Niall Harbison on `Get Sh*t Done!

The Core Algorithm is about getting things done, which matter the most to us.  So when I saw the thumbnail and title of the following Bloomberg clip, I wanted to watch it.  I admit to being skeptical about such lead-ins as A Guide to Getting Stuff Done Without Hating Your Life, because promoters and advertisers, editors and writers have resorted to headline porn to grab readers and viewers to their stuff.  That said, I did a bit of digging around on author Niall Harbison, and found myself intrigued with his personality, itinerary, history and book. 

The words that come to mind about Harbison isn't driven, so much as he is adaptable and peripatetic.  If I were to hazard a guess at his MBTI, it would be ENTP - extroverted, intuitive, thinking and spontaneous.  He acknowledged that he was driven, but boiled it back down to two ingredients for getting stuff done: (a) not being afraid of failure, and (b) taking more risks.  If you have a similar personality, and you're game, and you don't have the typical life commitments or encumbrances, such as marriage, career and family, then Harbison is truly a role model for you (rf. 11 factoids from Niall Harbison’s book Get Sh*t Done and How to get sh*t done). 

How to get sh*t done

How to get sh*t done

MBTI in and of itself tells us there is a wealth of personalities in the world, with variations on a theme after another, on such a combination of traits as ENTP.  For instance, many people with the same profile may have very different degrees of extroversion, intuition, thinking and spontaneity.  My point is that while we may all tease something very useful from Harbison, even if just a general inspiration from what he's done, what he advises is bound to fall short or altogether fail for, I imagine, scores of us. 

His algorithms, as I see it, are those two ingredients above.  From what I gather, that is the essence, then, of his book Get Sh*t Done!  On the face of it, it's hard to discern what his objectives or purpose is for living the kind of life he's led.  But in listening between the lines, I think it's this:  thinking outside the box, avoiding being pinned down, and making just enough money to keep doing what he wants to keep doing.  Again, if his algorithms resonate with you, and more importantly they work vis-a-vis your own objectives and purpose, then his stuff is for you.

The issue, in a nutshell, is that while he seems to have applied The Core Algorithm quite effectively for himself, he really isn't advising or teaching this very effectively to others.  Much as the latter may be his intent, it's about tactical advice and lessons, which again may or may not work for particular people.  He seems to be a sharp-as-a-tack fellow, with a restless soul and feet, and being kicked out of school twice reminds of me college dropouts like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

If you truly believe that you, too, are exceptional as these entrepreneurs and free as Harbison, then I congratulate and admire you and look forward to hearing the things you do.