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Scott Adams

Scott Adams

Dilbert cartoonist

Scott Raymond Adams (born June 8, 1957) is an American cartoonist, creator of the Dilbert comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, business, and general speculation. His Dilbert series came to national prominence through the downsizing period in 1990s America and was then distributed worldwide. A former worker in various roles at big businesses, he became a full-time cartoonist in 1995. Adams writes in a satirical, often sarcastic way about the social and mental landscape of white-collar workers in modern corporations and other large enterprises.

PhilosophersNotes on Scott Adams's Books All PhilosophersNotes

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Kind of the Story of My Life

by Scott Adams

What does Scott Adams have to teach us about success? A lot. And this hilarious book is packed with wisdom. Learn why goals are for losers (and systems are for super-crushers), how to move from merely wishing for success to DECIDING you will be successful and other helpful tips on how to program your moist robot for optimal performance. Um. Yah.

Packs:

Algorithms & Creativity & Habits & Productivity

Biography Deep Work Energy Modern Classic success Top 101 Work

+1s Inspired by Scott Adams All +1s

How to Schedule Your Best Work
#38

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Match Your Mental Energy to Your Task

Scott Adams created Dilbert. (Over 10,000 of them by now, actually.) He also wrote a great book called How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. In it, he tells us how he makes sure he gets his Deep Work done every day. Scott is ALL about systems. Part of his systems for crushing it (again: 10,...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Creativity & Productivity

Consistency Deep Work Energy Fundamentals persistence Planning self-mastery Strategy time management unproductive Work

Deep Work + Team Work + Monkey Work
#39

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What Goes When for You?

In our last +1, we talked about matching your mental energy to the right task. The essence of that? You don’t want to try to do your most important work when your brain is fried. I like to think of this whole process of matching our task to our energy as Deep Work + Team Work + Monkey Work. I do my Dee...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Masterpiece Days & Productivity

Deep Work Energy Fundamentals Legacy Planning Strategy team time management unproductive Work

Deciding vs. Wishing
#101

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3 Steps on How to Get What You Want

Scott Adams created Dilbert. He also wrote a great little manual on how to achieve success called How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. One of the Big Ideas from that book is getting really clear on the difference between “wishing” for something and DECIDING to get it. Most people “wi...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Confidence & Purpose

Choice Determination Discipline greatness persistence Practice success tool unproductive Work

Systems vs. Goals
#102

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Why Goals Are for Losers and How to Become a Winner

In our last +1, we talked about Scott Adams and his wisdom on Wishing vs. Deciding. The key difference? When we DECIDE, we get clear on what we want AND we get clear on the price we’ll need to pay. Then… We get busy paying it. Scott tells us that one of the ways to reduce the price and make it more p...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Goals & Productivity

Consistency Mastery persistence Planning Strategy success Systems tired Work

Moist Robots
#103

How to Program Yourself for Awesome

While we’re on a roll with some Scott Adams wisdom, how about one more? Scott tells us that we’re kinda like moist Robots. We’re programmable. We just need to learn how to program our Robot-selves for optimal performance. The first few buttons he tells us to push? How we eat, move and sleep. So… ...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Habits & Peak Performance

disconnected Eat Energy Fundamentals Move performance self-mastery Systems

Decision Fatigue
#287

Put Your Basal Ganglia to Work

In our last +1, we cleaned out our closets and we’re now adhering to the Genius Dress Code. (Hah.) Well, at the very least we did the math with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and realized that those 2 minutes of time deciding what to wear every day adds up to 12 hours per year. If you’re like Einstein or Jo...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Habits & Willpower

commitment Habits Power productivity Systems willpower Work

Goals Are for WINers
#569

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Except When They’re for Losers

Scott Adams created Dilbert in 1989. According to my quick math, assuming he’s done a strip every day since Jan 1, 1990, then he’s created over 10,000 Dilbert’s. I find that astonishingly inspiring. In fact, I think about him and Charles Schulz every morning as I do my quick 3-minute journaling and...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Algorithms & Productivity

algorithms process productivity Systems wildly-important-goals Work

The Price of Success
#597

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Let’s Figure It Out and Pay It

In our last +1, we talked about paying the price to achieve our wildly important goals—whatever they may be. I shared a partial accounting of the price I’ll be paying to have a shot at one of my big goals and we checked in on YOUR accounting. (How’d that go for you? 🤓) Today I want to talk a lit...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Goals & Willpower

big-picture big-three goals Practice soul Spirit wildly-important-goals willpower

Diagnosis vs. Prognosis
#846

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Believe One, Question the Other

In our last +1, we chatted about my little burpee saga and had some group gratitude hugs. Today I want to chat about a line I once heard from Deepak Chopra. In the context of dealing with a health challenge, he said something along the lines of: “Believe the diagnosis. Question the prognosis.” That w...

+1 inspired by Note: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Packs:

Antifragility & Confidence

Agency antifragility confidence Grit Inspiration Mental Toughness optimism Work

Interviews with Scott Adams All Interviews