what does it mean to hack?
I’ve studied dozens of definitions, but to me there’s a simple answer:
Hacking [hak’ ing] verb. The act of solving complex problems in unorthodox ways. Discovering fresh, unconventional approaches that replace prevailing wisdom.
You may wonder...how is hacking different than traditional innovation approaches? Isn’t this just a new name for an old thing? As I’ll show you through the mindsets, tactics, and incredible examples in this book, hacking is the new model for innovation. The new model for growth.
Consider MySpace. It was a true Internet darling in July 2005, when it was purchased by media giant News Corporation for $580 million. In June 2006, it surpassed Google as the most visited website in the United States and was unquestionably the dominant leader of social media. Now the folks at News Corporation were smart people with a deep understanding of traditional innovation and growth models. They had the finest degrees, limitless resources, and a proven CEO, Rupert Murdoch, at the helm. What could possibly go wrong?
In short? Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg, quite simply, is a hacker. In fact, he proudly embraces that title. Zuckerberg used hacking to obliterate the top social media site, despite a tremendous resource disadvantage. After several rounds of layoffs, MySpace was sold in 2011 for a mere $35 million. The once most-visited website plunged to a pitiful ranking of #1749 by 2016, and the company is now a shell of its former self. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg’s Facebook is the #2 site today (just behind Google) and boasts a market cap of $323 billion as of this writing. Zuck is the 7th wealthiest person in the US with a personal net worth of over $40 billion.
When Facebook filed to go public in 2012, Zuckerberg penned a letter to prospective investors. The letter shared that the value of his company, both current and future, is based on their approach, which he labels “The Hacker Way”:
The Hacker Way is an approach to building that involves continuous improvement and iteration.... Hackers try to build the best services over the long term by quickly releasing and learning from smaller iterations rather than trying to get everything right all at once. To support this, we have built a testing framework that at any given time can try out thousands of versions of Facebook. We have the words “Done is better than perfect” painted on our walls to remind ourselves to always keep shipping.... There’s a hacker mantra that you’ll hear a lot around Facebook offices: “Code wins arguments."
His point is that hacking, and Facebook, is a meritocracy where titles and tenure are meaningless when it comes to decision-making. The best ideas win, not the person with the loudest voice or fanciest title.
“The Hacker Way” is such an important element of Facebook’s success, they paid homage to it when building the company’s corporate campus. The street name has been changed, making the address of this multi-billion global company 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
BE FROGGER
Traditional innovation approaches are simply out of date. Which is a real problem for you, whether you’re a manager at a giant multinational or run your own small business.
A confluence of forces has formed to create a potent cocktail of change. Friction-free global markets fueled by fully-transparent, real-time information have rendered previous competitive advantages impotent. By 2020, Millennials will represent 50% of the global workforce and a nearly equal portion of consumer buying power. Their expectations, needs, and internal drivers are very different than previous generations, which fuels the need for change in nearly every business. Shifting demographics, increasing speed, exponential complexity, emergent technologies, geo-political turmoil, and even shifting ideologies are creating a business landscape with an unprecedented rate of change.
Growing up in an era when video games hit the mainstream, I was always drawn to the game of Frogger. The player assumes the role of a motivated frog, trying to make his way across a river. Without the ability to swim, he must hop on a variety of things such as logs, turtles, and lily pads as they glide through the river rapids. The challenge is that nothing remains stationary. Each leap onto stable ground is temporary, since all the items are zooming down the river. Even the respite of a dry log is temporary; if the frog tries to stay on stable footing too long, he falls into the river and dies. To win, he must leap quickly from one short-lived success to another. As the game advances, safe harbors become less frequent and faster moving, leaving the poor frog in a constant state of unrest and instability.
Sound familiar?
To a great degree, we are living in a three-dimensional game of Frogger. Competitive wins, top tier financial performance, and brand supremacy are all temporary states, met with an ever-increasing stream of change. Yet the models we use to lead, innovate, and grow have not evolved to meet the challenges of the day. Traditionalist approaches are yielding diminishing returns as the playing field becomes more complex and difficult. While most business leaders succumb to their instincts of doubling down on what worked in the past, those embracing the new model – hacking – will enjoy a disproportionate share of the spoils.
A quick compare-and-contrast:The hacking approach will become your most powerful system to meet expanding obstacles, challenges, and opportunities. The approach is not relegated to tech startups or fringe markets, but can be applied to drive growth in any business setting – from a Fortune 500 biotech company, to the corner dry cleaner, and everywhere in between.
A core tenet of hacking is that it is a meritocratic approach. In other words, hacking doesn’t require a fancy title or limitless resources. Zuckerberg toppled Murdoch by embracing hacking. Fittingly, David defeated Goliath through a hack. Facing a much larger and well-equipped foe, David identified and then exploited a small weakness to bring a seemingly impenetrable opponent to his knees. A traditional approach would be to summon more resources, attack only when enough conventional strength was amassed, and engage in classic combat. Yet David was able to hack his way to victory using an unorthodox approach. Hacking is imminently accessible no matter your age, race, rank, gender, education, background, or political views. Hacking is the great equalizer.
WHAT HACKING IS NOT
There’s a lot of confusion as to what hacking is and isn’t. For our purposes, hacking is all about solving complex problems in unorthodox ways. Using creativity to breakthrough your biggest barriers in order to achieve more. As such, it’s important for us to define what hacking is not:
Hacking is NOT a quick fix, jury-rigged, haphazard, temporary solution. Hot-wiring a car or duct-taping a leaky pipe is a short-term patch, not a long-term hack.
Hacking is NOT evil by nature. It is a systematic approach to overcoming obstacles and discovering new possibilities. It is a neutral methodology that can be used for good or bad.
Hacking is NOT simply perpetrating cybercrimes. Yes, we primarily view hackers in this context, but they are simply using hacking approaches for deviant purposes. You can use the same powerful approaches to invent a new drug therapy, launch a breakaway product, or sell more life insurance. No computer code required.
Hacking is NOT inherently destructive. In fact, it can be quite the opposite. Elements of hacking philosophy are at the root of many societies’ greatest advances throughout history, from art to science, politics to invention.
A HACK UNFOLDS IN REAL TIME
“Your move, BMW. The entirely new Audi A4.” These words appeared on a large billboard in Los Angeles, along with a high-quality photo of a brand new Audi A4. Clearly, the ad was rhetorical in nature. The whole point of the ad was that there’s no way BMW could possibly respond to this cool new car.
The problem for Audi: BMW is an innovative