Forge
forge.medium.com · Group blog · on HN since 2019
Forge is Medium's publication on self-improvement, covering career growth, writing, decision-making and work habits.
What HN saysHN commenters mostly cite its post on becoming the best in the world at something, the source of the skill stacking idea, now members-only.
65HN people shared it
13linked it in comments
61stories submitted
1.8Kstory points
2 years agolast shared
2019people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1How to Become the Best in the World at Something5 people · 322 points · first shared 2019 · 141 comments on HN
- 2How to Make Writing a Lot Easier2 people · 89 points · first shared 2020 · 74 comments on HN
- 3Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting2 people · 30 points · first shared 2020 · 33 comments on HN
- 4Advice for Any Kind of Writing – From Essays to Emails – Forge2 people · 5 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 5Making Good Decisions Means Taking Clear Aim – Forge2 people · 4 points · first shared 2020 · 1 comments on HN
- 6A Radical Guide to Spending Less Time on Your Phone2 people · 3 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 7How to Lose a Third of a Million Dollars Without Really Trying2 people · 3 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 8Can an Electronic Shock Bracelet Kill Your Bad Habits?2 people · 2 points · first shared 2019 · 1 comments on HN
- 9The Creative Power of the Index Card (2019)2 people · 2 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 10It’s Not Enough to Be Right – You Also Have to Be Kind1 people · 595 points · first shared 2019 · 304 comments on HN
- 11The thing standing between procrastination and daily progress is ritual1 people · 315 points · first shared 2021 · 114 comments on HN
- 12Why Walking Meetings Work1 people · 196 points · first shared 2020 · 81 comments on HN
- 13You’re Not Lazy, Bored, or Unmotivated1 people · 53 points · first shared 2019 · 27 comments on HN
- 1423 Things to Quit for an Easier, Happier Life1 people · 35 points · first shared 2021 · 2 comments on HN
- 15How to Read 2 Books a Week1 people · 17 points · first shared 2019 · 12 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
mooreds · 2024-01-04
Also relevant: the concept of skill stacking.
I first ran across it here: https://forge.medium.com/how-to-become-the-best-in-the-world-at-someth…
That post is unfortunately now members only, but I summarized it here: https://letterstoanewdeveloper.com/2019/11/28/skill-stacking/
Thersites · 2022-11-18
Hey, I wanted to propose a mindset for thinking about what you should learn, instead of a particular skill or domain. Thinking about what you should learn to benefit your employer is nice, I'd think more about what skill you could learn that would help you most over the next ten years, for job satisfaction, income, life quality, etc. Something fun, which also makes you more valuable in the marketplace, sounds like the way to go. Anyway, having a manager that looks for feedback on stuff like this, sounds like a good problem to have.
I like this article on skill-stacking, might be a frame you think is good, maybe not.
https://forge.medium.com/how-to-become-the-best-in-the-world-at-someth…
Hextinium · 2022-05-27
This sounds like skill stacking which you summarized very well. I'll just leave some links to what relates to skill stacking which I found interesting
[1] https://michelleockers.com/2019/12/02/skill-stacking-with-scott-adams/
[2] https://forge.medium.com/how-to-become-the-best-in-the-world-at-someth…
troydavis · 2020-11-26
Here's a place to start: https://zenhabits.net/lifes-enough-stop-comparing-yourself-to-others/
More practically: https://forge.medium.com/were-all-finding-out-what-enough-is-155a806b9…
Different people think that diminishing returns in a first-world economy starts at $50k/year, $100k/year, $200k/year, or some other number, but whatever one's desired purchasing power, it has zero relationship to how much Bezos or Gates are worth.
jcaguilar · 2020-08-24
I think you talking about this one? https://forge.medium.com/how-to-become-the-best-in-the-world-at-someth…
yesenadam · 2019-11-18
Haha, I thought you were satirizing the C vs Lisp article... but no, it's a direct quote! Amazing.
The article on kindness was well worth reading, thank you. It ends
"If you can’t be kind, if you won’t empathize, then you’re not on the team. That team is Team Humanity, where we are all in this thing together. Where we are all flawed and imperfect. Where we treat other people’s point of view as charitably as we treat our own. Where we are civilized and respectful and, above all, kind to each other—particularly the less fortunate, the mistaken, and the afraid."
https://forge.medium.com/its-not-enough-to-be-right-you-also-have-to-b…
parpfish · 2023-01-23
The "A's hire A's" observation is interesting, but would result in the opposite effect -- it would lead to Bs managing Cs, whereas I'm talking about a situation where a B is managing a bunch of As.
Having done some more digging after posting this, I think I've found a related concept that I can use to do some more keyword digging. It sounds like "layering" is a strategy that can be used to specfically fight against this problem (https://forge.medium.com/what-to-do-when-you-get-layered-at-work-6751f… however this specific problem still doesn't have a name...
herbertl · 2022-08-30
That's a really interesting topic, thanks for sharing this! I've previously written about changing environments (https://forge.medium.com/to-do-better-work-change-your-environment-a27… prompts for changing equipment would also be very interesting.
For me, generally pen and paper for preliminary work (e.g., exploring the idea, journaling, taking notes), software and tools like Google Docs/Notion/Airtable for organization and fidelity (e.g., outlining, writing, editing, etc.). Another lens could be analog for chaotic creative work, digital for structured creative work.
Zealotux · 2022-07-13
Wait until people learn Maslow never actually created a pyramid to represent the "hierarchy of needs."[1]
[1] https://forge.medium.com/maslows-pyramid-is-a-marketing-lie-14202930e2…
elliekelly · 2020-08-09
> Piercing cognitive biases is hard, maybe harder if those most in need feel forced.
I think about this article (post?) called “How to Change a Mind”[1] a lot. It’s about a woman whose husband was in a religious cult and how he finally realized it.
[1]https://forge.medium.com/how-to-change-a-mind-1774681b9369
PeterStuer · 2020-04-13
OTOH Prepare for the Ultimate gaslighting
"Pretty soon, as the country begins to figure out how we “open back up” and move forward, very powerful forces will try to convince us all to get back to normal. (That never happened. What are you talking about?) Billions of dollars will be spent on advertising, messaging, and television and media content to make you feel comfortable again. It will come in the traditional forms — a billboard here, a hundred commercials there — and in new-media forms: a 2020–2021 generation of memes to remind you that what you want again is normalcy."
https://forge.medium.com/prepare-for-the-ultimate-gaslighting-6a8ce3f0…
sveng · 2020-01-19
That is interesting; here’s another from Ryan Holiday that goes deeper:
https://forge.medium.com/the-incredible-creative-power-of-the-index-ca…