ambition
How much to take on and how hard to push: superlinear returns to effort, focus, slack time, and procrastination.
FilterEveryone, all time
- GO
Gergely Orosz quoted
Our readingInnovation tends to come from slack time away from firefighting, not from being fully utilized.
Their wordsInnovation often comes from having time to focus on other work, instead of putting out fires.
↗The Pulse: Meta wanted to reduce teams by 60% because of AIblog.pragmaticengineer.com
- 3 days earlier
- EM
Ethan Mollick quoted
Their wordsHuman agency, the willingness to push, experiment and act without waiting for instructions, seems increasingly important to getting value out of AI
- 5 days earlier
- DH
David Heinemeier Hansson quoted
Their wordsAnd I will say I've actually changed my mind on that a little bit. I spent quite a lot of time speaking the other book that there are a lot of people who don't actually need those ambitions. And I also-- That's also true. We don't want 8 billion Elons running around the world. Would be rather crazy, I think. But I've come to realize that for entrepreneurs, it's healthy to have suitable chunky goals.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Agentic Engineering, Vibe Coding & Linux | Lex Fridman Podcast #501youtube.com 22nd of 40 in this recording
- 3 weeks earlier
- SA
Sam Altman quoted
Their wordsi would rather be an optimist and work hard than a pessimist posting about why things won't work. it's much more difficult and the most likely path is failure, but society fails if people don't try. no amount of "it will never work" essays will drive society forward.
- 5 months earlier
- DS
Derek Sivers quoted
Their wordsMedia silence creates a vacuum, which your own thoughts expand to fill.
- 2 years earlier
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Our readingReturns for performance are superlinear rather than proportional across most domains that matter.
Their wordsOne of the most important things I didn't understand about the world when I was a child is the degree to which the returns for performance are superlinear.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsBut superlinear returns for performance are a feature of the world, not an artifact of rules we've invented. We see the same pattern in fame, power, military victories, knowledge, and even benefit to humanity. In all of these, the rich get richer.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsIt may seem as if there are a lot of different situations with superlinear returns, but as far as I can tell they reduce to two fundamental causes: exponential growth and thresholds.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsWhich yields another heuristic: always be learning. If you're not learning, you're probably not on a path that leads to superlinear returns.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsExposing oneself to superlinear returns is not for everyone. Most people will be better off as part of the pool.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsAt the far end of the curve, incremental effort is a bargain. All the more so because there's less competition at the far end — and not just for the obvious reason that it's hard to do something exceptionally well, but also because people find the prospect so intimidating that few even try.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsSuperlinear returns imply inequality. The steeper the return curve, the greater the variation in outcomes.
- 3 months earlier
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsThe way to figure out what to work on is by working. If you're not sure what to work on, guess. But pick something and get going.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Our readingOutlier ideas are worth chasing especially when other people are not interested in them.
Their wordsBoldly chase outlier ideas, even if other people aren't interested in them — in fact, especially if they aren't.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsFour steps: choose a field, learn enough to get to the frontier, notice gaps, explore promising ones. This is how practically everyone who's done great work has done it, from painters to physicists.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsOne reason per-project procrastination is so dangerous is that it usually camouflages itself as work. You're not just sitting around doing nothing; you're working industriously on something else.
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsMorale compounds via work: high morale helps you do good work, which increases your morale and helps you do even better work. But this cycle also operates in the other direction: if you're not doing good work, that can demoralize you and make it even harder to.
- 5 years earlier
- PC
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Patrick Collison quoted
Their wordsTo the extent that you enjoy working hard, do. Subject to that constraint, it's not clear that the returns to effort ever diminish substantially.
- 5 weeks earlier
- DS
Derek Sivers quoted
Their wordsIf you're not feeling “Hell yeah, that would be awesome!” about something, say no.
↗If you're not feeling “hell yeah!” then say nosive.rs 1st of 3 in this piece
- DS
Derek Sivers quoted
Their wordsThough it's good to say yes when you're starting out, wanting any opportunity, or needing variety, it's bad to say yes when you're overwhelmed, over-committed, or need to focus.
↗If you're not feeling “hell yeah!” then say nosive.rs 2nd of 3 in this piece
- DS
Derek Sivers quoted
Our readingDo almost nothing, and do the few things you take on all the way.
Their wordsRefuse almost everything. Do almost nothing. But the things you do, do them all the way.
↗If you're not feeling “hell yeah!” then say nosive.rs 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 22 months earlier
- DS
Derek Sivers quoted
Their wordsAll the best, happiest, and most creatively productive times in my life have something in common: being disconnected.
- DS
Derek Sivers quoted
Our readingThe feeds businesses design to be addictive are obstacles to anyone whose aim is to make something.
Their wordsEvery business wants to get you addicted to their infinite updates, pings, chats, messages, and news. But if what you want out of life is to create, then those are your obstacles.
- DS
Derek Sivers quoted
Their wordsYou get no competitive edge from consuming the same stuff everyone else is consuming.