Review

The oldies are often the goodies. Thinking for yourself is an important life skill, especially in product management. We must avoid group think, and be comfortable making uncomfortable decisions. Humility is incredibly important, but so to is self-conviction.

You Might Also Like:

Book Review and Summary: The Practice by Seth Godin

Get a comprehensive review and summary of the best-selling book "The Practice" by Seth Godin, the marketing and business thought leader. Learn about the key principles and practices of developing and honing your skills and expertise in any field, based on Godin's own experience and insights.

andrewclark.co.uk

The Creative Act

I’ve lost many hours watching Rick Rubin interview artists on the Broken Record podcast. He seems to be able to listen more deeply that the rest of us. He’s the perfect person to write about the illusive science of creativity. The observations in this book are timeless, and although they are about music in the studio, many of the lessons can be applied to product development in the office.

andrewclark.co.uk

The War of Art

An empowering, beautiful and poignant take on resistance… the force that creates the gap between intention and action. The final third of the book didn’t feel as practical and precise as the first two. I left the book feeling like I’d just spent two hours with a palm reader… who said a bunch of stuff, some of which hit but most didn’t, and I left a little put off by the mention of higher powers and spirits.

andrewclark.co.uk

Key Takeaways

The 20% that gave me 80% of the value.

• Trust your private conviction and speak it plainly.
• Accept your time and place, and act from there.
• Do not let fear of obstacles overrule conviction.
• Keep an unbiased mind, not chained by reputation.
• Assume society rewards conformity, and resist it.
• Let integrity, not “goodness” labels, guide choices.
• Refuse virtue-as-performance; live steadily and genuinely.
• Do what you must, not what others demand.
• Drop dead habits, parties, and affiliations that scatter force.
• Judge criticism by substance, not by sour faces.
• Permit inconsistency when growth makes old views false.
• Bring the past to the present, and revise without shame.
• Expect to be misunderstood when you speak truth.
• Use teachers and texts as tools, not authorities.
• Say “I think” and live in the present hour.
• Seek principles, then release rote quotation and imitation.
• Trust that true insight may arrive without precedent.
• Let power be in becoming, not in past achievements.
• Build self-sufficiency, resilience, and inner law through discipline.
• Apply self-reliance to work, love, learning, and community.

Deep Summary

Longer form notes, typically condensed, reworded and de-duplicated.

Highlights

Trust Your Own Insights: When you have an original thought, don't dismiss it just because it's yours. The ideas you reject as too obvious often return later as someone else's celebrated insight. Act on your convictions before others articulate them for you.

Accept Your Starting Point: Work with your actual circumstances rather than wishing for different ones. Great achievers commit fully to their present situation and opportunities rather than waiting for ideal conditions.

Learn from Unconditional Confidence: Children and young people act with wholeness because they haven't yet learned to second-guess themselves. Before taking action, notice whether you're operating from conviction or from anxiety about obstacles.

Preserve Your Independent Judgment: As you gain reputation and responsibilities, you become increasingly constrained by others' expectations. Actively protect time and space for forming opinions uninfluenced by what you've publicly committed to or what others expect.

Recognise Conformity Pressure: Social institutions, including workplaces and professional communities, systematically reward agreement and punish originality. Name this dynamic when you see it rather than assuming consensus reflects truth.

Define Goodness for Yourself: Don't accept inherited definitions of virtue without examination. If conventional "good" behaviour conflicts with your genuine understanding of what's right, your integrity matters more than approval.

Live Rather Than Perform: Don't treat virtuous actions as payments owed to society for the privilege of existing. Your life doesn't require justification through visible good deeds performed for others' approval.

Prioritise Your Own Judgment Over Others' Opinions: The essential discipline is maintaining your independent perspective while surrounded by people who confidently believe they know your duty better than you do.

Conformity Obscures Your Identity: When you adopt positions merely because they're expected, you fragment your energy and make it impossible for others, or yourself, to understand who you actually are. Consistent authentic action reveals character.

Evaluate Criticism by Its Source: Distinguish between thoughtful disagreement from those who've genuinely engaged with your position and reflexive disapproval from those following social signals. Only the former deserves serious response.

Don't Be Imprisoned by Past Positions: Fear of appearing inconsistent keeps people defending outdated views. Your past statements are data points, not permanent commitments.

Bring Past Commitments to Present Judgment: Rather than mechanically honouring what you previously said, continuously re-evaluate whether those positions still reflect your best understanding. Being right now matters more than being consistent with being wrong before.

Embrace Being Misunderstood: Significant contributions require thinking differently from the mainstream. If everyone immediately agrees with you, you're probably not saying anything important.

Don't Worship Intermediaries: Access wisdom directly through your own experience and reflection rather than exclusively through authoritative interpreters. Teachers and texts are useful, but they're not substitutes for your own engagement.

Live in the Present: Stop comparing yourself to past versions of yourself or idealised future states. A rose doesn't reference previous roses or better ones it simply exists fully in each moment. Do your work now rather than rehearsing or regretting.

Move Beyond Quotation to Understanding: When you truly grasp an idea, you no longer need to cite its source. You can express it freshly because you own the understanding, not just the words.

Original Insight Feels Strange: When you're genuinely seeing something new, you won't find validation in existing authorities or familiar frameworks. The absence of external confirmation is often evidence you're onto something real.

Power Exists Only in Action: Your past accomplishments and accumulated reputation have no inherent force. Only what you're doing now matters. The soul "becomes" it's in perpetual motion, not a fixed state.

Self-Reliance as Universal Principle: Everything that works in nature, commerce, or life works because it relies on its own internal resources. External support cannot substitute for internal capacity.

Return to First Principles: When confused by competing demands and complex situations, simplify. Ask what you actually believe and act from that centre rather than responding to the "rabble of men and books and institutions."

Seek Solitude Without Isolation: Cultivate inner independence while remaining connected to others. Don't absorb others' problems as your own, but don't withdraw into mechanical separation either.

Speak Truth to Those Closest to You: The hardest place to be honest is with family and close associates. Commit to living authentically in these relationships even when it causes temporary discomfort.

Self-Trust Requires Higher Standards: Rejecting conventional expectations doesn't mean rejecting all standards. The person who lives by their own conscience faces stricter accountability than one who merely follows rules.

Self-Mastery Is Demanding: Being your own authority requires exceptional clarity, willpower, and heart. It's harder than following external direction, not easier.

Society Needs Self-Reliant Individuals: Current culture produces anxious, dependent people afraid to make genuine choices. The solution isn't better institutions but individuals willing to trust themselves and act accordingly.

Embrace Varied Experience: Don't over-invest in any single path. The person who tries many things and adapts has more resilience than the specialist who collapses when their narrow expertise becomes irrelevant.

Self-Reliance Changes Everything: Genuine independence of mind would transform how we approach work, relationships, education, and property. The implications are revolutionary, not merely personal.