Leadership Insights from Peter Diamandis

The creed of the persistent and passionate …  

Peter Diamandis is an international pioneer in the fields of innovation, incentive competitions and commercial space. In 2014 he was named one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune Magazine. He is a physician, engineer, best-selling author, and entrepreneur who is the founder of 17 companies.

Some of his resumé reads a bit like science fiction:

Diamandis is Co-Founder/Co-Chairman of Planetary Resources, a company designing spacecraft to enable the detection and mining of asteroids for precious materials.

He is the founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which designs and operates large-scale incentive competitions to solve market failures (one of these being space flight).

Diamandis is also the Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman of Human Longevity Inc. (HLI), a diagnostic and therapeutic company focused on extending the healthy human lifespan.

He is also the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Singularity University, a graduate-level Silicon Valley institution that studies exponentially growing technologies.

I could go on, but you get the idea…

Over the years, Diamandis has collected his go-to principles when the proverbial “shit hits the fan.” Here are favourite truisms – “Peter’s Laws”, or as Diamandis refers to them: “the creed of the persistent and passionate mind” –  that may guide you in times of difficulty and opportunity:

1. If anything can go wrong, Fix It!… To hell with Murphy’s Law!
2. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!
3. The world’s biggest problems are the world’s biggest business opportunities.
4. The best way to become a billionaire is to help a billion people.
5. You get what you incentivise.
6. The day before something is a breakthrough it’s a crazy idea.
7. Without a target you’ll miss it every time.
8. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.
9. Fail early, fail often, fail forward!
10. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes.
11. Start at the top and work your way up.
12. Do it by the book … but be the author!
13. ‘No’ simply means begin again, at one higher level.
14. When forced to compromise, ask for more.
15. If you can’t win, change the rules.
16. If you can’t change the rules, then ignore them.
17. When faced without a challenge, make one.
18. Don’t walk when you can run.
19. The ratio of something to nothing is infinite.
20. If you think it is impossible, then it is… for you.
21. An expert is someone who can tell you exactly how it can’t be done.
22. If it were easy, it would have been done already.
23. The world’s most precious resource is the persistent and passionate human mind.

Several other quotes I like that have been accredited to Peter include:

1. When given a choice, Take Both!
2. If it’s worth doing, it’s got to be done right now!
3. Bureaucracy is a challenge to be conquered with a righteous attitude, a tolerance for stupidity, and a bulldozer when necessary.
4. When in doubt: Think!
5. Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing.
6. The squeaky wheel gets replaced.
7. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live.

I hope you have enjoyed these insights. Have a great week and stay growth-focused!

Best Wishes,
Jonathan
+61 (0) 408 748 980
jonathan@scaleupgrowth.co