Burn the Boats: Toss Plan B Overboard and Unleash Your Full Potential
Matt Higgins
William Morrow/An Imprint of HarperCollins (February 2023)
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.” Henry Ford
I agree with Ford’s comment. More often than not, success and failure exemplify self-fulfilling prophesies, determined more by attitude than by anything else. Opinions about risk vary but there seems to be a consensus of opinion that taking calculated, carefully considered risks is preferable to taking irrational, emotional, and impulsive risks. Presumably Matt Higgins agrees.
When I first noticed the subtitle of Matt Higgins’ book, I was again reminded of the lyrics in The Gambler, a song written by Don Schlitz and made popular by Kenny Rogers:
“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run.”
Higgins prefers another option: “toss plan B overboard and unleash your full potential.” Go for it! Damn the torpedos! Full-steam ahead! That’s what Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortéz did in 1519 after he and his forces had sailed from Spain to what is now Mexico. He issued an order that the ships be burned. Destroying them, he intended, would eliminate any thoughts of defeat and death or enslavement. Eventually, he and his forces prevailed.
These are among the passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to indicate the scope of Higgins’ coverage:
o Get in the Water (Pages 1-82)
o Trust your instincts (3-27)
o Stephen Ross (10-11, 79-80, 149-150, and 232-33)
o Overcome your demons and enemies (25-58)
o Jessie Derris (59-63 and 185-186)
o Waiting for buy-in (71-76)
o No Turning Back (83-164)
o Fear and Anxiety (85-112)
o Harvard Business School (89-93, 133-134, 158-159, 178-181, and 198-199)
o Embrace each crisis [as an opportunity, not as a peril] (113-135)
o Pattern breaking (136-164)
o Obstacles (137-146)
o Timing (157-164)
o Build More Boats (165-250)
o Gain consolidation (167-186)
o Big leaps vs. incremental progress (174-181)
o Archetypes of greatness (192-203)
o The Visionary archetype (192-195)
o The Catalyst (!95-197)
o Dream manifestation (219-250)
No brief commentary such as mine could possibly do full justice to the quality of the information, insights, and counsel that Higgins provides in abundance but I hope I have at least indicated why I think so highly of him and his work. Years ago, Peter Drucker observed, “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.” Sonnenberg thoroughly explains HOW teams as well as individuals can leverage the systems and tools needed to avoid the operational inefficiency to which Drucker refers.
I conclude with two suggestions of my own when reading Burn the Boats: Highlight key passages, and, keep a lined notebook near at hand in order to record your comments, questions, and page references as well as responses to the suggestions and recommendations that Matt Higgins inserts throughout his narrative. These two simple tactics will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of the most important material later.