In addition to hard work and innate talent, is there a third path to success? Yes, and that path is reverse engineering. By mastering the success strategies of extraordinary individuals, we can narrow the gap between our vision and abilities. Through continuous “deconstruction” and “reconstruction,” greatness is a path that can be followed.
But how do we apply these strategies to our own work? Let’s examine ten key points, and I’ll also provide methods that everyone can apply to their daily life.
- Become a Collector
The first step toward excellence is recognizing excellence in others. Once you come across an example that inspires you, make an effort to document it in a way that allows you to revisit, study, and compare it with other examples you’ve collected. When we talk about collecting, most people think of tangible objects like art, wine, or stamps. However, this definition is too narrow. Copywriters collect headlines, designers collect logos, and consultants collect presentation slides. Treat your collection like a personal museum—visit it for inspiration, research the strategies of outstanding people, and remind yourself to dare to imagine.
- Identify the Differences
To learn from the examples you admire, you need to precisely identify what makes them unique. When you come across a piece that resonates with you, get into the habit of asking, “What is different about this example?” By comparing outstanding works with mediocre ones, you can clearly pinpoint the key elements that give a piece its distinctiveness, and identify which elements could be applied elsewhere or adapted for your own use.
- Think in Blueprints
The examples you admire were likely all developed from blueprints: chefs use recipes, writers use outlines, and website designers use sitemaps. Instead of trying to reconstruct the entire work, why not add an abstract layer and create a high-level outline? By reverse-engineering and creating blueprints, you will uncover patterns and unlock the mysteries of complex works.
- Don’t Imitate, Evolve
Simply copying someone else’s successful formula will only make you seem unoriginal, and it’s likely to fail. Moreover, you won’t get the same results because your abilities may not match the requirements of that formula, and the audience’s expectations will change over time. Therefore, you need to forge your own path. The method could be adding new influences, applying formulas from other fields, or replacing elements you’re not skilled in with those you excel at.
- Accept the Gap Between Vision and Ability
There’s a price to studying masterworks: your standards for success will rise. And you may not be able to meet those high standards, at least not at first. It’s normal to feel frustrated or think about giving up at this stage, but remember: having a high level of taste and a clear vision are indicators of potential. Often, simply recognizing that something is not yet up to standard and having the drive to fix it, no matter what, is the difference between amateurs and professionals.
- Score Selectively
Measuring the key elements that promote success can make it easier for you to achieve high-level accomplishments. By scoring the critical aspects of your performance, you will immediately spark progress, avoid wasting effort, and encourage you to make clearer decisions. Over time, appropriate metrics will help you take responsibility for yourself, provide feedback, and uncover patterns that can change the game. Be careful not to become too fixated on any one metric and remember to update your indicators as you grow.
- Reduce the Risks in Your Ventures
Risk is essential for growth, but it inherently feels uncomfortable. To make taking risks more manageable, a useful method is to find opportunities that have low costs of failure. In this regard, businesses provide valuable lessons that can also be applied to individuals. To test your ideas while reducing the costs of failure, you can engage in small experiments, publish under a pseudonym, pre-sell your ideas before fully developing them, or allocate your time to multiple projects. Stop wasting energy trying to force yourself to be bold and take risks. Once the cost of failure becomes negligible, taking risks will be much easier.
- Be Skeptical of Comfort
In most cases, emotions offer valuable guidance on which experiences are worth pursuing and which should be avoided. However, there’s one exception: the emotional state we experience during the process of skill acquisition. People don’t grow in comfortable, easy conditions—growth occurs when challenged, when they struggle, and when they occasionally fail. Whether at work or at home, top individuals do not see comfort as a sign of success. Instead, they view it as an indication that their development is stagnating.
- Master Both the Future and the Past
Repetition and feedback can help improve your performance, especially when it comes to addressing weaknesses. However, if this is the only type of practice you engage in, you will likely only tap into a small portion of your potential. Two other types of practice are also worth adopting: reflective practice and imagery. Reflective practice involves analyzing past experiences to extract valuable lessons, while imagery involves mentally simulating future performance. Both approaches provide impressive cognitive and emotional benefits, and train you to make more effective predictions—something that’s characteristic of true expertise.
- Ask Wise Questions
Although many people think so, experts are rarely the best mentors. Knowledge is a double-edged sword: knowing something makes it hard to imagine not knowing it. To get the most out of your interactions with experts, you must be prepared with questions, requests for further explanation, and clarifications that will prompt them to reveal their experiences, processes, and discoveries. It’s not only experts who can help you improve—non-experts can have the same effect. The key is to invite the right advisors, seek suggestions rather than feedback, and ask a series of strategically designed questions aimed at fostering improvement.
By applying these points, we all have the potential to build our own skills, enhance personal performance, and make lasting contributions. No matter what field you belong to, your ability to achieve high-level success does not have to be limited by whether you’re lucky enough to possess innate talent or receive expert guidance.
Those who are at the top of their careers got there by cultivating an insatiable desire for new ideas, perspectives, and solutions. They know that to reach the peak, you cannot remain stagnant. To reach the summit, you must identify the concepts worth mastering, cultivate various skills, and experiment at the edge of your capabilities. This mindset is more crucial now than ever before.