Book reveals six essential skills of extraordinary entrepreneurs
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Amy Wilkinson, the author of the book “The Creator’s Code” / Courtesy of The Business Books Publishing
The cover of “The Creator’s Code: The Six Essential Skills of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs” by Amy Wilkinson / Courtesy of The Business Books Publishin
By Kim Jae-heun
Living in the fast-moving IT era, the old sayings of the secrets to success are no longer effective. Whereas a person could achieve his goal by consistent effort before, the world now requires something different. In the book “The Creator’s Code,” author Amy Wilkinson reveals six essential skills of extraordinary entrepreneurs, such as the founders of eBay, PayPal, Airbnb and LinkedIn.
Wilkinson, a strategic adviser, entrepreneur and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, interviewed 200 entrepreneurs of companies that made $100 million annually over the past five years. These are companies dominating fields such as technology, energy and media.
The author was curious about the secrets of successful businessmen _ how they fought against common ideas prevailing in society to come up with innovative solutions for daily life problems and advance their businesses. Wilkinson studied their thoughts and behavior and analyzed 10,000 pages of interviews and over 5,000 documents.
According to the strategic adviser, none of the entrepreneurs had the skills to plan and create a $100 million business initially. They worked arduously and waited for the right time rather than building skills to succeed in the short term.
“The Creators’ Code” reveals there are six essential skills the entrepreneurs had.
One: They see chances that other people do not catch. Successful businessmen always look for blue oceans with potential. They often use one of the following methods: applying fresh ideas, contriving an idea to advance and fusing different ideas.
Two: They move forward quickly without hesitation, focusing on the future. There is no time to look around at the competitors. A front-runner only looks forward.
Three: Creators fly in an OODA loop, which stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. Such a method allows one to make decisions efficiently in business or war while taking control of the procedure.
Four: Even if an entrepreneur fails, he or she must fail smartly. Learning from little mistakes can help them avoid a big collapse.
Five: They also have to cooperate with others by bringing in diverse knowledge from on- and offline sources, while creating competing relationships between each other.
Six: Creators help others with goodwill. They create opportunities for colleagues who strive for success and form amicable relationships.
All of the six steps make a repeating cycle. Wilkinson believes that these thinking tools can be acquired without any specialized knowledge.
The creators introduced in this book not only found answers to their own problems but they also provided chances for others to join them. The concept of a sharing economy was not an existing idea. They saw opportunities in undiscovered fields. The entrepreneurs tried to become the “only” person challenging the new field rather than winning a top position in a red ocean.
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of the business social network service, LinkedIn, is quoted as saying in the book’s introduction: “Entrepreneurship is like making a plane while flying off a cliff. A competent entrepreneur recognizes the importance of time because every second you get closer to the ground. The key point is to create a plane that is unique and lasting.”