Leadership

Decoding Greatness
How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Success

by Ron Friedman

THE SUMMARY IN BRIEF

Contents
For generations, we’ve been taught there are two ways to succeed—either from
talent or practice. In Decoding Greatness, award-winning social psychologist Ron
Part I: The Art of Unlocking
Hidden Patterns Friedman illuminates a powerful third path—one that has quietly launched icons
Page 2
in a wide range of fields, from artists, writers, and chefs, to athletes, inventors, and
entrepreneurs: reverse engineering.
Algorithmic Thinking
Page 3
To reverse engineer is to look beyond what is evident on the surface and find a
hidden structure. Using eye-opening examples of top performers and groundbreak-
The Curse of Creativity ing research on pattern recognition, skill acquisition, and creative genius, Friedman
Page 4 reveals the staggering power of reverse engineering and teaches you how to harness
this vital skill for yourself.
Part II: The Vision-Ability
Gap You don’t have to be a genius to achieve greatness, but you do need a method for
Page 4 getting there. Bursting with unforgettable stories and actionable strategies, Decod-
ing Greatness is an indispensable guide to learning from the best, improving your
The Scoreboard Principle
skills, and sparking breakthrough ideas.
Page 5

Practicing in Three IN THIS SUMMARY, YOU WILL LEARN:

Dimensions
Page 6 • Why creativity is not the most important part of innovating.

How to Talk to Experts • The importance of pattern recognition.

Page 7 • To take apart models you admire, pinpoint what makes them work, and apply
that knowledge to develop novel ideas, methods, and products.
• Strategies to bridge the gap between vision and ability.

Published by Soundview Executive Book Summaries® (ISSN 0747-2196), 225 Wilmington West Chester Pike, Suite 202, Chadds Ford, PA 19317 USA. • Copyright ©2021
by Soundview, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. • Subscriptions start at $99/year. To subscribe, visit summary.com. • Vol. 43, No. 9 (3
parts), Part 3, November 2021 • Order #43-29 • Meghan P. Kozak, Editor-in-Chief • Ashleigh Imus, Senior Editor • Kylie Waytuck, Graphic Designer
 Decoding Greatness

Introduction Many of the painters we now celebrate as creative genius-

es devoted a significant portion of their careers to copy-
When Michael Dell received an Apple II for his sixteenth
work. Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt, Paul
birthday, he didn’t so much as bother turning it on. Instead,
Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne all developed their skills by
he quietly carried it to his room, closed the door, and—to
copying the works of the French painter Eugène Delac-
the sheer horror of his parents—dismantled it piece by
roix. Delacroix himself spent years copying the Renais-
piece so he could examine how it was assembled. A few
sance artists he grew up admiring.
short years later, he founded Dell Computers, a company
that set itself apart by inviting buyers to customize their What makes copywork so effective is that it forces an artist
computers one component at a time. or writer to do more than simply recall content. Reproduc-
ing a piece demands that he or she pay careful attention to
And the laptop used to type this sentence would not exist
the organizational decisions and stylistic tendencies reflect-
had Compaq not reverse engineered an IBM personal
ed in an original work. It is an exercise that enables novices
computer and applied their learnings to develop portable
to relive the creative journey and invites them to compare
computers.
their instinctive inclinations against the choices of a master.
But the practice of reverse engineering, of systematically
Ultimately, what the process reveals is decision-making
taking things apart to explore their inner workings and ex-
patterns. And once an artist or writer’s underlying code is
tract important insights, is more than an intriguing feature
broken, it can be defined, analyzed, and applied to pro-
of the tech industry. For a surprising number of innovators,
ducing original works. The same can be said of successful
it’s a tendency that appears to have emerged organically, as
entrepreneurs.
something of a natural inclination.
No matter what you do for a living, you’re facing signifi- How to Reverse Engineer a Billion-Dollar Franchise
cantly more competition than your colleagues did a decade What separates celebrity entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos,
back. You’re no longer up against professionals only in Mark Cuban, and Richard Branson from everyone else?
your region. You’re now competing with experts around Research suggests it’s not just their creativity, intelligence,
the globe. Never before has it been simpler for clients and and drive. Successful entrepreneurs also excel at something
hiring managers to identify the best in your field and invite else: pattern recognition.
them to collaborate.
When we think about entrepreneurs, we tend to think about
In a world where expertise is a moving target, the ongoing creative solutions, fresh ideas, and above all originality. As it
pursuit of knowledge is imperative to getting ahead. Stay- turns out, that line of thinking is exactly wrong. More experi-
ing on top of new innovations and professional trends is no enced entrepreneurs—those who spend decades leading suc-
longer just for go-getters—it’s a basic requirement for staying cessful businesses and reliably launch profitable ventures every
relevant. Reverse engineering is a tool you can apply in your few years—focus on something completely different: viability.
field to learn from your contemporaries, extract valuable
Decades of experience have taught them that successful
ideas, and evolve your work in exciting new directions.
businesses fit a pattern. A few key factors tend to predict
whether or not a venture will flourish. And nowhere are
PART I: THE ART OF UNLOCKING HIDDEN PATTERNS these patterns more evident than in the business models of
other profitable companies.
The Mastery Detectives What sort of patterns might a discerning entrepreneur
To reverse engineer is to look beyond what is evident on the deduce? For one thing, that winning business strategies
surface and find a hidden structure—one that reveals both can be applied across industries. When San Francisco chef
how an object was designed and, more important, how it Steve Ells was considering launching a taqueria in the
can be re-created. It’s the ability to taste an intoxicating 1970s, he knew his chances of breaking through were slim.
dish and deduce its recipe, to listen to a beautiful song and The Bay Area was flooded with Mexican eateries, and the
discern its chord progression, to watch a horror film and competition was overwhelming. So he took his idea for a
grasp its narrative arc. streamlined Mexican restaurant to a place where tacos were
relatively rare: Denver. He called it Chipotle.

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 Decoding Greatness
In recent years, algorithms like Tinder’s have upended
a wide swath of industries, in large part because of their
ability to quickly detect patterns.

What makes Ells’s story so compelling is that his shop’s their first kiss. It was the perfect date. Less than two years
success can, in large part, be traced back to a single deci- later, they were ready to spend the rest of their lives togeth-
sion: taking a product that’s popular in one ___location and er and finalizing plans for their wedding.
introducing it to an entirely new geographic region. That’s
an approach that applies to a lot more than tacos. A Marriage Made . . . From an Algorithm
Alyssa and Josh owe their marriage to an algorithm. They
In the automotive industry, reverse engineering has played
met online on the world’s most popular dating app: Tin-
a pivotal role for generations. In 1933, after disassembling
der. Not too long ago, the idea of searching for a romantic
a new Chevrolet, Kiichiro Toyoda convinced his family
partner on a website was considered an act of desperation.
to branch out from building weaving looms by creating
Studies suggest that nearly 40 percent of romantic relation-
an automotive development program. Three years later,
ships now begin online and that they tend to be consider-
they had their first car and renamed the venture Toyota (a
ably more successful than those initiated in person.
simplified version of the family name produced by eight
brushstrokes—a lucky number in Japan). One reason online dating apps are so effective at pairing
couples is that they utilize machine learning to identify
Almost a century later, Toyoda’s once-maverick approach
unspoken preferences—ones people themselves may not
has been co-opted into standard operating procedure.
consciously realize they possess.
Today, car manufacturers routinely dissect their rivals’ cars,
except they don’t call the process reverse engineering. They In recent years, algorithms like Tinder’s have upended a
call it “competitive benchmarking.” wide swath of industries, in large part because of their
ability to quickly detect patterns. The capacity to distill
So how do you do it? How do you take apart work you
thousands of clicks, scrolls, and swipes into a formula and
admire—from your favorite podcast to a competitor’s
then apply that formula to predict future behavior has
website to an Academy Award-winning film—enabling
profound implications for the worlds of business, technol-
you to extract its formula and unleash your own creative
ogy, and even romantic love.
juices? Is there a reliable road map for deconstructing
works we wish to emulate? Pattern Recognition: The Basics
Pattern recognition engines have four major components.
Algorithmic Thinking The first is data collection. Before you can start to predict
the type of men Alyssa finds attractive, you first need exam-
Alyssa Nathan was 22 when she met Josh Yanover. They ples of men she likes and men she doesn’t. You can get both
exchanged a few shy texts, then a few more. He suggested from her reaction to a handful of profiles, and that’s the
they go out. On their first date, they visited a paint and first step: gathering examples.
wine studio. It went well.
Step two is unpacking those examples and finding im-
After some time, she noticed that the studio had emptied portant variations. What’s different about these men that
and employees were cleaning up. She asked one of them could be contributing to Alyssa’s decisions? Obviously, there
if they were getting ready to close. “Sweetie, we’ve been are physical features, like the men’s age, weight, and height.
closed for 45 minutes.” It was late, but they weren’t ready to But then there is the quality of their profile: the number of
call it a night. Not even close. photos they post, the length of their biography, and the per-
On a whim, they ventured out to a pizzeria Josh was crazy sonality type their description conveys. The more variables
about, where they shared a delicious mushroom slice and you identify in this second phase, the better your chances of
pinpointing a factor that prompts Alyssa’s interest.

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 Decoding Greatness

The third step involves detecting similarities. What In other words, the solution is to steer clear of both extremes.
do the men Alyssa finds attractive have in common? What The secret to producing work with lasting significance is
features do they share? Now, how about the men Alyssa leveraging a proven formula and adding your unique twist.
rejected? What differentiates them from those she liked?
By comparing the characteristics of both groups—men Steve Jobs didn’t invent the MP3 player or the cell phone.
selected against men rejected—a dating algorithm can start But he led a team that found a way of combining the two,
to identify the elements driving Alyssa’s decisions. leading to the iPhone. Back in 1995, two Stanford Univer-
sity students took the way academics cite research articles
The last step is when an algorithm applies its analyses to and applied it to organizing information on the World Wide
generate predictions of men Alyssa will find appeal- Web, resulting in Google.
ing. It’s here that the options Alyssa is presented with
start to look a little cuter, a little more her type. And the The history of innovation is so dependent on the blending
more Alyssa swipes, the more accurate the algorithm of existing ideas that even books would not have come
gets, using Alyssa’s feedback to refine its predictions and about had the wine press (which gave us ink) not been
improve its performance. combined with the coin punch (which gave us typographic
blocks for letters) to produce the world’s first printer.
Blending influences is one way of finding your twist. But
The Curse of Creativity it’s an approach with one critical limitation: your ability to
Simply cloning a formula that works for someone else is ul- locate unique influences. Combining influences works best
timately a failing strategy. What you need is a formula that for those who hunt for inspiration outside the cultural main-
works to complement your unique abilities, interests, and stream and import the elements they love best.
situation. But where exactly do you find one?
PART II: THE VISION-ABILITY GAP
You might think that the solution is to deliberately avoid the
influence of others entirely and instead strive for complete It’s one thing to distill exceptional work into a formula and
originality. But this, as it turns out, is also a mistake—espe- quite another to reproduce it effectively. As the creator of
cially in projects geared toward a broad audience. If you’re This American Life, Ira Glass, observed, when you are devel-
looking to write a blockbuster movie, deliver a winning oping your skills, there is often a gap between your vision
presentation, or cook a memorable dish, the last thing in and your ability:
the world you want is a flood of novelty.
“What nobody tells people who are beginners—and I
Why? Because no matter how much audiences claim they really wish someone had told this to me—is that all of us
want bold, innovative ideas, studies indicate that in practice, who do creative work, we get into it because we have good
they reject them all the time. taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple of years
you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be
Why exactly are we so loath to embrace the new? Because good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing
novelty makes us uncomfortable, and that discomfort is that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is
unpleasant. Nowhere is this tendency more evident than at why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get
the office. At work, we vastly prefer ideas that make us feel past this phase. They quit.”
safe and confident, especially from those in charge.
The divide Glass is describing—the gap between vision
Outright mimicry leads us nowhere. Absolute novelty is met and ability—can be debilitating, especially when you have
with scorn. So what exactly is the right approach? high standards. Harnessed correctly, the desire to perform
Don Draper’s Guide to Winning Ideas masterfully and meet your inner standard will provide
the motivational fuel for improvement. The challenge, of
Mad Men aired an episode in which the famously volatile course, is knowing how to bridge the divide so that the
Sterling Cooper creative director is pitched a television distance between where you are today and where you need
show in the vein of Candid Camera. His response captures to be feels inspiring, not deflating.
what might be the ideal formula for popular appeal: “It’s
derivative with a twist. That’s what they’re looking for.” How exactly do you do that? It all starts with the first step

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 Decoding Greatness

to elevating your performance at any task: the Scoreboard To leverage metrics effectively, we need more than global
Principle. feedback on performance. We need data that measure our
key behaviors and tell us which we are executing well and
which we have the potential to improve.
The Scoreboard Principle
What should you measure? The precise elements worth
Search the internet for “Ritz-Carlton customer stories,” monitoring will depend on the nature of the task, your level
and you’ll learn that the hotel prepares surprise rose-petal of skill, and your ultimate goals. With that in mind, here
baths on customers’ birthdays, leaves chocolate wrenches are three approaches worth considering:
in rooms requesting repairs, and mails children the stuffed
animals they’ve left behind, along with a photo album of • The first involves breaking down a single activity into
their toy in various hotel locations, including the pool, spa, multiple subskills. In the same way that a tennis match
and gym, enjoying their extended vacation. consists of different types of shots, most intellectual
activities can be broken down into several distinct
How exactly did the Ritz-Carlton become so good at
categories of skill. Suppose, for example, that your job
customer service? By relentlessly tracking performance
involves pitching your firm to new prospects and you
metrics. Each property’s management team monitors a slew
want to develop metrics to track your performance. A
of figures, from check-in wait times to advance bookings to
number of subskills come into play when you present
employee satisfaction.
at meetings, including memorization, delivery, body
language, presence, and poise. Recording your pitch
and scoring these elements individually will provide
Something powerful you with a clear sense of where your performance is
happens when we link strong and where it needs improvement.
• The second approach is useful for tasks where success
behaviors to metrics. has less to do with combining disparate skills than
Measurement begets hitting on particular features. By turning features into
metrics, you create a measure that offers you immediate
improvement. feedback on your performance and draws your atten-
tion to elements of your work that can be improved.
• A third approach for crafting metrics that track your
performance is more holistic than the first two. It in-
But there’s one metric the Ritz Carlton staff monitors ob- volves looking beyond a particular task and evaluating
sessively. It’s not the hotel’s financials, nor is it its customer the totality of your performance over the course of a
satisfaction ratings. Twenty-four hours after guests leave a specified time frame.
Ritz-Carlton property, they receive an email asking them
how likely they are to recommend the hotel to friends and How to Take the Risk Out
colleagues (a metric market researchers refer to as a “net
promoter” score). This, the Ritz-Carlton has discovered, is
of Risk Taking
the holy grail. Score well on this item, and you haven’t just Growth requires strain. A moderate degree of difficulty is
executed a successful stay. You have created a raving fan. essential to both mental and physical development. Teach-
ers know it. Bodybuilders know it. Athletes know it.
Something powerful happens when we link behaviors to
metrics. Measurement begets improvement. The moment a Yet, what’s the one place where stretching our limits and
metric is introduced, we instinctively pay it more attention experimenting with new techniques is most challenging?
and pursue its optimization. Identifying the right metrics The workplace. Paradoxically, the one ___domain in which skill
can therefore make all the difference between consistent building is arguably most essential is the same ___domain in
growth and eventual bankruptcy. which learning is also hardest to achieve.
Why is learning at work so hard? When it comes to failure,
How to Design Your Scoreboard

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 Decoding Greatness

the workplace is unforgiving. Every day is game day. There The year was 1999. Swinmurn was living in the San Francis-
are no opportunities for practice. co Bay area, so the next step seemed obvious: He started a
website. It was called Shoesite.com. Swinmurn’s nascent busi-
A second reason skill-building at work is difficult is that the ness plan had one blip: He didn’t have any shoes to sell. Nor
opportunities for taking risks are surprisingly limited. Busi- did he have the budget to build up his inventory. His business
nesses, after all, are optimized for efficiency, not employee résumé was blank, and he had never even met an investor.
growth. Then there’s a third barrier: even if we do some-
how manage to endure the possibility of failure and identify So he walked into his local shoe store, Footwear Etc., and
an intelligent risk worth taking, there’s still one other crucial offered a win-win proposition: “I’ll take some pictures, put
impediment to learning in the workplace: the absence of your shoes online, and if people buy them, I’ll buy them
consistent, detailed, and immediate feedback. from you at full price.” The manager happily agreed.
But successful organizations take on enormous risks and Within days, sales started rolling in. And when they did,
adapt to market feedback all the time. The best companies Swinmurn would personally drive to the mall, pay with his
don’t play it safe. Just how are these organizations able to own money, and place the shoes in the mail. A year later,
jeopardize so much risk? By figuring out something crucial: after raising $150,000 from a few friends, some family, and
how to take the risk out of risk taking. Using a set of strategic, his chiropractor, Swinmurn renamed the business after the
nimble, and inexpensive practices, many of the most inno- Spanish word for “shoes”: zapatos. Then he tweaked a few
vative organizations and entrepreneurs are able to reap the letters until he had Zappos, a name that seemed “fun and
benefits of risk taking without putting everything on the line. different.” Roughly 10 years later, Zappos would sell to
Amazon for a staggering $1.2 billion in stock.
Why you need a pseudonym. Operating under a pseud-
onym is an approach to minimizing the risk in risk taking. Swinmurn didn’t build a massive warehouse and stock it with
It also turns out to be surprisingly common in the world of shoes. Doing so would have required enormous resources,
business. Consider The Gap, a clothing retailer headquar- which he did not possess. What did he do, instead? He sold
tered in San Francisco. The Gap uses subbrands to target dif- photos of shoes that he could secure after consumer demand
ferent audiences at distinct price points. Instead of risking the was established. By selling a prototype, Swinmurn managed
possibility of confusing shoppers, it uses Old Navy to appeal to greatly diminish the risk involved in starting a retail busi-
to value shoppers, Banana Republic to sell to a more affluent ness. He did so by selling first and procuring second.
audience, and Athleta to attract activewear buyers.
The Gap creates and acquires new brands even when it Practicing in Three Dimensions
can sensibly roll out its new merchandise under an existing
brand, in part because it has learned that marketing multi- Professional tennis players like Serena Williams regular-
ple brands grants it flexibility to take risks and more easily ly face serves exceeding 120 miles an hour. That’s barely
adjust when those risks fail to pay off. enough time to blink an eye, let alone lift, aim, and swing a
racquet. And yet somehow she manages to not only make
Everyone has heard of Old Navy, Banana Republic, and contact but also hit returns with such precision and power
Athleta. Those are the successes. Few are likely to remem- that her opponents are left gawking.
ber Forth & Towne, Piperlime, and the Gap’s other failed
attempts to break through to consumers. Those subbrands How does she do it? The same way New York Mets slugger
were quietly abandoned not long after their launch. Pete Alonso blasted an astonishing 53 home runs in 2019.
If you analyze video of any of his moon shots, you’ll notice
Sell first, build later. Nick Swinmurn’s life was going something peculiar: His swing starts before the ball leaves
nowhere when a billion-dollar lightning bolt struck. The the pitcher’s fingertips.
former film student turned minor-league baseball ticket
attendant was at the mall, hunting for boots and having no Not long ago, ESPN asked John Harbaugh, head coach of
luck. The trouble was he knew precisely what he wanted: a the Baltimore Ravens, to track his time and report back on
pair of brown Airwalk Desert Chukka boots. Lots of stores how he spent a week during the regular season. How many
had them—just not the ones he wanted. hours does Harbaugh spend watching film? A staggering
amount: nearly six hours a day. Harbaugh devotes more time

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 Decoding Greatness
Public speakers who visualize their performance before
getting up onstage experience less anxiety, appear less
rigid, and deliver more compelling presentations.

to reviewing previous games than any other activity, includ- Musicians who practice playing a piece in their head before
ing running practices, meeting with players, and mapping out sitting down at the piano learn compositions more quickly.
his team’s game plan—combined. As a strategic thinker, he Public speakers who visualize their performance before
understands that learning from past performance is one of getting up onstage experience less anxiety, appear less rigid,
the smartest things you can do to prepare for the future. and deliver more compelling presentations.
Directors, athletes, and coaches rely on film to help them
learn from the past and make crucial adjustments. Needless How to Talk to Experts
to say, they have access to a tool most people lack: objective
recordings of performance. So, what about the rest of us? Late in the fall of 2001, the hottest ticket in Hollywood
What do you review when there is no tape? was not a glitzy movie premiere or an exclusive award cer-
emony. It was a private 10-day acting seminar led by the
A Beginner’s Guide to Reflective Practice man Time magazine had declared Actor of the Century:
Marlon Brando.
One method that is surprisingly common among top-per-
forming inventors like Thomas Edison, artists like Frida All the big names were in attendance: Leonardo DiCaprio,
Kahlo, and athletes like Serena Williams is journaling. De- Sean Penn, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams. They were
veloping a daily practice to pause, reflect, and strategize can there to learn from a legend. This was one of the most
yield substantial benefits that compound over time. accomplished thespians of a generation, the Godfather
himself, the trailblazer who had popularized Method Act-
Journaling by hand, in particular, forces us to slow down.
ing, now prepared to reveal the secrets of his craft.
Because most adults think faster than they write, we’re com-
pelled to pause and reflect as we wait for our hand to catch Brando had hired a camera crew for the occasion. He
up, examining our thoughts in a way that rarely occurs on a planned to have the footage edited and sold to film schools
busy day. This simple practice can yield surprisingly profound and acting programs. He even brought on a director to
insights, not unlike when a therapist repeats your words back oversee production. When the moment arrived, Brando
to you, illuminating a hidden motive or a limiting belief. gave the signal. The cameras began rolling. What happened
next is something no one in the room will ever forget.
The case for thinking more and doing less. There
is no shortage of Hall of Fame-caliber athletes who cred- The Hollywood Reporter recounted the event this way: When
it their success to mental imagery. Hockey great Wayne the doors flung open, the 78-year-old Brando appeared wear-
Gretzky used his imagery routine to practice lasering in on ing a blond wig, blue mascara, a black gown with an orange
the empty patches of net behind a goalie, picturing them scarf and a bodice stuffed with gigantic falsies. Waving a
decorated with red lights and ribbons. single rose in one hand, he sashayed through the warehouse,
plunked his 300-pound frame onto a throne-like chair on a
Lindsey Vonn is an Olympic medalist who relied on mental
makeshift stage and began fussily applying lipstick.
rehearsal to gain an edge before competition. Not only did
Vonn visualize herself slaloming downhill, she did so while “I am furious! Furious!” Brando told the group in a matron-
forcing her lungs to suck air in and push it out, simulating ly English accent, launching into an improvised monologue
the unnerving, treacherous conditions of a high-speed run. that ended, 10 minutes later, with the actor turning around,
lifting his gown and mooning the crowd.
Studies show that surgeons who mentally rehearse proce-
dures in advance of entering the operating room commit Over the course of the 10-day program, Brando had his
fewer errors and experience less stress during surgery. audience observe improvisational scenes featuring Samoan

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 Decoding Greatness

wrestlers and a troupe of little people, invited a homeless Finally, discovery questions focus experts on their initial
person off the street and tried to teach him the basics of expectations and invite them to compare those naive beliefs
acting, and asked his students to remove their clothes in full with what they know today. For example, “What do you wish
view of their classmates. Eventually, Brando’s students were you had known when you first started?” “What factors turned
invited to perform a variety of improv exercises, which he out to be crucial to success that you weren’t expecting?”
offered to critique.
Those at the peak of their profession earned their standing
Brando was merciless in his feedback. When he didn’t like by nurturing an insatiable hunger for new ideas, perspec-
what he saw, he didn’t wait until a scene ended. He burst tives, and solutions. You get there by identifying concepts
onstage and thundered his dismay, barking out, “Lies! Lies!” worth mastering, growing your arsenal of skills, and exper-
imenting at the edge of your ability. Never before has that
Three days into the program, several students staged a mindset been more pivotal than it is today.
walkout, declaring the seminar “a circus.” The number of
attendees continued to dwindle as the course progressed. The good news is that stimulating ideas are everywhere.
Even the director quit. We live in an age of unparalleled creative abundance. The
ingredients are readily available. You now know how to
What to Ask an Expert unlock, master, and evolve them in new directions. It’s time
It should come as no surprise that ___domain expertise and to see what you can do.
teaching performance do not go hand in hand. Doing and
explaining are different skills.
When talking to experts, three categories of questions are
worth considering: journey questions, process questions,
and discovery questions. Journey questions are designed
to achieve two objectives: unearth the experts’ road map for
success and remind them of their experience as a novice.
For example, “What did you read/watch/study to learn your IF YOU LIKED THIS SUMMARY,
craft?” “What mistakes did you make at the beginning?” YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
Process questions get at the nitty-gritty of execution. • Primary Greatness: The 12 Levers of Success
They’re designed to illuminate the experts’ approach by by Stephen R. Covey
drilling down on the specific steps they apply to bring their
• Authentic Confidence: The Secret to Loving Your Work
work to life. For example, “What do you do first? What’s
and Leading an Unstoppable Career by Ben Fauske
next? And after that?” “Where do you get your ideas and
strategies?” “How do you go about planning?”

Ron Friedman, Ph.D., is an award-winning psychologist who has served on the faculty of the University of Roch-
ester, Nazareth College, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and has consulted for political leaders, nonprof-
its, and many of the world’s most recognized brands. Popular accounts of his research have appeared on NPR
and in major newspapers. He is the founder of ignite80, a learning and development company that translates
research in neuroscience, human physiology, and behavioral economics into practical strategies that help working
professionals become healthier, happier, and more productive.

From Decoding Greatness: How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Success by Ron Friedman. Copy-
right © 2021 by Ron Friedman. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 288 pages, ISBN 978-1-9821-
3579-9. Summary copyright © 2021 by Soundview Book Summaries ® www.summary.com, 1-800-SUMMARY.

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