Summary: How To Do Great Work By Paul Graham
By Josh Bobrowsky
Background
Recently Paul Graham, founder of Y-Combinator, published an article on how to do great work. The article (click here to read the original) breaks down in 27 pages how to find what you want to do and do really exceptional work.
Below you will find my summary (I added the headings).
It is worth noting that my summary will miss some important concepts, highlights things I found relevant and largely be incomplete and not as detailed as the original document by Paul.
That said, here it is (albeit imperfect):
P.S. Paul if you are reading this and I mis-stated something or there is something you would like me to change please let me know.
Introduction
The goal is a recipe for those who are highly ambitious to do great work
The first step is to decide what you want to work on
Identify work that aligns with your natural talents and deep interest; the scope to do great work often presents itself naturally
The way to figure out what to work on is by working
Develop a habit of working on your own projects
Go after projects you are excited about
Once you have found something to work on
Learn enough to reach the top of your field of interest
From a far enough distance a field may look smooth without gaps in it, but as you learn more you will be able to discover the ups and downs of the field and notice where things may be lacking
The next step is to notice the opportunities but remember your brain wants to ignore the gaps so be mindful
Many discoveries come from asking questions others took for granted. Often outsiders may see something valuable industry experts have missed
The 4 Steps
Choose a field
Learn enough to get to the top or frontier of a field
Learn enough to notice gaps
Explore promising gaps
Why it is hard to figure out what to work on
We often don’t know what it is like to work in a field without actually working in it. Thus there will be overlap in the 4 steps stated above
The education system makes this more challenging because it tells you to work in a field for a long time
The 3 most powerful motives
Curiosity
Delight
The desire to do something impressive
What should you do if you are young and ambitious?
Take action
Make yourself a big target for luck
The way to make yourself a luck target is being intentionally curious
When in doubt, optimize for interestingness (things you find most intriguing)
If you find a field you like it should become more interesting the more you learn (if it doesn’t it is likely not the right field)
If you find things interesting that others find boring or tedious this is a great sign
Switching fields: You don’t owe loyalty to any field
If you pick the wrong field change to a new one
If you’re building something for people make sure they actually want it
The best way to build something for others is to build what you would want
Write a story you want to read
Build a tool you want to use
Your friends likely have similar interests as you and can help as your initial audience
It should be fun and exciting
Follow your interests
Be bold
Risk rejection
Be open to pivoting and don’t get stuck in a plan
Occasionally ask yourself, is this what I really want to be working on?
Realize the road will be tough
Great work happens when you are working diligently on something you are genuinely interested in
There is momentum
Sometimes the hardest thing is to start
It is easier to keep going once momentum is built
Compounding momentum
Exponential growth often feels flat at first
Both learning and growing an audience will compound and lead to exponential upside
Something that grows exponentially can have such extraordinary upside that it is worth putting in extreme effort early to see outsized returns later
Indirect thinking can have value
Great work and thoughts can happen beyond work including during walks, showers or relaxing
To have this happen you must be working hard
Avoid distractions and allow your mind to wander while focusing on the topics of work. Don’t let something else take the top spot in your mind
Seek to be the best in the world
You will find better people to learn from
If you fall short you will still be better off
Think about building something people will remember in 100 years
Thinking about changes
You may throw things out or redo them
Be willing to do this
Ask yourself, if I have already made the change I’m considering would I consider going back to where things are today. If the answer is no this is often laziness or fear of change rather than the best choice
Have confidence to cut out what isn’t working
Discovery
If you are doing work err on the side of discovery over creation
If you are building a powerful tool make it unrestrictive. You may discover users use it in a new way you never thought of and this can be improved
Great ideas or tools will be things others can build on to help your discovery
Look for cherished ideas that are not accurate to discover valuable unexplored ideas around them
The more you are open to discovery the more you will learn compared to experts who already know everything
Work on original thought
Original ideas are something you can get better at
Original ideas often come from trying to solve something very difficult
Talking or writing is a good way to generate original thoughts
Changing your location can help change your thoughts to help find more original ideas
Curiosity and originality are closely related
Avoid fashionable or topic of the day items
New ideas will often seem obvious even if they are not
Breaking rules
You must be willing to break rules to build something amazing
Think of how the Earth was once considered the center of the universe
To discover broken models be stricter with what you look for and be open to breaking rules to fix the models
School teaches bad habits of over-simplified answers
Copy what works from other companies and innovate, don’t hide copying
Risk
Take as much risk as a founder as you can afford
If you are not failing occasionally you are being too conservative
Colleagues
Surround yourself with great people you want to be like (you will become like them)
Seek out the best colleagues
The best people provide surprising insights
Protect your morale and energy by being around the right people
My final thoughts
I highly recommend you read the actual article by Paul, but this is my best attempt to summarize a 27 page document into under 1500 words. I found this to be a great piece on how to do great work. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Cheers
Josh Bobrowsky