completed seven obstacles. Each contestant failed to make it through this incredibly demanding task, and Bull, who lacked the raw power of those who failed before him, knew he needed a different approach. He summoned his inner hacker.
Hackers are innately curious, refusing to accept conventional approaches as the only routes to success. They believe that any barrier or obstacle can be tackled with unorthodox, creative approaches that balk established practices. In Kevin’s case, he knew a completely different method would be his only chance of accomplishing this task that everyone had failed. Other competitors assumed the only way to conquer the dreaded Cannonball Alley was to increase upper body strength, but Kevin chose to do the complete opposite. After clearing the first two balls and moving to the third – the place where so many others had failed – Kevin stunned the crowd by flipping his body upside down and grabbing the last hanging cannonball with his legs. Just as his upper body strength had deteriorated under intense overuse, his fresh legs were able to grasp the target. Kevin locked his legs around the ball, used his upside-down body to swing in the direction of the finish line, and was able to leap in mid-air to land on his feet on the dry platform at which he aimed. Spectators leapt to their feet and screamed with both approval and astonishment, as this unlikely ninja became the first man to triumph over the course.
What mindset enabled Kevin Bull to both literally and figuratively flip traditional thinking upside down in order to win?
Understanding the mindset of hackers is the first step toward your own death-defying success. Kevin used a core hacking philosophy in order to win like cyberhackers used similar thinking to breach the “secure” systems of the FBI in 2015. Whether you’re an entrepreneur trying to be the next Zuckerberg or you’re working to end famine in Syrian refugee camps, a hacking mindset will enable you to view your biggest challenges in an entirely new light.
THE 5 CORE MINDSETS
Having studied all kinds of hackers – from the illicit exploits of cybercriminals to the kindhearted researchers who hack in order to eradicate disease – there are some common shared philosophies. Unlike the specific techniques we’ll cover throughout the book, which are used to solve particular problems, the hacker mindsets are the foundation to Innovation Hacking. This set of beliefs will serve as the underpinning for your own hacking exploits, and allow you to build a hacking culture in your own organization.
Hooded criminals, lab rats, innovators, entrepreneurs, and business executives alike have embraced these five core philosophies in order to hack through their most difficult challenges:
1 Every Barrier Can Be Penetrated
2 Compasses Over Maps
3 Nothing Is Static
4 Quantity Is a Force Multiplier
5 Competence Is the Only Credential That Matters
These five fundamental beliefs are the underpinnings of the hacking ethos, and your framework for creating change. Now, let’s explore each of them in depth as we lay the foundation for your own hacking adventures.
EVERY BARRIER CAN BE PENETRATED
Maurice Maeterlinck famously said, “If the bee disappeared from Earth, man would only have four years left to live.” Not necessarily a fan of stings, he was referring to the important role bees and other insects play in fertilization and cross-pollination. Unfortunately, our planet has seen an alarming decline in populations of bees, butterflies, and other important insects, which, in turn, is threatening global food supplies, as the human population expands like never before. A large problem indeed, and one that needs to be hacked.
Hackers first approach any problem by identifying the barrier that must be infiltrated, along with a desired outcome:
The Barrier: Declining population of bees
Desired Outcome: Reverse the trend to save humanity
You’ll notice the barrier need not be a software security system and the desired outcome need not be committing a crime for the hacking mindset to be deployed. The key mindset at play is that Every Barrier Can Be Penetrated. Hackers universally embrace the belief that fortresses are meant to be breached, mountains are meant to be climbed. The fact that something has never been done or that the challenge seems daunting entices the hacker rather than deters her. In fact, the more difficult a barrier appears, the more enthused the hacker becomes to rupture it.
The Hackers: Harvard Microbiotics Lab
The Solution: RoboBees
Refusing to accept that only bees could be bees, researchers toiled to discover a different approach. While most people would try to solve a bee shortage by feeding, protecting, or breeding more actual bees, the Harvard hackers used an unconventional approach to solve the problem at hand. With the trend of unmanned aircraft (drones) growing in mainstream usage, they decided to build robot bees. So much for that old adage, “never send a robot to do a bee’s job.”
The RoboBee is not your grandfather’s insect. They can lift off, hover to conserve energy, fly through dust, and swim. They fly faster than a real bee, yet weigh less. In addition to conducting pollination missions, this tiny invention can ultimately expand to serve other purposes. “The RoboBees can eventually be used for search and rescue, for example in areas where larger robots won't fit,” says Harvard Microbiotics Laboratory researcher Elizabeth Helbling. “They would also return with the information faster, as you wouldn't have to wait for one robot to come back, but instead have a whole swarm of them covering a forest or similar.” And Helbling and the researchers at Harvard aren’t the only ones tackling big problems, problems that desperately need a hack.
Pablos Holman, a lifelong hacker, is an expert on hacking problems, large and small. He’s also a vocal proponent of spreading hacking methodologies, and the hacking mindsets I’m sharing with you:
Hackers are in the business of breaking things. I don’t think it’s particularly weird or audacious. Hacking is just a learning style or methodology. Rather than relying on the instructions, we’ll just try everything. We’ll take something apart, break it into a lot of little pieces, and figure out what we can build from it.
One of Holman’s biggest hacks? Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes aren’t only a nuisance during your holiday picnic, they carry deadly diseases such as Zika and malaria, which alone kills over 600,000 people per year. Bed nets, antimalarial drugs, and insecticides have helped, but according to the World Health Organization, the problem still ranks as the 17 th most frequent cause of death, ahead of lung cancer, traffic accidents, and diabetes. Who better to attack one of our planet’s most pressing issues than someone who has been labeled “The Madonna of Hackers”?
For the last 17 years, Holman has been a member of The Shmoo Group, self-labeled as “a notorious group of hackers and security professionals.” He loves doing live demos where he instantly accesses audience members’ “secure” credit card info and computers, revealing passwords and other data, or plugs into a hotel TV system to display the movie of his choosing, in any room on the property. With messy hair, tinted glasses, jet black clothes, and tattered gym shoes, Pablos looks like he came right from central casting for a hacker role. Not only does he look the part, he’s the embodiment of the hacking mindset put to positive use. He’s the ultimate Innovation Hacker.
