This is the type of agility hackers use, and the exact approach needed to win in today’s competitive business landscape. Think how the folks at Audi must have felt when their new ad completely backfired. But instead of retreating to lick their wounds, they decided to respond with a hack of their own. Two days later, on the very next billboard, Audi responded. Their ad featured a huge photo of the $145,000 Audi R8 supercar with its low profile, wide body, and gorgeous lines. The headline: “Your Pawn Is No Match For Our King.”
This launched the billboard wars of LA. Both companies began volleying back and forth, trying to outdo one another. As a result, both companies won because they both knew how to adapt fast, how to embrace an unconventional approach, and how to unleash creativity to solve a threat. The fun continued for several weeks in a constant game of one-upsmanship that included digital billboards, signs on actual cars driving the neighborhoods, and even a hot air balloon showing the BMW Indy racing car touting the headline, “Game Over. ”
During this period, competitors were shut out of the conversation. Had Lexus or Mercedes embraced the hacking mindset, they could have jumped into the fray to vie for the hearts and minds of customers. Instead, they sat silent on the sidelines.
In the end, Audi was the one taking the victory lap. The last few billboards that ran weren’t created by their ad agency, they were created by their customers. The hackers at Audi had the idea to open up the competition on social media and invite customers to submit billboard ideas to run in the LA market. Thousands of creative ideas flooded in via social media, many of which were made into giant signs including a headline saying, “Chess? I’d Rather Be Driving. ”
Imagine engaging your customers so deeply that they fight with one another to write your ads for you. To me, the best part is the fluid nature by which this came to be. There was no strategic committee that met in a windowless room with demographic data, crafting a scheme to get customers to write ads. In fact, the creativity came after an initial idea launched and backfired. There was no top-down mandate from the executive team. Instead, the savvy folks at Audi used a reversal technique often deployed by hackers to win the match.
These types of innovative maneuvers may appear to require huge budgets or the innate creativity of Mozart. Truth is, there is a systematic approach to harness this type of breakthrough thinking. The hacking model you will learn in the pages ahead will give you a toolkit to unlock the same problem-solving wizardry that’s being used to win big in the most challenging business battles.
THE NEW MODEL
Whether you’re hacking your way out of a jam or hacking blue-sky opportunity for growth, the unorthodox approach from the clandestine world of hacking can fuel your success.
This book is organized into three parts:
Part I: Hacking Foundations lays the foundation and will acclimate you to this new system of innovation, growth, and leadership. Here, we’ll become immersed in the mindset of hackers, explore the various types of hackers, dispel myths, and understand the core philosophies of these ingenious problem-solvers.
Part II: Hacking in Action is a journey into hacks of all shapes and sizes. We’ll see how business leaders use hacking philosophies and techniques to drive sales, master operations, reimagine corporate culture, generate social change, and fuel growth. We’ll examine the parallels of infamous cybercrime breaches and breathtaking entrepreneurial exploits. You’ll relish real stories of underdogs who outsmart the competition, dreamers who hack for social good, and big corporations using hacking strategies to create billions of new market value. Throughout this section, I’ll help you understand the specific strategies deployed, providing you a toolkit of your own. You’ll not only hear the stories, but you’ll learn the tools and techniques, which can be directly aimed at the biggest challenges and opportunities you face.
In Part III: Masterclass, we’ll narrow our lens to hone in on practical application. You’ll enjoy in-depth stories of how hacking mindsets and tactics can be broadly implemented for unbelievable results. We’ll look at how you can bring together different mindsets and techniques to bring your desired results to life.
There’s also a Quick Reference Guide to help you keep these mindsets and tactics fresh in your mind.
Through exercises, techniques, and proven strategies, you’ll be armed for battle and ready to put this new model to work.
The stakes have never been higher. The challenges have never been greater. The speed and complexity have never been more overwhelming. Yet the opportunities have never been more profound. Get ready to open your heart and mind and conquer your toughest obstacles and adversaries, while unlocking bold new opportunities for success.
Let the games begin!
Chapter 2: The 5 Core Mindsets
Kevin Bull was facing the challenge of his life. A successful stock trader and entrepreneur, Bull trained hard and finally made it as a walk-on to pursue his dream: to compete on national TV as an American Ninja Warrior. The other contestants were more athletic, more experienced, and better prepared. The odds were simply not in Bull’s favor.
Instead of brute strength, Bull leveraged the hacker mindset to do the unthinkable. Cannonball Alley, the 8th obstacle in the 2014 Venice City Finals, was a formidable challenge, consisting of three dodgeball-sized balls, suspended by ropes over a large pool of water. Competitors had to cross over by grabbing one swinging cannonball and leaping to the next. The objective was to make it to the other side without falling in the water. Sixteen of the world’s best athletes attempted the challenge before Bull, and all sixteen of them failed.
The challenge required enormous upper body strength, after having already completed seven obstacles. Each contestant failed to make it through this incredibly demanding task, and Bull, who lacked the raw power of those who failed before him, knew he needed a different approach. He summoned his inner hacker.
Hackers are innately curious, refusing to accept conventional approaches as the only routes to success. They believe that any barrier or obstacle can be tackled with unorthodox, creative approaches that balk established practices. In Kevin’s case, he knew a completely different method would be his only chance of accomplishing this task that everyone had failed. Other competitors assumed the only way to conquer the dreaded Cannonball Alley was to increase upper body strength, but Kevin chose to do the complete opposite. After clearing the first two balls and moving to the third – the place where so many others had failed – Kevin stunned the crowd by flipping his body upside down and grabbing the last hanging cannonball with his legs. Just as his upper body strength had deteriorated under intense overuse, his fresh legs were able to grasp the target. Kevin locked his legs around the ball, used his upside-down body to swing in the direction of the finish line, and was able to leap in mid-air to land on his feet on the dry platform at which he aimed. Spectators leapt to their feet and screamed with both approval and astonishment, as this unlikely ninja became the first man to triumph over the course.
What mindset enabled Kevin Bull to both literally and figuratively flip traditional thinking upside down in order to win?
Understanding the mindset of hackers is the first step toward your own death-defying success. Kevin used a core hacking philosophy in order to win like cyberhackers used similar thinking to breach the “secure” systems of the FBI in 2015. Whether you’re an entrepreneur trying to be the next Zuckerberg or you’re working to end famine in Syrian refugee camps, a hacking mindset will enable you to view your biggest challenges in