How Thoughts Become Things: Secrets For Amplifying Your Intelligence and Improving Your Performance Featuring Howard Getson - Genius Network Episode #166

Abraham Lincoln said the best way to predict the future is to create it. This framework that I'm about to share with you is about creating the future you desire.

In this episode, Howard Getzen shares a tool that will help you to figure out what's possible, along with attracting talent, resources and opportunities that turn those ideas into reality. If you'd like to join world renowned entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network event, or want to learn more about Genius Genius network, go to geniusnetwork.com Change is coming.

There's going to be new winners, there's going to be new losers. And actions have consequences, but so does inaction. And you're the hero of the story. And your job is to figure out how to get to next. In order to do that, you have to see the bigger picture, to figure out where you want to go, to figure out the plan and path to get there. It's a framework to help you imagine how to scale your business and how your industry is likely to scale. Abraham Lincoln said the best way to predict the future is to create it. And that's a really cool quote. This framework that I'm about to share with you is about creating the future you desire. Entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk have done it incredibly well. I just saw that Tesla is approaching a trillion dollar valuation. Think about that. It's such a cool concept, but every concept, every story, every process has a beginning, a middle and an end. How do you think it started? What do you think came first? What capability actually prompted them to say, oh, I think there could be more? The concept is Tesla started with a capability. What do you think it was? Was it the clean energy car? Was it the battery? We don't really know. But I came up with this diagnostic to help figure out how some of the greatest companies have done it. So that we can do starts with a new capability and then you start to stack those capabilities to be able to create a prototype. The prototype is the bait that lets people decide whether they're interested. And if enough people show interest, it becomes a product. And then that product. You can think of that as a way to have people you don't know doing something you do. But then the next stage is when it becomes a platform. And that's where people you don't know use it for things you didn't anticipate. And each one of these is a minimum 10 times scale. So it's like 10 times times 10 times 10 times, but even bigger. And the key is to start to think about what capabilities are going to get people greedy for new capabilities. You don't have to think about the technology, you think about the business need. And so if you're Elon Musk in the beginning you have to think about constraints like drivable distance or it has to be cool enough to get over the hassle factor. But later you're thinking about, I have to have charging stations on most of the major highways so that people don't get stuck in the middle of nowhere. The bottom line is this is a really cool way to figure out what capabilities are needed. Think of it as a roadmap. And you don't have to build the whole roadmap, but if you know what the map is, you can figure out what parts of the territory match your unique ability. Your energy be so good that it requires a new name to describe what you do. Right. He did this with ludicrous. What's that? The feature that when you press it, the car goes from 0 to 60 in a ludicrous period of time. But think about how you can name a certain capability to make people want it. Gosh, he did it again with SpaceX, didn't he? SpaceX is such a great example because if you think about the capability, the prototype, the product and the platform, he's literally inventing something out of this world. It wasn't just privatized spaceships. Realize one of the constraints there was space travel was government based. There was no public technology to do this. In a sense, nobody spent money because it was too risky. But he decided to risk money, time, energy, resources. Then he had to make the components reusable. Then he had to figure out how to land humans safely. It's one thing to go on a space mission, it's another to privatize space transportation or shoot for Mars. But it's even more when you start to think about commoditizing space travel, including cargo delivery and Internet. Amazon did this with Amazon Cloud and a bunch of their different features. Things that became or that were backstage became front stage here. They're going to have a massive industry shipping parts to all over the universe to start to build communities and space stations and stuff. And they've already lowered the cost. It's now less than 1/10 of the cost per pound to bring stuff up. Why is that important? Because it sends a signal to the rest of the entrepreneurs saying I could have a business in space. And so those are new customers. And so this is a great way of imagining what's going to happen and where you're going to fit. But people rarely Try to accomplish things that they don't believe are possible. And this is the tool that helps you figure out what is possible and what your part is in it. And you don't have to predict the future, especially not about technology. And you don't even have to invent the best technology, because it's not the best that wins, it's the ones that's the most adopted. So focus on the capabilities that you know people are going to want, and realize that that's the magnet that attracts money, talent, resources, and opportunity. Since the dawn of time, we've been confronted with radical new technologies. And even though technology changes, human nature hasn't. And so this is really about human nature and thinking about what people are going to want. And it's really simple if you understand what happens. And I'm going to show you how to do that with this framework. Stage one is something I call so what? Who cares, right? Even in a caveman, there's this back portion of the brain that says, if it doesn't help my survival, it's not worth it. So the question here is, does it help me do what I already do, just better recognize the game you're playing, how you keep score? Most people are trying to save time, money, or win more often. The metrics are probably something like that. As long as a new capability helps you do that, you go, this is cool. I want more. Hence, stage two. Stage two is all about new capabilities and what's next. And instead of, does it help me do what I already do? It's what could I do or what should I do? And it means you have to start to stop doing some things to make room for the new things you're doing. You're still playing the same game, but at a whole different level, with more capabilities and better results. Stage three is game changing because it's reinvention. It's where those new capabilities, your new identity, causes you to say, I could release a new product, a service or an offering that's strategic and unique, that takes me out of that competitive red ocean of commodity into something that highly prizes what we do. But it has to be good enough that people you don't know are going to get the results. So you're refining the unique ability or the capability to something that is reproducible, scalable. And it's playing a new game because it's no longer about what you're doing. It's about distribution. So the metrics have to change. Stage four is a huge opportunity for scale. It's transformation. And I call it that because it transforms the game and the playing field for other people. They see what you're doing and they're saying, that's so cool. I'll come to you with ideas or money. Can I do it this way or that way? And it's where your core capability is so cool that it's a platform that others want to build upon. It not only explains the past, but the constraints help me figure out what strategies come next. And understanding the scaling future helps me figure out the big rocks or planning principles, so I can figure out what to call into existence. So we currently have a fund that's run 100% by autonomous AI and it's getting really great results. So great that I realized that the next stage is to have. It's simple enough that other people can multiply. And so I need to pour more money into the top for it to grow. And the way to do that is to realize I have to joint venture or collaborate with other people. And then the platform is, oh, wow. The backstage capability, the insight engine, the technology that made it possible, is no longer just the thing that lets me monetize it. It's actually the thing that people are going to want. And that's the concept of amplified intelligence. But it totally changed the way I think about my business. And I hope that this is helping you change what you think of as your business, because your imagination is your ultimate competitive advantage. And that's why I created this form for you to think about what you're going to commit to. And you can do anything you commit to.

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