Tribe of Mentors

Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice From the Best in the World (2017), a nonfiction book by self-help and business guru Tim Ferriss, is a collection of more than one hundred mini-interviews full of helpful advice from various luminaries in technology, business, and beyond.

Ferriss begins, "Often, all that stands between you and what you want is a better set of questions." Many of the lessons he presents won't surprise veteran readers of the self-help business genre. Nevertheless, the evidential anecdotes that support these conclusions can be helpful. For example, a large number of people interviewed talk about the value of failure as a learning experience. Lessons about failure can be cold comfort to those of us who have already done our fair share of failing without much to show for it. Nonetheless, it's inspiring to hear someone like legendary music producer Rick Rubin talk about not just failing on his way to the top, but failing plenty of times after he had already arrived. In one particularly enlightening interview, Rubin talks about the hard realization that you cannot control what an audience will like. For example, even to this day, he works on albums that might be great works of art but never succeed on a monetary level because mass audiences didn't appreciate them. To know that even people of Rubin's stature still fail can be seen as a source of hope.

One of Rubin’s most famous and adored albums is Licensed to Ill by the Beastie Boys. After that smash hit, the Beastie Boys made the album Paul's Boutique. While that album has since come to be appreciated as a classic and a masterpiece, on its release, it was considered too far ahead of its time and too far removed from people's expectations of the Beasties to be considered a hit. In fact, it was an utter failure. Rather than becoming jaded or cynical, the failure made the hip-hop trio feel they could do anything. With the pressure off, they embraced artistic freedom, reclaiming the limelight on their own terms.



It is always difficult to know whether one should double-down on an outside-the-box strategy after a failure like the Beastie Boys did, or to take a left turn and course-correct following a failure. Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art is an example of the latter strategy. As a novelist, Pressfield spent fifteen years writing novels that were rejected by publishers. So he decided it was time for a change: he moved to Los Angeles and began a career as a screenwriter. Rather than learning that he was never meant to be a novelist, the screenwriting helped him become a better novelist and one who stopped being rejected by publishers.

Another common theme that arises throughout Ferriss's interviews is the need to stay focused by saying no to other commitments. A large number of the interviewees talk about the power of saying "no." Having too many projects on one's plate can dilute the projects about which one truly cares. Certainly, if a project arises that interests you, you should say yes to it. However, never feel afraid to say no if there are any red flags. On the flip side, Ferriss includes an interview with digital marketer Gary Vaynerchuk. Vaynerchuk says that he makes sure to say yes to at least 20 percent of all incoming project ideas—he selects the projects he says yes to randomly. The idea, he says, is to preserve a sense of serendipity and surprise in his work that keeps him thinking creatively.

Ironically, one of the big prevailing ideas of this advice book is: be wary of advice. Always question the advice others give you. Expert opinions are particularly suspect. For example, experts usually get to be experts by swimming against the current and breaking the status quo. Now that they are on top, they have every reason to preserve the status quo. For that reason, you may never get ahead if you only follow the advice of experts.



Unlike some of Ferriss's other books which put forth hyper-focused advice plans for improving your work life, Tribe of Mentors has a more free-wheeling approach due to its 100+ interview structure. The result is a book that doesn't attempt to change your life overnight. Instead, it offers a hundred little pressure points on which to mull as you (hopefully) climb the ladder of success.