Lessons from Amy Wilkinson's the Creator's Code

Amy Wilkinson is a lecturer at Stanford University and is big on the idea of entrepreneurship. Her understanding of the rise of startups is embedded in 6 essential skills  she concluded by interviewing over a 200 entrepreneurs and 10,000 pages of transcript. Those promise to guide you in the right direction.

Her latest book, Creator’s Code - The Six Essential Skills of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs - picks the following ideas including one that she terms the OODA loop. Organised by British Council, it was an evening attended by many budding entrepreneurs and corporate honchos alike, including Nadir Godrej.

Here are some excerpts of the 6 essential skills:

1. Find the Gap

This the where essentially everyone begins, right? But how do you find this gap? She explains the 3 distinct techniques used by successful entrepreneurs:

-Find an existing concept and remould it,

-Observe the anomalies in day-to-day lives and find solutions,

- Integrate disparate ideas/concepts to build a new product

2 . Drive for the Daylight

This one largely talks about focus. When faced with failure, many entrepreneurs give up. They start losing focus from the bigger picture. The key is avoiding that is focussing on the horizon. Look at what lies ahead and not get distracted by the naysayers. Get your blinders on and don’t back!

3. Fly the OODA loop

OODA - Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. It is a decision-making model that has helped companies stay ahead of their competitors. She explains how many companies had a completely different model when they started up, and later changed their entire business model by orienting to changing customer behaviour.

Creators Code Amy Wilkinson

4. Fail Wisely

‘Failing fast’ is passe, very web 2.0. Be smart. Set a ratio for failure, want it, prepare for it. Aiming for perfection sets you up for disappointment and people end up losing confidence. One of the greatest reasons why people find it so hard to get up once they have knocked down.

5. Network Minds

Many view networking as a means of self-marketing and building contacts of potential clientele. Here’s an interesting insight: Network Minds and Build Solutions together! Attract more brain power to you! Collaborative work helps tap different skill-sets of different people to develop unique services and products.

6. Gift Small Goods

We all have heard that small gestures matter. Well, they matter in businesses too! Amy urges people to do ‘5-min favours’ which go a long way in not only building transparent reputation, but also relationships. Nobody succeeds alone, and a good reputation is the key to why people would collaborate. “Nice guys finish first,” says Amy Wilkinson.