Detailed checklist for how to overcome, thrive and beat any and every disruption. How-to Addendum to Bill Jensen's book: Disrupt: Think Epic, Be Epic

1. © Jensen Group, 2015 Simplicity Project
Simplicity Toolkit
25 Habits
for a
Disruptive World
SAP has partnered with The Jensen Group,
the premier expert on organizational simplicity
to provide you with some of their tools and insights
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How To Addendum to Bill Jensen’s Disrupt! Think Epic. Be Epic.
Research Organizational
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2. ClickThe Journey
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How To Addendum
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Disrupt!
Think Epic. Be Epic.
By Bill Jensen

3. Disrupt!
Think Epic. Be Epic.
How To Addendum
Lint Bin
Disrupt! and The Courage Within Us are Bill Jensen’s sixth and
seventh books. All his books begin with the research from the
ongoing study, Search for a Simpler Way, by the Jensen Group.
To date, well over 1,000,000 individuals have been surveyed
and/or interviewed for the study, from across the globe.
In this How To addendum to Disrupt!, Bill has included tips and
techniques that came from Simpler Way findings as well as tips
from many other sources. All findings and tips relate to knowledge-
and service-work economies — not third-world or emerging
economies — and may have only limited application in extremely
industrialized or agrarian situations.
For more information: simplerwork.com
bill@simplerwork.com
© 2014, Bill Jensen, The Jensen Group
SECTION 1
Dos PAGE 4
SECTION 2
Don’ts PAGE 33
SECTION 3
Guiding Principles PAGE 42

4. The Power
of Habit
What follows are additional how-to’s associated
with the 25 disruptive habits identified within
Disrupt! Let’s begin with a few tips about building
any kind of habit.
What is a Habit?
It is an action that you perform seemingly without having to think
about it. Habits are so internalized that each Next Step and each
reaction are hard-wired into your thinking processes. Every action
seems to be performed without having to think about it.
45% of Our Day: Both Good and Bad
Researchers have found that up to 45% of what we do every day
are habits.
>
INTRODUCTION
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5. Good: Without habits, we’d go nuts! Every little thing that had to
get done would become a major thinking chore.
Bad: In a world of constant disruptive change, with almost half
your day filled with habits, you can be too slow to react to many
things that require you to change.
How to Build Any Habit
Pay attention to the cues that spark activities that deliver
rewards. An example, Pavlov’s experiments: Dogs learned that a
ringing bell (cue) meant food.
Focus on the reward at the end, not on the difficulty of the
work involved. Examples: Recognition or prestige or a bonus or
time off after working hard on a project; Or being healthier after
the hard work of stopping smoking.
The “Secret”
Freedom of choice. You can choose to let go of old habits that
are no longer useful. You can choose to build new habits that will
be more helpful to you in a very disruptive world.
Daily Secret: Tools, checklists, buddy systems, support groups,
reminders… Anything that keeps you true to your commitments
until new habits have been formed.
The “Catch”
Changing old habits and building new ones can be hard work.
The degree of difficulty is tied to the strength of your Ahas.
Little Ahas (“Yeah, I guess I should do this…”) = Very difficult work
ahead. Big Ahas (“I really must do this, it’s worth it!”) = No work
seems too difficult — you’ll just do it.
FOR MORE
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Tiny Habits Method by BJ Fogg
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6. Dos
[ Do Epic Shit ]
“If you don’t disrupt and you don’t free your
own mind in how you apply yourself to
challenges, you can’t address today’s most
intractable problems.
“If you want to make a change, life’s too short
to be anything but disruptive. We need a Tahrir
Square in everyone’s mind. We need the same
freedom from fear in which we first saw in the
streets of Cairo. The big challenge in our future
is how we break the boundaries in our own mind.
That’s where the future lies.”
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SECTION
1

7. That’s Salil Shetty, Secretary General for Amnesty International.
His advice is the perfect introduction to this How To addendum to
Disrupt!
Shetty is a lifelong activist on poverty and justice issues, and
leads the movement's worldwide work to end the abuse of human
rights. One might think that he’d be a “can’t we all just get along”
kind of guy. Not so. He knows that the only way to thrive in a
disruptive world, is to take disruptive actions of your own.
“Life’s too short not to be outraged and not to be disruptive,”
he continues. “Yes, patience is a virtue. What’s important is how
you channel that in a way that results in change. It comes down
to a combination of passion and analytics.
“My optimism and hope lies with who wants power to be
distributed more equitably.”
HABIT 1 QUESTION EVERYTHING PAGE 6
HABIT 2 AUDACITY MATTERS PAGE 8
HABIT 3 KILL WHAT YOU CHERISH MOST PAGE 11
HABIT 4 DO EPIC SHIT PAGE 12
HABIT 5 BLOW STUFF UP PAGE 14
HABIT 6 BE A TRIAGE MASTER PAGE 16
HABIT 7 MAKE A MESS PAGE 17
HABIT 8 DO IT ANYWAY PAGE 19
HABIT 9 GO FASTER PAGE 21
HABIT 10 LEAP BEFORE THE NET APPEARS PAGE 23
HABIT 11 SIMPLIFY CONSTANTLY PAGE 25
HABIT 12 HAVE LOTS OF AFFAIRS (ON YOUR BOSS) PAGE 27
HABIT 13 GO BACK TO THE FUTURE PAGE 29
HABIT 14 FIX THE WORLD’S FLYING TOILETS PAGE 31
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8. 14 HABITS FOR DOING GREAT WORK
IN A DISRUPTIVE WORLD
Question Everything
How to Ask Questions That Rock the Boat
Find Your Core Set of Questions
These are your go-to questions that are helpful in most any
situation. Limit your core questions to 3—5. For me as a business
consultant, I almost always begin with…
How do you define success? Or: If we were super successful
and we asked 100 people for their reactions, what would they
say? This puts the person you’re speaking with in the customer’s/
client’s/audience’s shoes.
Why? Journalists are taught to ask variations of this same
question up five times until they get to the real truth.
Time/Quality/Cost: Pick Two. You can’t ask this directly.
Everybody will always respond that all three are equally
important. But they never are. One of these three is always the
deciding factor. (And cost is often a lot more flexible than we’re
led to believe.) You will need to ask this question indirectly
multiple times in order to uncover which one it is.
Some additional suggestions…
What is our (company, team, store, etc.) core purpose on earth?
Variations of this question always quickly get to “Why are we
really doing this? What’s the ultimate purpose of this?”
What should we stop doing?
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HABIT
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9. If our (company, team, store, etc.) didn’t exist, how would we
approach this?
How could we do this differently?
— Adapted from Warren Berger, host of the blog A More Beautiful Question
A few more suggestions…
What if there were no rules for this? What would we do?
What would we do if we wanted to have no regrets?
Is this the hill we want to die on? (Is this really that important?)
What’s the difference between what they want and what
they need?
What really matters in this situation?
Practice, Practice, Practice
To accomplish Step 3, you will need to practice your core set
of questions constantly. In most every meeting, in most every
exchange.
Sense the Tipping Point
At some point in the exchange, the vibe will change. If you pay
very close attention, you will begin to sense the exact moment
where the vibe switches from “OK, will give you some discovery
time…” to “Let’s move on to getting stuff done.”
For example, many of my new business opportunities occur during
teleconferences. Assuming a one-hour call, the tipping point is
usually between 20 minutes and 40 minutes into the call. I then
quickly switch into “Here’s what I’d recommend we do” mode.
Your goal is to push right up to the edge of that tipping point
(maximizing discovery time)… But never go over it (the point at
which just one more question will annoy others).
Get to the Point… Fast!
After you’ve questioned as much as you can, jump quickly into
getting stuff done.
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10. Make sure your actions/recommendations are built upon how
people just answered your questions.
Get to the point fast! Spell out recommendations and action items
clearly and succinctly. (See Habit 11: Simplify Constantly)
Repeat: Going Further Each Time
Push as far as you can with one round of questions… Execute
based on what you learned… Then push a little further the next
time you have the opportunity.
Audacity Matters
Career Audacity: Making Big Changes
No Yeah Buts or Monetary Concerns
Hold off on those — at least initially. The main reason people stay
in bad jobs and in less-than-great situations is because they can’t
get past their Yeah Buts and initial concerns.
Validate Your Gut
Six Reasons to Make a Career Change
Learn more about common mistakes people make
Dream Big, Ask Big Questions
Treat your life as a blank piece of paper with no pre-determined
rules or boundaries. Ask big questions like…
What do I want?
What marketplace needs (products/services) excite me?
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11. What can I offer on those needs or any?
Do I have what it takes?
What skills do I have that are transferable?
My own firm? Somebody’s employee? Combination of both?
FOR MORE
Big Career Questions
Go to Your Audacity Yoda
Lots of people will help you plot the safest or wisest course.
Somewhere in your life there is (or needs to be) a mentor or
friend or family member who will guide you — and, if necessary,
tough-love you — toward adventure, exploring, and risk-taking.
Brainstorm new possibilities with this person
Brainstorm what you’d do during the next few months if you were
to select one of the options
Brainstorm how to facilitate conversations with family or anyone
who will have monetary or Yeah But concerns.
Once you do this, you will find many of the concerns will have
already been addressed!
Chart Your New Course
Plan it with family and anyone who will be impacted by your
decisions. Having done Step 4, you will experience a little less
worry and a lot more adventure!
Project Audacity: Making Big Pitches
Pre-Work: Read the Modern Classics
Getting to Yes
Getting Past No
Difficult Conversations
Ask Decision-Makers to Share Their Dreams
Most of us know a standard corporate practice — pre-shopping
new ideas with decision-makers before the ideas are actually
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12. proposed. That way, when you finally present the idea, it gets
approved because the decision-makers have had a chance to put
their fingerprints already all over it.
Problem: This approach almost always waters down audacious
ideas into way-too-safe ideas.
So use the process differently:
Meet with key decision-makers before you brainstorm your ideas
Ask them their dreams for your project. If your project could
exceed their wildest expectations, what would that look like?
Use their big dreams to jumpstart your audacious ideas
Audaciousness is built-in because the decision-makers’ biggest
dreams are already included
Close the Sale
Your passion and a great idea are not enough. Go into to that
meeting prepared to discuss:
Immediate next steps
Who is responsible for what
What success looks like
What tools and resources are needed
Finally: Two important things to remember:
Make it easy for everyone to say Yes. Organize all of the above
into and easy to review and understand checklist. Ideally, on
one page
Be yourself! Because in the end, you are selling you.
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Kill What You
Cherish Most
Your Projects: Plan Obsolescence From the Start
Follow a two-track approach…
Create An Ongoing Iteration Loop
As soon as you launch your project, you will need to start seeking
feedback that will help you keep designing new iterations.
Hackathons are a great model to follow. They keep the feedback
loop intense and keep the iterations coming. Here, here, here and
here are some 411s on hackathons.
Great feedback is useless unless somebody does something
with it. Contract with your bosses, up front, for fast response
times for feedback. The best models are similar to Zappos and
Ritz-Carlton where everybody knows that they are empowered to
make changes without going through the chain of command.
If you are stuck with a more traditional managerial structure
(my condolences), then contract with your bosses on the one or
two key metrics where they will empower your team to make
changes without going up the chain of command.
Day 1 of Your New Project: Start Killing It
The moment you launch your latest project, someone out there
is already working on making all your efforts obsolete. Don’t wait
for that. Start killing it yourself. Start…
Researching what technologies or approaches might surpass
what you just accomplished
HABIT
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Brainstorming with teammates Version 2.0 of what you just
accomplished
Don’t wait for approval. Don’t wait for permission.
FOR MORE
How Apple does it
Consequences of not killing your project
Do Epic Shit
Redefine Your Niche
So Being the Best Is Attainable
Pre-Work:
Watch Six Commencement Speeches
Steve Jobs
Jacqueline Novogratz
JK Rowling
Meryl Streep
Jeff Bezos
Neil Gaiman
You will be reminded of timeless truths which will carry you
through your quest to be the best
Be You: The Amazing You
Movie director Alfred Hitchcock once said “Drama is life with
the dull bits cut out.” The same applies to you being the best in
the world. Accentuate your most wondrous qualities and then
amplify them.
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Like how…
The Mythbusters guys entertain us with experiments
Richard Saul Wurman launched TED
Salman Khan began reinventing education from his closet
Lenny Bruce, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert showed us new
ways to see ourselves
Redefining your market niche is you, with the dull bits cut out.
Define Market Needs That You Alone Own
Define a set of market needs, established or new — (no one asked
for the first iPod, but one visionary saw a huge market for it) —
so that you (as envisioned in Step 2) are the perfect match in
fulfilling those needs.
Market size must be connected to your dreams. (World domination
or best in your neighborhood?)
Your goals should be tied your skillsets and strengths. (If you’re
tone deaf, it may not be realistic that you’ll be doing epic shit as
a musician.)
Define True Success
Some who do epic shit achieve wealth or fame. Yet most are
simply striving to be the best version of themselves. Define true
success in terms of how much fun you have, or how comfortable
and natural it is to be that way, or what you’ve learned and
experienced, or who you’ve met and spent time with. Being the
best you can be will never be measured by market size or
revenues. If those happen to come your way — great. But true
success is an awesome journey!
Deliver
Steve Jobs once said that “real artists ship.” Meaning: At the end
of the day, your product or service is only epic if you actually
deliver the goods. Great execution matters.
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Blow Stuff Up
How to Blow Stuff Up and Get Away With It
Be Bucky
Buckminster Fuller famously said “You never change things by
fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new
model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Do not blow stuff up by attacking the current system.
There are too many people invested in keeping things the way
they are. They will wear you down.
Instead, invest your energies in building a new model, a new way
of doing things
Start Small, With a Narrow Focus
The size for mobile phone apps is projected to be over $100 billion
by 2015. All that from products that cost, on average, about $3;
and where 90% of all apps are free. Regardless of what your
product or service is, or how it’s delivered, or how much (or little)
technology is involved…
Focus on a sub-subset of a larger system. (Most apps do one
narrowly-focused thing very well.) The more narrow your focus —
like how one form gets filled out, or how one training program
works — the better your chance of getting away with disruptive
changes
Start small: Keep initial costs as low as possible (a lot can be
done with $0 and sweat equity); launch pilots; then iterate,
iterate, iterate.
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Make Life Easier
Time poverty and the fact that everything takes so much effort
are two of today’s biggest challenges for most everyone. If your
solution makes it easier to (fill in the blank), your chances of
blowing stuff up are greatly increased.
If you are selling something internally to your bosses: This
includes making their lives easier too. Save them time or effort,
and you are golden.
For customers: You will go viral if they not only get ease of use,
but if your product or service also gives them a chance to express
themselves — customizing your product to their personality or
their specific needs; participating in follow-up activities, etc.
Build a Loyal Following
Before selling your idea to the world, build a loyal following who
love your disruptive change. When it comes time to sell it, they
will do it for you. If selling your idea internally to your bosses,
enlist one or two them to test or experience your change. If it’s
as good as you think it is, they will become your champions.
Passion Seals the Deal
Your passion for how your disruption will change things for the
better. Your loyal following’s passion for what it did for them.
If you are successful in Steps 3 and 4, you’ll achieve Step 5,
and you will have blown stuff up and gotten away with it.
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Be a Triage Master
Top Tips: Become a Master, You Must
Commit to Yin Yang Thinking
Educators call this Lower-Level Thinking and Higher-Level Thinking
— two dimensions of critical thinking. Triaging requires you to
develop the ability to bounce back and forth between the two
before you make decisions.
Example of Lower-Level Thinking: Who needs this, by when?
Examples of Higher-Level Thinking: Is this important? Why is this
important? Are any of my To Do’s more important than this?
Master triagers learn (through practice, practice, practice) to
quickly weigh both of these before they act. You need to get good
at thinking about both how to quickly get stuff done, and what
really matters — doing both super-fast, at the same time.
Build Yin Yang Daily Routines
Start small: With any decision that takes almost no time —
like how to answer just one email. Before responding: Weigh both
Lower-Level needs (getting the task off your plate) and Higher-
Level needs (should the sender be thinking differently about the
problem?).
Build a routine: Start applying what you practiced in one email
to all your emails; to meetings; to presentations. Focus on daily,
recurring routines so you can easily practice, practice, practice.
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Be a Ruthless Prioritizer
After Steps 1 and 2, you’re ready for the big leap: Incorporating
two-level thinking into how you make more important Go/No Go,
Yes/No, Do/Don’t Do decisions. All great triagers, all great leaders
are ruthless prioritizers.
Read more about how and why great leaders do this here, here,
here and here
Plan Your 2020 Up-Skilling
Check out the Institute for the Future’s Work Skills 2020 findings.
Ask mentors, colleagues, bosses for 360° feedback on which skills
are your strengths and which ones require need up-skilling.
Mentor Others
Pay it forward. Share your lessons learned and mastering of
triaging with others.
Make a Mess
Start Small Failures, Grow Them Into Big Messes
“At the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that
his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know
neither victory nor defeat.” —Theodore Roosevelt
Get Over Yourself
Yes, bad bosses and poor work cultures and bureaucratic rules
fuel and prey upon everyone’s fear of failure. But 99.99% of your
fear of failure is within your control. Stop worrying about how
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you’ll be perceived or what will happen if you fail. To help with
that, check out…
Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
Sallie Krawcheck on Getting Fired
Screwing Up Could Be Your Best Career Move
If You Don’t Make Mistakes, You Don’t Make Anything
Best Advice: Down But Not Out
How to Think About Risk When Investing in Your Career
Assign Yourself Failure Projects
You need practice projects: Safe places where it’s OK, (more OK
than normal), if screw-ups occur
If your bosses aren’t assigning you Failure Projects — (those with
higher-than-normal acceptance of disruptive risks) — then assign
them to yourself. Take on one project per quarter — (for the more
risk-averse…one project per year) — in which you intentionally
push yourself or the project beyond a safe and predictable zone
If it goes well, realize that your fears of failure were unwarranted,
and push further on the next Failure Project
If it doesn’t go well, your response should be “So, I got dinged.
I’m still a great employee. Life did not end. I’ll try again later.”
Grow Small Failures Into Bigger Messes
After Steps 1 and 2…
Build a team (three or more people) around your next Failure
Project. Everybody on the team agrees to push this one project
beyond the normal safe and predictable zone — and that if it
doesn’t go well… (there’s safety in numbers)… everybody agrees
to share the hit together. United you stand: equal glory or equal
blame.
With each successful Failure Project, grow the team, increase
the risk-taking.
Soon, as hippie Arlo Guthrie once sang, you will have started
a movement!
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Always: After Action Reviews
That’s what the U.S. Army calls their debriefing sessions. They
are extremely disciplined, as you need to be, about capturing,
understanding, and leveraging the lessons learned from each of
their assignments. The whole point of making messes, is so that
you can iterate, iterate, iterate. You can only do that if you learn
from each experience.
Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
Use what you’ve learned from each failure, to make the next
version even better.
Do It Anyway
Top Tips: How to Get Away With Doing It Anyway
Part 1:
Change How Your Respond to “No”
Use every “No” from your boss as an opportunity to change your
relationship with him/her. Do not challenge… Ask better questions.
Discover the Unsaid
There’s almost always information behind every “No” that bosses
didn’t think to share. Discover what that is by asking questions
like…
“Help me understand what you’re trying to achieve.”
“Help me understand why my idea isn’t a good one.”
“Help me understand my next steps.”
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“What’s driving this deadline?”
“Did I misunderstand our department’s top priorities?”
Explore Alternatives
Based on what you learn in Step 1, explore alternative solutions
to what was first rejected. Like: “Now that I better understand
your needs…
“I’d like to come back to you with a couple new possibilities?”
“If I meet those requirements, I assume you will review a
revised proposal?”
“I will revise my budget and get back to you next week.”
Present Alternatives
Use information gained from the boss in Step 1 to help close
the sale.
Part 2:
Find Your Voice, Take a Stand
Better to Ask Forgiveness…
If Steps 1—3 Work…
Great! No need for the next step. You are successfully changing
your relationship with your boss to take more risks and be more
innovative.
If Steps 1—3 Keep Getting You Nowhere…
Clearly, your boss is holding you back and this not going to stop.
You have two choices…
Either: Stop asking for permission altogether. Just do whatever
you think is best. And then when you get dinged, ask for
forgiveness.
Or: Quit
WORDS OF WISDOM
Richard Branson on Living a Life With No Regrets
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Go Faster
How To Let Go To Go Faster
Embrace This: The Problem is You
For at least two out of every three of us: the main cause of
slowing things down is you:
Ego…
“I can’t let people see this before it’s right.”
Fear…
“I’ll get dinged if it’s not perfect.”
Self-Imposed Criteria…
“I don’t have time to think. I have to just keep it moving.”
Excuses…
“They don’t give me the time to think.”
CYA…
“I can’t look bad. What will my boss think of me?”
etc.
What you need to focus on is what’s really slowing you down —
your own attitudes and beliefs.
Inventory Your Daily Routines
Ten minute exercise. Two columns:
LEFT Current Routines RIGHT Ideal Routines
List all business routines you do on a daily basis, including the
average amount of time you spend on each activity.
For example:
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Current Routine Ideally, Should Be
Emails: 2 hours Emails: 1 hour
Meetings: 4 hours Meetings: 3 hours
The discrepancy between what you do now and what you should
be doing is where you need to focus.
Jensen Group research found that the average person is losing
2-4 hours per day on time-drains that are within that individual’s
control to change!
Close the Gaps
Gaining back 2-4 hours per day is completely within your control.
Some examples:
Better use of filters on your emails, so only true high priority
emails and critical people get your most urgent and focused
attention
Applying the 80/20 Rule to replying to whomever communicates
with you. (80% of your most-valuable communication is with no
more than 20% of your contacts. Focus there and “be OK” with
not getting back to everyone else.)
The majority of the meetings you attend are a waste of your time.
Why do you keep doing that to yourself?! Give yourself permission
to start opting out of meetings and being more selective.
All people who are productive do this!
FOR MORE
Communication Tools: Speed-Freak Clarity
How to Delete 75% of Your Emails
Seven Qualities of Uber-Productive People
11 Productivity Hacks of Super Productive People
Lifehacker
Travel Beyond Your Routines
The people who are producing far more than you, far faster than
you have all taken this final step. Examine your other long-held
beliefs that may be holding you back and wasting your time,
like…
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Is this the right career (or job, or company) for me?
Should I be changing my lifestyle (car, house, etc.)?
Why is (fill in the blank) so damned important to me?
Why not change (fill in the blank)?
Most likely, you have at least one long-held belief that’s holding
you back from working smarter and faster. Something that’s
totally within your control and is totally changeable. Tackle that
and you will be free to work as smart and as fast as humanly
possible. (See Habits 19-25 for more.)
Go Faster
Top Tips: How to Build Your Net En Route
Assumption: You Are Ready to Leap
That doesn’t mean being fearless. Everyone is afraid. It’s how you
push past those fears that counts. If you need more help in that
area, some suggestions for pre-reading…
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Drive by Daniel Pink
Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath
Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrner
Practical Wisdom by Barry Schwartz
On Managing Yourself by Harvard Business Review
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Be Specific
Everyone who succeeds by design — athletes, artists, dieters,
explorers, workers, managers, leaders, — does so by being clear
and specific with their goals. Think of the SMART model: Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timebound. e.g., “Lose 5 pounds
this week and increase my exercise time by 15 minutes” is far
better than “Lose weight. Exercise more.”
Plan No More Than 3—6 Months
Before you leap, plan your goals for the next 3—6 months using
the SMART model. Only for 3—6 months! During that time, you
will learn so much and things will change so much that planning
any further out would be a waste of time.
Apply the Immutable Law of Leaping
Everything is figureoutable is the one immutable law that
governs all successful leaps. All those things that are freaking you
out? Don’t worry. Be happy. As your leap progresses you will find
whatever it is you need — everything is figureoutable.
Enlist Your Tribe
As Manick Bhan described in Disrupt!, your social network is your
biggest safety net. That can range from sleeping on a friend’s
couch while in transition, to daily direction from your closest
supporters, to the AttaBoy and AttaGirl support you needed just
when things looked darkest. It takes a village to make a leap.
Enlist yours before you go for it.
Be a Realistic Optimist
“I can do this, I can do this, I can do this!” is crucial. But so is
the ability to realistically assess progress (or lack of it) and adjust
plans accordingly. Pragmatic problem-solving and passionate
optimism need to be need to work together as teammates.
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Stick To It
As Cenk Karasapan said in Disrupt!, “If there are 50 doors, and
you’re on the 48th door and get tired, do you give up? No. You
keep trying.” You will get tired and be in the dumps several times.
Do not despair. Push through that. Your reward is just behind the
next door!
Simplify Constantly
Five Ways to Make Most Anything Simpler
Practice Disciplined Empathy
and Common Sense
Simplicity is based on very basic human needs: Could this app be
made easier to use? Could this medicine container be made easier
to open and easier to read and understand? Can making a bank
deposit be made easier? The first step to making most anything
simpler is to walk a mile in the user’s/audience’s/customer’s
shoes. And, as part of that, focus on the basics. Making most
things simpler isn’t about solving world hunger. It’s about making
each small step in the process easier.
Ask Just One Question
Steve Jobs was correct in his belief that customers can’t tell you
what they want when it relates to innovations such as the first
iPod or iPhone or iPad. But most complexities people encounter
can be addressed by simplifying something that already exists.
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Ask your user/audience/customer just one question — “How can
we make this easier for you?” — and you will quickly learn what
simplicity looks like.
Always Start with Time Poverty
and Attention Deficit Disorder
Yes, there are bigger, more systemic, more entrenched problems
that need simplification. But if you focus on saving people time
and on capturing and using their attention wisely, you will never
go wrong. These are among the top two challenges that will
always benefit from simplification efforts.
Always Give the User More Control
The more control that the user/audience/customer has over using
your product or service, the simpler it will be for them. (Assuming
you have diligently practiced Steps 1 and 2!)
Joy and Great Experiences
Trump Pain Reduction
Listen carefully to the responses you get in Step 2. Most people
will describe simplicity in terms of pain reduction. e.g., “This
medicine bottle cap is too hard to open.” or “I hate how long it
takes to download this.” Your job is to push past that because,
in the end, while people describe simplicity in terms of things they
want to reduce or get rid of… Growth in sales and reputation is
almost always based on the thrill of simplicity! Something that
truly excites!
FOR MORE
Communication Tools: Speed-Freak Clarity
How to Delete 75% of Your Emails
The Ultimate Ten-Page Presentation
Ten Simple Truths
Simpler Company: Starter Kit
LinkedIn Discussion: Tools for the Time Crunched Manager
The resources above are all free.
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The following resources require a small fee:
Managing Your Manager
How to Say No and Get Ahead
How to Work Smarter by Asking the Right Questions
Easy Ways to Build the Courage You Need to Work Smarter
Strategic Plan on One Page
Have Lots of Affairs
(On Your Boss)
Getting Away with Lots of Affairs
Practice Common Sense
If your boss and your company culture are such that you would
never tell your boss you were looking for a new job until after you
landed it, follow the same approach here. However, be aware that
in today’s world, the ability to keep anything a secret is usually
measured in minutes.
If Possible: Make Your Boss Your Silent Partner
Not everyone will have this luxury, but if you have a boss in whom
you can confide, do so right away. He/she will not make excuses
for you, but can provide air cover for your occasional missed
meeting or other minor transgressions.
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Results Always Matter
If you are going to have freelance or a business on the side,
and still continue to be a full-time employee, there will never be
any excuses for letting the quality or speed of your full-time
work lapse.
Embrace Terrified Joy
The rush of doing your own thing will always be accompanied
by the terror and anxiety that there is no place to hide when the
business is your own. Steel yourself for that. It will never go
away. Ever.
Success Must Always Include Personal Growth
Many businesses fail. Yours may too. But if you view every new
venture as a path to personal growth, you will never fail.
Action-Plan Only Three Months Out
Everything will change constantly. Planning much further out is a
waste of time.
Evaluate Success One Year Out
Everything you hope to achieve will take longer than you think it
should. Be patient. Keep calm and carry on.
Bring the New You to Work
If you are maintaining your day job and building your business
on the side, ensure that your boss and teammates observe the
personal growth that’s coming from this outside work. (e.g.,
An increase in confidence.) When it’s time to go public, that will
make conversations about your affair go a lot easier.
Get Your Tribe to Evangelize You
The best way to blend both full-time employment and your own
thing is not talking about it directly: Let your blog following or
your customers or requests for interviews do your speaking for
you.
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FOR MORE
Five Top Tips for Starting a Successful Business
Six Things Silicon Valley Can Teach Social Entrepreneurs
30 Wildly Successful Bloggers Reveal It All
Profiles: Seven Self-Made Immigrant Millionaires
The Four Essential Personality Traits of Every Entrepreneur
How to Think About Risk When Investing in Your Career
Go Back to the Future
Five Dos and Don’ts with a Half-Age Mentor
Be Super Humble
Most of us (c’mon, admit it) approach those half our age as if
we’re the ones who should be teaching them, not the other way
around. Be super humble and much you will learn from them.
Wear the mask of wisdom-comes-with-age, and much time will
be wasted.
Get Life Advice, Not Tech Advice
As long as they have full access to the latest tools, odds are that
someone half your age is more of a digital native than you are.
Resist the urge to focus on all things digital. Seek to learn about
freedom from fear, creativity, embracing risks, new business
models, being true to one’s vision. You want advice from them
about how to unchain yourself from what you have learned
because they haven’t yet learned those inhibiting beliefs and
habits.
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Have Specific Goals
You want your half-age mentor to take you out of your comfort
zone. But that must be lead to Ahas and experiences that will
take you where you want to go. e.g., Unsure of how to build a
disruptive product and build a team of young Turks? Define your
exact goals for this experience before enlisting the help of your
half-age mentor.
Contract to Be Pushed
Like with any mentor/mentee relationship, establishing the rules
of engagement is crucial. But especially with your half-age mentor,
make sure that you are contracting to be pushed out of your
comfort zone, and keep demanding that.
Reverse Mentor… Carefully!
You will surely want to share your twice-age wisdom with your
young mentor. Do so. There is a lot you have to teach him/her.
But do so only as you get close to reaching your goals. Reverse
mentor too quickly and role clarity will go out the window and
your sessions will become a confusing mess of each of you
trying to mentor the other at the same time.
FOR MORE
10 Steps to Finding Your Mentor
13 Tips on Finding a Mentor
7 Ways to Be An Effective Mentor
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Fix the World’s
Flying Toilets
Top Tips: Making a Difference
Work from Your Heart
When it comes to making a difference anywhere — in your family
or community or the world — the most crucial thing is to work
from your heart. Believe passionately in the cause. All joys and
rewards are linked to how deep your passion runs.
Push Your Thinking
Go big. Unleash yourself. Go beyond just volunteering or donating.
Food for thought…
10 TED Talks That Give You the Power to Change the World
10 TED Talks to Change the Way You See the World
CNN Heroes: Everyday People Changing the World
Four African Teenage Girls Create a Pee-Powered Generator
Follow These Checklists
Checklist for Changing the World by Nilofer Merchant
17 Habits of People Who Change the World
Bust Your Hump
Guaranteed: This work will be at the top of your most memorable
life experiences. These stories will be those you share most often
throughout your life.
HABIT
14
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Pay It Forward
Mentor someone else to do the same thing you did. Create your
own How To checklist. Most importantly: Promote the frontline
heroes and beneficiaries of your work. Make sure the world
knows how special they are.
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Don’ts
[ Things to Avoid ]
“I’ve lived my life with no regrets. If I’m ever
hit by a bus and I get a chance for last words,
they’ll be ‘It was a damn good life. I haven’t
wasted a second.’
“Don’t feel pressured into following somebody
else’s dream. Do whatever your heart is telling
you now because it won’t let you down if you do.
If you have a burning desire to do something,
go do it — because it will work. And don’t live
anyone else’s live, just don’t. Because you’ll
regret it.
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“Don’t believe what other people tell about life.
Go live yours. Go find it. Broaden your horizons.
I’ve found that people are generally good.
And if you’re good, you’ll attract those people to
you. Question authority. Educate yourself.”
That’s disruptive hero Jerry Comyn, who is currently a volunteer
Project Manager at non-profit Challenges Worldwide. Prior to
that, his “Take this job and shove it” resignation letter from an
advertising firm went viral. He was simply speaking the truth
about what matters and what doesn’t.
Comyn’s act of leaving his company was a last resort. What
follows are four things to avoid before you get to that point —
always keeping in mind what matters and what doesn’t.
HABIT 15 DON’T FIGHT STUPID PAGE 35
HABIT 16 NEVER HESITATE PAGE 37
HABIT 17 NEVER ACCEPT DINGLESS TOOLS PAGE 38
HABIT 18 DON’T KNOCK DOWN, BUILD ANEW PAGE 40

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4 HABITS FOR ENJOYING THE RIDE
Don’t Fight Stupid
Five Ways to Spot Stupid
Live for Daily Happiness
Reverse the mainstream formula for happiness and success.
Currently, most of us see it as: “If I work harder, I’m more
successful. And if I’m more successful, then I’ll be happier.”
Which also means: “I’ll always have to put up with a lot of
stupid crap in order to be happy.” Instead: Always ensure that
happiness is a daily goal, not something that’s just reserved for
later… Live a life where you always seek out, create and demand
happiness instead of enduring stupid crap!
See Shawn Achor’s TEDx talk, The Happiness Advantage
Red Alert: Meetings, Emails and More
Jensen Group research has found that the average person loses
2—4 hours per day on cluttered, unfocused and unnecessary
communication. The top two offenders are daily meetings and
the onslaught of messages through emails, IMs and more. And,
(if you are not super disciplined), social media and the distractions
that come with it are also top drivers of stupid wastes of time
and energy.
Lack of Air Cover
Your manager thinks her job is to help you do the company’s
bidding. Wrong. Her job is to protect you from corporate stupidity.
HABIT
15
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If you’re not seeing lots of air cover from her, you should be
thinking about moving on.
For more: For Steps 2 and 3, see all links related to Habit 11,
Simplify Constantly.
Sucky Tools
One of the biggest ways your company forces you to work stupid
is through the design of their corporate infrastructure and work
tools. Simple evaluation: If anything you use at work isn’t as
easy to use as your smartphone or tablet, they’re making you
work stupid.
For more: See Habit 17
Training That Doesn’t Challenge
The purpose of most corporate training and development is to
get you to do what the company wants you to do, how they want
you to do it. That’s fine…to a point. But if your boss is not giving
you assignments or sending you to training that also pushes you
beyond your current way of thinking, you’re going backwards…
You are becoming stupider without even realizing it.
FOR MORE
Five Paths for Doing Great Work at a Terrible Company
LinkedIn Discussion: Workplace Evolutionaries
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Never Hesitate
Fear:
Acknowledge It, But Keep Disrupting Anyway
Fear is real. Yet all of us can push past it if we choose to.
The following is an even-shorter adaptation of a near-perfect,
already short and very helpful article on getting past one’s fears
from Fast Company.
Identify the Belief That’s Holding You Back
You create the reality you serve with your beliefs — how you feel
the world operates. List your beliefs until you find the one that’s
most hard to face.
Identify the Anchors
What event anchors your belief? (e.g., Punished as a child for
speaking up? Chastised for expressing a contrarian view in your
last job?)
Pick a New Belief
“I think I can, I think I can…I know I can, I know I can…
I can do this!”
Release the Anchors
Embrace evidence and other people’s success stories that show
you, too, can get past the anchor that’s holding you back.
(“John spoke up in the same way I’d like to, and he was
rewarded, not fired.”)
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Chart Your New Course
Plan what specifically you will do (SMART goals) in the next few
months to back your new beliefs with actions.
FOR MORE
Quit Bitching Motivation
12 Things My Grandmother Told Me Before She Died
Never Accept
Dingless Tools
Measuring How Good or Bad
Your Company Tools Are
“Men have become tools of their tools.” —Henry David Thoreau
Do a Gut Check
You have a smartphone and/or tablet that you have customized
to meet your needs. Compare any and all rules, tools, forms
and processes that the company wants you to use to your
smartphone. You will have an instant gut check as to whether
your company is helping you put a ding in the universe —
(if everything they’ve designed for you is as easy to use as your
smartphone) — or if they are dinging you.
Download SimplerWork Index
Six questions which will help you evaluate how well, or poorly,
your company’s tools support you.
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Download Work 2.0 Report
Subtitled: Is Business At Work With Its Workforce? This report
details what to watch in the war between corporate-centered
and user-centered tools.
Build Your Own App
Take any task that your company makes you do — filling out a
form, for example — and make it easier, more user-centered.
You may not be able to convince your company to go with your
app, but you certainly will have a far greater understanding of
how much better your company’s tools and infrastructure should
be. For more about building your own app, go here or here or
here or here.
If You Are Unhappy With What You Find,
And Your Company Isn’t Listening…
Hack a Workaround
Join the underground army — (between one-third two two-thirds
of everyone who works at your company) — of benevolent
hackers who are saving business from itself, one bad act at
a time. Stop tolerating stupid rules, tools and procedures.
Hack a workaround.
Josh Klein on How Hacking Work is Good for Business
Lifehacker
FriedBeef
43Folders
Digital Inspiration
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Don’t Knock Down,
Build Anew
Care… and Also Move On
Some People Will Be Pissed Off:
Be OK With That
Invite everyone to join you in your disruptive change! However,
know: some of those who have a vested interest in the old way
of doing things will not be happy with you. Be OK with that.
And still keep inviting them to join you as your disruption grows
Share Everything
The more inclusive you are the better. Open-source everything.
No holding back anything until it’s just right or until everything
has gone through the proper channels. Take your current
participation and transparency levels and increase them by a
factor ten. For more, go here.
Give Everybody Else the Credit
Of course, you do that now. Ramp it up even more. Take how
much you are promoting others, and increase it by a factor of ten.
Play A Lot More
People who innovate in a disruptive world are a lot like
kindergarteners. Everything great that happens gets done
during play time.
HABIT
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Launch: Then Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
The faster you get new versions of your work into other people’s
hands, the faster you grow your following. The faster that grows,
the faster the pissed off curmudgeons will see something they
like and join you too.
FOR MORE
Six Habits of Remarkably Likeable People
The Business Impact of Lots of Recognition
How Saul Khan is Disrupting Education
(Perfect example of a very likeable guy completely reinventing
an entire industry)
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Guiding Principles
[ Live These ]
“I’m perfectly happy to be anonymous. My
family is more important to me than anything.
I make my work fit my lifestyle — so I write
and speak at my convenience.”
— Disruptive Hero Guy Kawasaki, Co-Founder of Alltop.com,
an online magazine rack of popular topics on the web;
he’s the author of ten books including Enchantment and Rules
for Revolutionaries; and he’s the former chief evangelist
of Apple.
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“In our pockets we have a device to access all
human knowledge and to communicate with
anyone on the planet. That’s astonishing!
The growth of the Internet in the developing
world is coming much faster than most people
realize and is going to have a much bigger
cultural impact that most realize.”
— Disruptive Hero Jimmy Wales, Co-Founder of Wikipedia
HABIT 19 KNOW THYSELF, DEEPLY PAGE 44
HABIT 20 OF COURSE, FOLLOW PASSION PAGE 45
HABIT 21 RESILIENCE MATTERS PAGE 46
HABIT 22 DISRUPT YOURSELF PAGE 47
HABIT 23 YOUR POWER IS IN YOUR NETWORK PAGE 48
HABIT 24 YOU ARE THE POWERS THAT BE PAGE 49
HABIT 25 IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU PAGE 51

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Know Thyself, Deeply
Five Ways to Confirm or
Change Your Inward Journey
Experiment With Maps
Begin with a map — a self-assessment tool — that not only helps
you discover more about yourself, but how being true to yourself
impacts others. A few to consider…
Enneagram
DiSC
MBTI
Emergenetics
StrengthFinder 2.0
100 Things About You: An Owner’s Manual
Own Five Inconvenient Truths
Of these 60, which five most match you?
Own Five Life Lessons
Of these 45, which five most match you?
Own Three Cult of Done Values
Of these 13, which three most match you?
Own Three Life Manifesto Values
Of these 16, which three most match you?
HABIT
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Of Course,
Follow Your Passion
Writing a Legacy Letter: Detailed Instruction
Clarify for yourself what truly does and does not matter in life
and in work by passing it on to someone you love.
Download this graphic from Pinterest for detailed instructions.
Here are the headlines…
Write a Legacy Letter to a Loved One
Share the most important lessons you’ve learned about
work and life.
Share Your Letter
Talk About It
In Your Conversation:
Be Truthful, Specific and Vulnerable
Something magical and extraordinary will happen:
You will get back more than you give.
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Resilience Matters
Building Resiliency Through Micro-Actions
You can adapt more easily and quickly to disruptive change
if you do these small-yet-big things…
Help At Least One Person Each Day
It doesn’t have to be big, yet the results to you and them
always are.
Go Beyond Standard Respect
Sure, you’re respectful. But you can go further. Everybody is
suffering from time poverty. Respect others by doing something
for them that saves them time and energy.
Learn Something New Every Day
That will train your brain that every day is about a new adventure.
Lighten Your Load
At work, we’re all supposed to do more with less. Practice for that.
Pack one less thing for a trip. Keep one less thing in the closet.
Buy one less thing you needed and improvise.
Go for a Walk
Or a run. Or read a book. Or take a nap. Or meditate. Or just sit
still. Do anything like these for 5—30 minutes a day and you will
return to the tasks at hand refreshed and more resilient, ready
for the next change coming at you.
HABIT
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Disrupt Yourself
Top Tips:
If It Feels Scary, You’re on the Right Track
If You Feel No Discomfort in Your Career,
You Have One Foot in the Grave
If a disruptive world, you should feel discomfort and a little scared
on a regular basis. If you don’t you’re not paying attention to the
world around you.
If You’re Not Taking Risks,
You Will Be Blindsided by Worse Risks
The idea of disrupting yourself is to pick the risks you think
you can manage, instead of waiting for the ones you’re not
prepared for.
Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions;
Tough Love is the Best Meal of All
Few of us put ourselves in situations where we get tough love
on a regular basis, and yet that’s exactly what’s called for in a
disruptive world. Seek out more tough love.
When Two Paths Present Themselves:
Take the One Less Traveled
Start selecting new adventures, ones that are new to you and
others. As Robert Frost concluded in his poem: That is what
will make all the difference.
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The Future of All Work is Learning
The more you disrupt yourself, the more you learn and the faster
you learn. It’s that simple.
FOR MORE
The Future of Work is Learning
Disrupt Yourself
10 Ways to Disrupt Your Career
Your Power
Is In Your Network
How You Add Value Will Grow Your Tribe
The following are highlights (focused on how to add value) from
the free download that accompanied Seth Godin’s book, Tribes.
It All Starts on the Inside
Whatever you value, others will see as valuable too. You may
need to search to find those people, but they are there. Itemize
and think about what you value. Then start putting that out in
the universe.
Everyone Values Saved Time and Saved Effort
Take on work that saves others time and effort. Your short-term
investment will help you build your network.
Replace Problem-Solving with Adventures
Yes, most everyone wants some help with most challenges they
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face. But the real value for those in your network is not just
helping them to solve a challenge, but replacing that experience
with an unexpected adventure. Excite their senses when all they
were expecting was a problem to go away.
Create a Safe Zone
Everyone needs someone to watch out for them. Find more ways
for your network to watch out for the welfare of its members.
That’s super valuable.
Foster a Value of Challenging the Status Quo
The more people who have that value within your network,
the safer and easier it will be for everyone to continue to push
for change.
You Are the
Powers That Be
You Can’t Break Free
If You Don’t Know You’re in a Cage
Every Employer Should Be Teaching You
How to Be an Entrepreneur
If they’re not, they’re locking you into a very precarious future.
At Least Once a Week, Reserve Some Slow Time
We are all forced into morebetterfaster, and because of this, most
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of us are losing the ability to do deep thinking. You can’t break
free of escalating race that constantly saps you of energy unless
you break the habit of fasterfasterfaster.
Do the Opposite of
What Everyone Else is Doing
Lemmings do the same as the guy in front of them.
And you know what happens to lemmings!
Create Serendipity
Innovation and change is often the result of unexpected and
random conversations and experiences. Create more of them.
Talk to more people you don’t know. Take a different route home.
Go to events you wouldn’t normally attend. Explore. Serendipity
will find you.
Open the Next Door Before You’re Ready
Most of the best experiences in life (and some of the worst)
happen to you long before you’re ready. You grow into them
and through them. Seek out new opportunities before you’re
fully ready.
FOR MORE
9 Beliefs of Remarkably Successful People
Business Wisdom from AirBnB to Zappos
Change.org: The World’s Petition Platform
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53. It’s Not About You
On Being a Sustainable Human Being
The following is an abbreviated version of 8 Things You Should
Fight for Everyday. Check out the full blog post.
Every day, fight for…
Personal Greatness
Do not what’s easy. Do what you’re capable of, and more.
Honesty and Truth
Truth — of all kinds — will always set you free.
A Mind Free of Envy and Jealousy
More than just deadly sins, these sap you of energy you
need elsewhere.
Positive Change
Fight the good fight and your efforts will outlive you.
A Willingness to Learn from Your Mistakes
The speed at which you learn and unlearn is key to everything.
Persistence and Patience
Rest when you are tired, but don’t quit. Everything you want
and need will come in time…If you are patient and persistent.
HABIT
25
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Disrupt! How Tos 51
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54. Click
Disrupt! How Tos 52
True Love
Not just romantic love. There are only two root human emotions:
Love and Fear. Always choose one over the other.
Goodwill
Do the right thing. Always
FOR MORE
TED talk: Shut Up and Listen
Why Humility Is So Important
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55. Disrupt!
Think Epic. Be Epic.
How To Addendum
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