leftovers: chuck klosterman x

Those who see the Roman numeral ten in the title of this work demonstrate strong evidence of being crazed pro-Chuck readers while those who read the letter 'X' are probably just casual supporters at best. This is because the title of this book is a reference to his fourth book, Chuck Klosterman IV (which itself is a reference to how Led Zeppelin titled their albums). You could say Klosterman's tenth published work is a litmus test for anyone wondering how big of a Klosterman fan he or she is.

While I'm here, I might as well comment on how much I liked his piece on the future of sprinting. I found it interesting that some in the extreme-distance running community speculated that the popularity of sprinting is driven merely by the fact that men are better sprinters than women. The human body is designed to thrive at long distances; sprinting is perhaps the most unnatural act of locomotion. And yet, the focus of the male-driven entertainment industry shines a spotlight on the 100 meter dash, where men dominate, rather than extreme distance events, where the difference in men and women even out.

Of course, anytime the 100-meter dash is discussed, the focus must eventually turn to Usain Bolt. The Jamaican sprinter is (at time of writing) the fastest person ever to run one hundred meters. The paradox about him is that all of his apparent disadvantages - long limbs, height, and relatively modest background - became unassailable advantages once he overcame them.

Or, at least, they seemed like disadvantages because everyone else 'blessed' with his body type failed to become the fastest person ever. For some reason, Bolt overcame it. This insight reminded me of Paul Graham's advice to small companies competing against the established giants - run upstairs:

Use difficulty as a guide not just in selecting the overall aim of your company, but also at decision points along the way. At Viaweb one of our rules of thumb was run upstairs. Suppose you are a little, nimble guy being chased by a big, fat, bully. You open a door and find yourself in a staircase. Do you go up or down? I say up. The bully can probably run downstairs as fast as you can. Going upstairs his bulk will be more of a disadvantage. Running upstairs is hard for you but even harder for him.

I can't say this is the best advice I've ever seen - if every small company blindly followed this idea, the only thing that would happen is a faster rate of bankruptcy. But the thought doesn't mean 'run uphill no matter what' - it means run uphill given you are the right size (small, nimble) and in the right situation (a bizarre scenario where you open a door and are surprised to see a staircase). I'm not sure what makes a given company succeed but it does seem like knowing when to 'run upstairs' is perhaps among the most decisive factors in terms of how a company might eventually turn out.