Tape paper thinking: the "stupid way" that smart people are using

If a stupid method works, it is not a stupid method.

To be a great person, you don't have to be perfect in everything like the smartest guys in the world.

On the contrary, what you should learn is their secret weapon when facing difficulties:

"Tape paper thinking".

This sounds a little strange way of thinking. It looks clumsy, temporary and mediocre, but it works very well.

Moreover, "tape paper thinking" is really like tape paper. It can be used when used. It looks simple, but it can solve big problems.

As the legendary Article 2 of the code of American soldiers says:

"If a stupid method works, it's not a stupid method."

Tape paper thinking can not only solve problems and get out of difficulties, but also help you create a miracle of success.

This article is about:

Everyone can master the most powerful stupid way - tape thinking like a smart person.

two

The most powerful people will use stupid methods.

Do great people use stupid methods?

Yes, even jobs, who is famous for his perfection, escaped from danger by thinking with adhesive tape at the product launch of the first generation iPhone.

Until the night before the press conference, there were always problems with the mobile phone used for demonstration, either disconnected, unable to get through the phone, or even shut down for no reason.

Later, the engineer thought of a way to ask jobs to demonstrate according to a specific operation sequence, such as sending an email first and then surfing the Internet. If the sequence is reversed, it will crash.

Another problem to be solved is the network signal.

So they put a mobile signal tower on the scene to ensure that jobs had enough signals to make a phone call.

Not only that, the team of engineers did one thing:

"For the sake of safety, the engineer wrote all the signal strength bars on the screens of all demonstrators, which are full of 5 signals, regardless of whether they are true or false."

You see, isn't this tape thinking?

Jobs, who pursues perfectionism, dares to use "adhesive tape". What are you afraid of?

three

Things that can be used easily are 100 times better than those that are powerful but not easy to use.

The inspiration of "tape paper thinking" comes from Mars rescue.

"Mars rescue" is a high-tech science fiction story. However, what saved the protagonist's life several times in it seems to be a less high-tech "tape paper".

If the space mask is cracked, paste it with adhesive tape paper;

If the habitat cabin is blown up, take adhesive tape to repair it;

Later, the open return capsule was covered with canvas and lifted off, which was also the application of tape paper thinking.

Regardless of the differences between the film and the novel and the technical details of the hard core, the inspiration of Mars rescue is:

At the critical moment, things that can be used easily are 100 times better than things that are powerful but not easy to use.

Some people may say that "tape paper thinking" also seems to have some obvious disadvantages, such as:

1. It's not decent;

2. It doesn't look advanced;

3. A little "one-off".

Is tape thinking about optimism and pragmatism?

By no means.

Next, I want to share with you the principle of tape thinking through three stories.

four

Win quickly, seize the window period and get feedback.

One of the principles of "tape paper thinking" is to win quickly.

Apple released the first generation iPhone, which is in the key window period of smartphone, which is fleeting.

Even jobs, who is constantly pursuing perfection, has to seize this window period, even if the prototype is not perfect, even if he has to use "tape paper thinking".

Especially in the Internet age, the key to doing things and doing business is to quickly obtain feedback and form a network effect.

At this time, the pursuit of speed is more important than the pursuit of efficiency and perfection.

The birth of wechat is such a story.

It is said that Zhang Xiaolong sent a message to Ma Huateng in the middle of the night, referring to building a social software for smart phones.

Ma Huateng made a quick decision. Zhang Xiaolong formed a 10 person team and developed wechat within two months.

16 months later, wechat welcomed its 100 million users. Six months later, its number of users has increased to 200 million. Up to now, the monthly active users have exceeded 1.2 billion.

The earliest version of wechat is simple and rough. However, if you don't strive for the fastest, there will be no way to live.

If you buy Tencent stock of 100000 yuan in the era of "adhesive tape paper" of wechat, it is now worth more than 2 million yuan.

five

Push the path backward from the target, regardless of the immediate "possibility".

The second principle of "tape paper thinking" is to push back the path from the target and find the key nodes.

In 2013, today's headlines are finding their way and decided to try "personalized recommendation information flow advertising".

Speaking of making personalized recommendation engine, today's headlines were nothing at that time.

One has no "gene", the other has no ability.

The founder said, we don't know about recommendation engine, but we can learn from it.

The problem is: not even advertisers.

Next is the time for "tape paper thinking" to show its skills:

1. No customers, find a Gome store to verify the advertising effect;

2. There is no advertising system. It is directly coded in the information flow, and the hard coding of advertising material data and geographical location is written into the business code.

3. Design the closed loop, brush the advertisement, click collection, and send edible oil when you buy 200 yuan in the store.

4. At first, the recommended radius was set to 3km, but no one went. What to do? Expand the radius to 10km, Cloth Tape with more than a dozen users. Then expand it again.

5. Finally, the mobile Internet directional closed-loop lbs advertising is realized.

You see, isn't it stupid, inefficient and temporary?

For this start-up company, the focus is not on realizing their first information flow personalized recommendation advertisement with "tape paper thinking", but they believe that:

Only by making a personalized recommendation engine can we achieve a fundamental breakthrough in the business model.

With the goal, push back the path, find the key nodes and define the key tasks.

In other words, knowing "what to do" is more important than knowing "how to do".

This may also explain the current competitive situation of new energy vehicles:

Why is the new power of making cars from a layman more powerful than a senior auto giant?

Because: the new forces of car building know more about "what to do".

According to the target backward path, we can know which nodes can bypass and which must be won.

What if at this time, it is found that the "possibility" of the node that must be won is incomplete?

Take out the adhesive tape and stick it first.

To push the path backward from the goal does not mean to plan everything step by step, but to have a deep insight into the industry.

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Boldly use "one-off" means and think about "large-scale repetition" later.

The third principle of "tape paper thinking" is: first use one-time means, and then look back to see whether it needs to be repeated.

"Home stay platform" aibiying seems hopeless at the beginning of entrepreneurship.

At that time, they didn't have many customers. The founder suddenly found a secret:

Rooms with good photos are easy to rent.

So they immediately started themselves, went to friends to borrow cameras, Cloth Tape knocked on the doors of all landlords one by one and took photos.

It seems that this is a very unreliable thing. Does the founder want to do such low-level and one-time things?

I remember once when I went to the "get" office, I found a man lying on the sofa in the public area, probably because he worked late. After a while, the man got up and walked to his office with heavy heart.

Look, that man is Luo Pang.

Luo Pang's "60 seconds a day" is also a bit like "adhesive tape". It looks simple and has a lot of work. In an interview, Cloth Tape he also said: it's too unsustainable.

After the founder of aibiying took photos of the house and "tested it effectively", he began outsourcing.

With the development of business, "one-time means" began to "repeat on a large scale". Aibiying has established an automatic system to manage the photographer team from all over the world.

Luo Pang's "60 seconds a day" has always insisted, but his personal IP and production mode are copied through a platform.

Facing the key problems, the thinking of adhesive tape paper advocates:

Don't be afraid to use disposable means.

Go back and see if large-scale repetition is needed.

The secret of Brian Chesky, the founder of abiying, is:

"Do everything yourself until you can't do it, and then automate it."

seven

Use whatever you have and do what you can first.

What is the best way to solve the problem?

The answer given by the great scientist Feynman is:

Any method that works.

Tape paper thinking tells us:

Solve key problems immediately;

If not, go to school immediately;

Push backward according to the target, either go around or attack;

If the conditions are not ripe, there is nothing to use.

Let's take a look at the tape paper thinking of aerospace giant SpaceX.

The key to competition in the rocket field is the launch price per kilogram of load.

To this end, SpaceX played its trump card: cheap and easy to use.

In order to achieve "simplicity, reliability and low cost", musk, the founder of SpaceX, broke all kinds of rules and regulations and used tape paper thinking in management and technology.

The tape thinking here refers not only to temporary emergency solutions, but also to a generation of fake full cell phone signals on the iPhone.

On the premise of ensuring high reliability, SpaceX will give up expensive space class hardware and use cheap and high-quality ordinary products. For example: