Michael Solomon - Game Changer

2020 Michael Solomon and Rishon Blumberg

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Published by HarperCollins Leadership, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus LLC.

Book design by Aubrey Khan, Neuwirth & Associates.

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ISBN 978-1-4002-1860-8 (eBook)

ISBN 978-1-4002-1870-7 (HC)

Epub Edition July 2020 9781400218608

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020938380

Printed in the United States of America

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Please note that the endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication

This book is dedicated to our wives, Jenny Solomon
and Isabel Blumberg, and our children, Alec Blumberg,
Lucy Solomon, Luke Blumberg, and Rainen Solomon.

CONTENTS

1. PART ONE
   HOW TO BECOME A 10x COMPANY AND ATTRACT 10x TALENT
2. PART TWO
   HOW YOU CAN BECOME 10x

When we first conceived of this book in late 2018, it was because we knew that rapid advances in technology had radically transformed working life in a way that not everybody was acclimating to at the same rate. As managers of top tech talent, we wanted to create a book that would help educate readers of all stripes.

Little did we know as we finished this manuscript and handed it in to our publisher for final edits in preparation for a fall 2020 release that the world that we thought had changed drastically was about to show us what real drastic change is.

The stories in this book and the lessons we convey are no less important now than they were a year ago, but one major element has changed. Though we talk about it a fair amount in the book, this one change necessitates that we write this Foreword nowremote work.

Among the big items we knew we had to share was the usefulness and, in fact, the necessity of remote work. We believed and still believe that the ability to solve big problems remotely is one of the twenty-first centurys greatest gifts.

Little did we know that the onslaught of COVID-19 would soon expose how unprepared the world is for remote work on a grand scale. The ability of companies and governments, small and large, to swiftly and efficiently deploy remote working capabilities on a global scale is now essential. Moreover, remote work is no longer just a preference for top 10x tech talent. As we have learned, it can be a matter of life and death, success and failure, for everyone.

So, as you read this book, keep the concept of remote work close to the forefront of your mind. It, and the other lessons in this book, are the new normal.

As we write this Foreword, Rishon is in Miami with his two sons, while his wife is working on the frontlines in New York City taking care of patientsseeing some for the first time now via telemedicine. In both cities, all restaurants are closed except for take-out. In Miami, beaches, and all the other things that make Miami a thriving and wonderful outdoor metropolis, are shut down.

Nonetheless, the two of us in Miami and Montclair, New Jersey, our wonderful 10x team from upstate New York, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, and the amazing 10x talent we represent hailing from all places near and far are all still hard at work. Sure, weve had to add a few more cloud-based tools to our arsenal to make things run more smoothly, but business carries on. Thankfully, we were well prepared to work remotely, and we are all adjusting to this period of social distancing.

This is our new world. And it is quite different from the world we lived in just a few weeks ago. Things will return to normal, or at least a new normal, and when they do, we will all be better prepared.

In the meantime, we hope you, your families, and your teams are safe and healthy.

Rishon Blumberg and Michael Solomon

March 2020

WE LIVE IN A 10x WORLD

Welcome to the era of 10x talent, where businesses and governments, large and small, are only as good as their very best players.

Today, the exceptionally talented matter more than everand they know it.

They have changed the game for all time.

With the rapid digitization of every conceivable product and servicein fact, virtually every human action and interactionthe environment has transformed so fast that nearly everyone you deal with has to be phenomenally gifted and ready and willing to work for you.

Turning back is not an option. The 10xers are at the wheel.

So, what do we mean, exactly, when we call someone a 10x talent?

First and foremost, in our experience, were referring to the worlds most sought-after programmers and coding artists, but the 10x concepts we cover in this book will resonate with anyone who cares about exponential self-improvement for themselves or their organization. To be 10x is to be more than great, to deliver more than ten times the expectations. A 10xer is equal parts high IQ and high EQ (emotional quotient; empathy, the ability to recognize and respond to the emotions of oneself and others). A 10xer is in a constant state of evolution and improvement, fueled by curiosity, ambition, and an insatiable desire to do more and do it better. A 10xer is there to tackle your thorniest problems, improve your strongest assets, and cut a path to success.

Its important to note that 10xers come in all shapes, sizes, genders, races, nationalities, sexual orientations, and ages. (We opted to use binary gender pronouns throughout this book for simplicity, but anyone, no matter how they define themselves, can be 10x.)

Whatever your venture, youre going to need as many 10xers as you can get.

The future is already hereits just not evenly distributed.

WILLIAM GIBSON, 2003

Over the coming decades, as machines replicate more and more physical and intellectual processes, the need for live humans to deliver exponentially beyond expectation is going to increase. It wont be good enough to be good. Good will be easily replaced by algorithms and robots. Youre going to need to align with the truly outstanding and, for most of us, that will require a reinvention of mindset. If youre not striving to become a game changer or your company isnt upping its game, the automated future will pass you by.

Thats where this book comes in.

From where we stand, the 10x revolution is already well underway.

To even the most casual observer, its easy to see that traditional work roles are going, going, gone. Old, entrenched hierarchies, hiring practices, production modes, and managerial styles all face imminent extinction. True, 10xers in the tech sphere have been the first to create and embrace this radical paradigm shift, but the big changes are moving like a wildfire through every sector. The old model employee accepted the role of a cog in the machine. Today, 10x talent knows the machine cant work without them, and this one switch fundamentally differentiates the old workplace from the new. Now 10x talent knows that its on you to get with