How to Be Awesome at Your Job 1117: How to Hack Your Odds to Succeed More and Fail Less with Kyle Austin Young
7 snips
Jan 5, 2026 
Kyle Austin Young, an award-winning strategy consultant and author, dives into the art of de-risking goals to increase success rates. He reveals the thinking trap that leads to failures and advocates for simplifying pathways to achieve ambitions. By embracing negative thoughts and anticipating challenges, Kyle demonstrates how to enhance odds and optimize decision-making. He also emphasizes the importance of narrow prioritization and provides a practical success diagram. Tune in for insights that can transform your approach to goal-setting and risk management!
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Multiply Probabilities, Don't Average
- People misjudge multi-step goals by averaging probable success of each step instead of multiplying probabilities.
- Multiplying 70%×70%×70% yields only a 34% chance of overall success, exposing a common thinking trap.
Draw A Success Diagram
- Create a success diagram: list your goal and every thing that must go right to achieve it.
- Use the diagram to streamline the path and remove unnecessary prerequisites that lower your odds.
Winning A Job By De-Risking Objections
- Kyle applied for a senior role at 21 and 'thought negative' to identify three failure modes that could block his hire.
- He grew a beard, brought a spiral-bound plan, and learned the team's language to remove those objections and win the job.
