obsession about work and improvement. I think he even said "Friends come and go, but banners stay forever." Extreme, but hits on a deeper truth about what all it takes to make it big.
- nadam 11y agoBeing at the right place at the right time is also important, if not more important. There are lots of people thinking out of the box everywhere in the world but financial success in software is extremely concentrated at certain geographical locations and time ranges. (Maybe living in a small Eastern European country I feel this more than people living in let's say the Valley.) TL/DR: out of the box, but in the appropriate (time,location) range
- AndrewKemendo 11y agoPart of being outside the box is determining what it is the right time for. So for example, 2015 is obviously not the right time to make it big on asteroid mining, but understanding the value, logistics etc... for it could lead you to determine what kind of events would make it the right time. Certainly not a science to this though.
- Certified 11y agoSpeak for yourself. I am currently putting 110% into asteroid mining
- NumberCruncher 11y agomaybe living in a small Eastern European country is your personal box...
- eli 11y agoI mean this in the nicest possible way, but that kinda sounds like a justification for being a workaholic.
- orthoganol 11y agoNo need for the patronizing tone... Isn't that an ad hominem? People can abuse this information to justify anti social behavior, but I'm not sure how your point challenges its validity...
- ablation 11y agoWas it patronising? And was it an ad hominem? I didn't really read that into it at all. Just another opinion on one man's opinion.
- orthoganol 11y agoHuh, I don't know, just seemed like a patronizing way of phrasing something. People do it subconsciously a lot. It's not like it offended or bothered me, was just pointing out that it had such a tone, and noting that conversations or debates are better when people just say things directly. About the ad hominem, saying something sounds like an excuse isn't addressing the argument made. If OP disagrees with the argument, he's welcome to make arguments that address my own.
- prawn 11y agoOften, work pays off. The Lakers used to try and lock Kobe out of the gym to stop him getting shots up at all hours before dawn. But he persisted and found other ways in.
- normloman 11y agoThinking out of the box is not mutually exclusive with having a social life. I know many artists and musicians who are doing truly groundbreaking stuff. They all violate the social norms, and have unusual lifestyles. But all of them are very well connected (in art, you have to be). Their social networks are very broad, and very strong. He's not saying to obsess or be a workaholic. He's saying be creative. The way to be creative is to relax and let your thoughts drift.