Stop Reinventing the Wheel and Start Copying What Works

What It Covers

Tan introduces Katie Milkman's copy and paste strategy for productivity, explaining how deliberately imitating specific tactics from people who already achieve your goals creates faster results than inventing original systems from scratch for yourself.

Key Questions Answered

• •The Playbook Method: Ambiguity prevents habit formation. Instead of generic advice, observe someone achieving your goal and copy their concrete routines. A woman became vegetarian by spending one week watching five vegetarian peers build meals and ask restaurant questions, turning vague intentions into actionable scripts she followed for years.
• •False Consensus Effect: People assume others struggle the same way they do, missing learning opportunities. Breaking this assumption reveals copyable tactics everywhere. Tan automated podcast show notes by moving tasks to a JIRA column that triggers Lindy workflows, generating full drafts in two minutes using borrowed logic from existing systems.
• •Ask Specific Questions: Most people ask about motivation or secrets, getting generic answers. Instead, request the playbook with questions like what do you do on a normal Tuesday or what is your default when tired. Look for routines, defaults, systems, and scripts that reveal high signal tactics matching your context and constraints.
• •Close Match Role Models: Select someone with similar responsibilities and constraints, not celebrities with personal chefs and home gyms. Copy one small concrete tactic like packing gym bags the night before or using specific email templates. Implement one repeatable habit weekly rather than overhauling your entire lifestyle simultaneously for sustainable change.