How to Follow Your Own Instinct

In today's fast-paced information-saturated world, advice is abundant, but it can be difficult to determine which sources are truly reliable.

This week, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the co-founders of 37signals, join host Kimberly Rhodes to discuss the challenges of navigating the ever-growing sea of advice and how to choose the right guidance for your journey.

Listen in as they share their thoughts on the expiration date of advice, the dangers of following someone else's prescribed path, and the value of trusting your own instincts.

Watch the Full Episode on Video

Show Notes: 

[00:00] - Kimberly opens the show and introduces listeners to the topic of finding reliable business advice in today’s digital age. 

[00:40] - Jason shares why he wrote Advice Expires and why he and David are the wrong people to ask for advice about starting a business. 

[02:14] - David shares how the Internet's craving for content leads to conflicting advice and the value of trusting your own instincts.

[04:16] - Ignore more advice than you take: turning the tide on the trend of collecting mentors and seeking advice from multiple sources.

[05:04] - The value of being outside the Silicon Valley bubble.

[05:44] - The importance of cultivating originality. 

[06:15] - The danger of following everyone else's formula for success. 

[07:38] - How the "Pinterestization" of our culture is diluting originality in favor of popularity.  

[09:48] - The mystery behind success—Jason shares why you must be mindful of blindly emulating successful companies or individuals.  

[10:52] - David discusses the “Halo Effect” and how success in one aspect doesn't necessarily mean excellence in all areas. 

[11:41] - The “awesomeness tradeoff”: how the book “Blue Ocean Strategy” puts a method to the idea that you can't be awesome at all the things all the time. 

[13:12] - Kimberly raises the issue of self-proclaimed experts on the Internet.

[14:13] - Why "Rework" was so successful. 

[14:50] - The importance of a select set of core ideas or key values for more effective decision-making in a sea of options. 

[16:13] -Trusting your gut and the pitfalls of seeking too much advice.

[17:13] - Kimberly asks Jason and David about their approach to seeking advice and executing decisions. 

[17:35] - Jason shares his approach to seeking advice and what his method depends upon.  

[19:04] - David shares his preference for seeking guidance from "dead people." 

[20:03] - Reality as a mentor: the importance of contextualizing advice and learning through experimentation.

[21:44] - The role of criticality when seeking advice.

[22:08] - David shares why he continues to give advice and what people are really looking for.

[22:34] - How the book "Maverick" by Ricardo Semler influenced the unconventional ideas and served as a benchmark for determining the level of "bat-shitness" in Jason and David’s decisions when they were starting out. 

[23:48] - Do you have qu