How Being an "Infinite Learner" Helped Barry Diller Become a 4-Time Master of Scale
Photography by Angelica Ekeke

How Being an "Infinite Learner" Helped Barry Diller Become a 4-Time Master of Scale

It's hard enough to be a Master of Scale; to earn that title, you have to have both the opportunity and skill to build a world-leading company or organization. Now imagine how difficult it is to be a 4-time Master of Scale — in two domains that are radically different.

That's exactly what Barry Diller has done. In what is almost certainly a unique trifecta, Barry has been a Master of Scale in television (twice), the movies, and the Internet. Barry invented the TV movie and the mini-series, led Paramount from the worst major studio to the #1 movie studio seven years in a row, created the Fox television network, and then went from media mogul to internet mogul with IAC, which owns Expedia, Tinder, and many other major internet businesses. To put it another way, it's as if -- before founding Facebook -- Mark Zuckerberg had founded NBC and launched the Marvel superhero movie franchise!

How did he do it? Barry Diller is a poster child for the power of being what I call an “Infinite Learner.” He's the type of person who has to always be learning. As he said, on this week's Masters of Scale podcast: “If I'm not learning, I'm asleep.” I relate. And I suspect many of you will too. If you, like many of the entrepreneurs I work with, feel this urgent need to constantly learn, invent, and tackle problems that haven't been solved yet, this episode is for you.

Barry's career illustrates how you can turn naivete into an asset, by learning everything about a particular topic, and then using that knowledge to question everything people believe about it. You'll hear how the three years he spent in the William Morris mail room rummaging through dusty, decades-old filing cabinets gave him the greatest education in the entertainment business. You'll learn why Barry said of taking over the Paramount movie studio, “It wasn't until I saw how awful it was, how crazy and mismanaged, that I got excited!” And he'll tell you in his own words why he thinks exhaustion is a key driver of creativity.

You'll also hear how Dropbox CEO Drew Houston used Amazon's search box to learn all about business, and why Alexa Christon of GE thinks the most important question in business is, “Is there a better way?” Barry and I even talk about why being infinite learners makes both of us bad employees.

As always, I'd like to hear your thoughts and reactions to this episode. Do you consider yourself an infinite learner? What do you read or listen to (besides this podcast) to help you be an infinite learner? What is an example where learning everything about a topic helped you to question everything about it?

Please write a short post on your LinkedIn newsfeed to share your answers with the wider community. Tag your post #mastersofscale so I can find it. And if you’d like, tweet it at me (@ReidHoffman) and @MastersOfScale.

Tony Dennis Morisause I

Social Entrepreneur | Strategic Management | Electrical Engineer

6y

I am life-long student, observing and learning everything in every encounter. Appreciate your sharing.

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Reply

Ponder the path of your feet , And let all your ways be established.

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Deb Levine

Driving Transformation in Reproductive Health Education | Public Health | Equity Advocate | Strategic Innovator | Nonprofit Leadership

6y

Love this! Learning every day!

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sulekha paliya

Software Implementation,Digital Transformation, IT Business Analyst, Techno-Functional, Training,Product Owner

6y

Wow

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K.V. Simon

The Lamb's Book of Life

6y

The day we stop learning we stop living . We must be continual learners applying the learning with wisdom and discernment . Life and work are perpetual and perennial learning labs .

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