Falling to Shiny Object Syndrome… again

Applying concept to reality whilst exploring the difference between distractions and opportunities

Abstract

I have had the idea to write about Shiny Object Syndrome for a while, and after talking about distractions it was only right.

If you haven’t heard of Shiny Object Syndrome, what would first come to mind?

For me, I went straight to something visual but it is very much the opposite.

After some reading I realised it simply coins a common experience…

We have all been there, where we have said that an initiative, idea, or single opportunity is all that we need, then proceed to realise that it wasn’t what we once thought it was.

One idea.

One approach.

One end result.

With such a linear and one-dimensional expectation, retrospectively you would question yourself as to how you thought life had become so simple all of a sudden.

But when knee-deep in an exciting and new idea, it can be difficult to pull ourselves out of it and perhaps recognise that we have been chasing a shiny object.

This thought piece will give insight into what a shiny object is, factors that may increase your susceptibility to them, and ways to minimise their impact on you.

Discussion

What is Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS)?

When researching and coming across a variety of definitions, there was a common trend I found that was a key element of SOS.

It was the tendency of a person to be short-sighted when exploring and pursuing new opportunities, which meant that the person would jump the gun and act without a plan or strategy.

But first to make it clear, these new opportunities are not the ones that you would pre-empt, and more often than not are frankly unrelated to your current focus.

These are distractions, and are what we call ‘shiny objects’.

From what I found, the description of the behaviour exhibited when we become distracted by shiny objects is synonymous with the behaviour of a baby/young child.

What was commonly referred to was their behaviour when being attracted to the novelty of unfamiliar objects and then losing interest quickly, only to move onto another object.

I found this interesting and tried to relate it back to my experiences in order to contextualise what this may mean for us.

Although there was not a unifying definition for the phenomenon, from what I read, succumbing to a shiny object is the equivalent of acting on a whim.

This is because, without consideration as to whether a new trend, idea, or direction actually aligns with your long-term goal or aim, it is just a matter of time until you recognise how relevant and important this new thing is.

If I were to give a definition of Shiny Object Syndrome, it would go as follows:

‘The habit of succumbing to our instinctual bias to action when encountering a new idea or opportunity, without careful consideration as to the feasibility of them and whether they align with our long-term strategy.’

I say habit here because we have all been distracted by shiny objects before.

However, to repeatedly be distracted is what arguably makes it a ‘syndrome’.

• A syndrome is a type of negative behaviour or mental state that is typical of a person in a particular situation.

In this case, to be distracted by a shiny object often is what seems to make it a syndrome.

We will explore what this looks like in reality alongside our ability to notice when we are possibly being led astray.

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Shiny Object Syndrome in motion

Is it a fair judgement to say with more freely available information that Shiny Object Syndrome appears now more than ever?

By being inundated with new information day-by-day, week after week, perhaps we have less time to analyse the things that come our way?

Shiny Object Syndrome can have impacts in the short and long-term, as dependent on the distractions you face, these could change your direction entirely or just be a quick detour from what you currently do.

When researching on the topic, I came across various examples of new entrepreneurs having the tendency to be distracted by a shiny object which can damage their business.

This could be a random project for example that is formed on the belief that a certain trend is the next big thing.

But what I have tried to do is apply this idea to people who are not entrepreneurs.

In my experience, I have noticed that there are many initiatives and pathways that seem to be shiny objects.

Sometimes the availability of resources and the context of our environment can prompt us to be more susceptible to shiny objects.

One example of this is podcasting.

Awareness of podcasting has steadily been on a rise and many have seen it as an effective way of listening to current affairs, investigations, a variety of entertainment and much more.

However, on the topic of entertainment, recently podcasts have exploded in popularity as an opportunity to become a content creator, where the allure is the idea of just talking.

The thing that everyone does right?

It sounds easy, but many forget that there has to be a strategy for how you add value to the listener.

However, the urge to get started now (and act on a whim) is real.

Equipment has become more affordable than ever, meaning it is even easier to fall into the role of a podcaster as a result of it being a shiny object.

But we do have the ability to decrease our susceptibility to shiny objects, and we will explore how taking a step back can enable you to judge whether a new trend/opportunity is for you.

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Navigating Shiny Objects

From my perspective, your susceptibility to shiny objects is dependent on the clarity and confidence you have in yourself to make meaningful strides in the right direction.

The reason I think both have an influence is because the stronger your plan and strategy, the less reactive you would be to things unrelated to them.

However, when you are reactive, how do you know whether something is an opportunity or just a distraction?

In my experience it is a case of adopting new trends in my own time and only acknowledging them fully when they are a mainstay.

In some cases, the returns lie from early on but also come with the risk of uncertainty.

However, when the trend offers lucrative returns, the opportunity cost between these returns and uncertainty are imbalanced.

We may see trends in mainstream media or through intently chasing our interests, but by waiting for when we can dedicate focused time on understanding what the trend is, this can save us time, energy, and in the example I am about to give, billions of dollars.

Shiny objects have the potential to take the world by storm, and often it can feel like the same old story where we feature a case study to contextualise what shiny objects can look like on a larger scale.

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We will analyse the historical case of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX, a cryptocurrency hedge fund and exchange, who in March of this year was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Photo by Dylan Calluy on Unsplash

But before we get into the details, I decided to look into the press before the truth unfolded.

You can see from 2021 to early November 2022 the type of narrative that surrounded SBF, with praises from the largest financial news sources and articles, such as Forbes, the Financial Times, and Bloomberg.

He had them all fooled.

Here are examples of subtitles used by Forbes and the Financial Times:

• Forbes, Oct 6, 2021: “FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried has amassed $22.5 billion before turning 30 by profiting off the cryptocurrency boom – but he’s not a true believer. He just wants his wealth to survive long enough to give it all away.”

• Financial Times, July 4, 2021: “Sam Bankman-Fried is worth $8.7bn, shares an apartment with roommates, wears T-shirts and shorts to work, and sleeps on bean bag chairs.”

In an already cryptic industry, the largest news and media outlets alongside many influential people failed to be sceptical as to how SBF’s fortune was made.

Sidenote: Looking back again, just think about the months between these two headlines and the difference in the wealth of SBF.

The news outlets were invested in the extraordinary story, ‘the rise’ and how he moves as the richest man for someone of his age.

To round off the story, SBF’s parents were also law professors at Stanford University, a university ranked 6th in the world by The Times.

November 2022.

Evidence of fraud began to surface as another crypto exchange called Binance announced on X (then Twitter) that they were going to sell their holdings in FTX.

These holdings were worth approximately $529 million and caused the value of the token that was being invested in (FTT) to drop in value by 80%.

All of this happened within the space of two days, to which others rushed to withdraw their own funds, causing something similar to a bank run.

A bank run is when many customers withdraw their deposits from a bank due to fear of failure.

This led to Sam’s firm, FTX collapsing and going bankrupt.

The reason for this were as a result of numerous suspicions of fraud and misappropriation of funds, and due to its scale, he could have faced up to 115 years in prison.

28th March 2024.

Fast forward now and SBF has been charged for defrauding customers and investors through his crypto exchange FTX.

25 years in jail, forced to give up $11 billion.

The same Bankman-Fried that was included on the 2021 list of Forbes 30 Under 30 was now included on Forbes 2023 Hall of Shame list, featuring ten picks the publication wishes it could take back.

Once dubbed the ‘crypto king’, Sam successfully cultivated a convincing façade which allowed his fraudulent behaviour to go under the radar.

With a popularist persona and the buzz around crypto since 2020, this worked as a powerhouse behind the herd mentality which led to many people not doing their due diligence and losing out.

Overarching this case, is the shiny object of cryptocurrency, but especially in these terms it was actually Sam himself who was a shiny object.

Many also saw his ownership of FTX and created an association between his cryptocurrency and a hollow outer appearance.

If you search his name today, you will see the fallout of his crimes and the trials of those who assisted him in his fraud.

One thing this all circles back to is the known fact that influencers and finance never go together, yet time after time after time people still fall victim to the association.

Although SBF wasn’t your ordinary influencer, the press that surrounded him built trust, credibility, and loyalty from his investors.

When circling back to shiny objects now, the extreme example in this case is the million-dollar difference between someone who ran towards FTX as an investment option pre-November 2022 and someone who watched from the sidelines.

At no point did I see an explanation for SBF’s fortunes, and it was just accepted that in a highly technical sector of investments that the CEO of a profitable cryptocurrency hedge fund and exchange could possibly do no wrong.

Despite this, many poured their funds into FTX, to which billions of dollars were being siphoned to SBF himself and the companies to which he was affiliated.

If you were to watch from a distance, yes you would miss out on the trend and there may be a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out).

But in cases similar to this, at least you would better hedge your risk and continue moving towards the destination you intended (which would be to have a significant return on investment) rather than being distracted by the press.

If you were to step back, despite the overwhelming press, you may have recognised this as a shiny object and an unpredictable shortcut.

Instead, you could have used the information available to inform you of your strategy, and then decide if it is of interest to you.

Away from crypto and to shiny objects in general, something to take away from this case is defining things in your own terms.

In future, this could save you time, as if you know of something’s capabilities but use it intentionally, this reduces the uncertainty when trying something new.

This is opposed to figuring something out without a basic picture of what it is about.

Alongside this, when looking at new possibilities in your own time, you will be equipped with other’s opinions and second-hand experience which can cultivate a fuller picture and provide assurance over this new thing.

In general, investing time, money, and energy into something that is not related to your main priority and has little information surrounding it from your view is a waste of time, especially when it interferes with the current system you have.

Despite this, we may have been guilty of hopping onto trends on the premise they might be of benefit to us.

Sometimes this could be to no avail, but in the short-term, it may have been necessary to put thoughts at bay and close a feedback loop.

From what I’ve learnt so far about SOS, it is more about tunnel-vision, chasing, and generally an uncontrolled approach to something new.

The simple solution?

Sit on the idea.

After all, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Conclusion

When reading about Shiny Object Syndrome, I saw a blog calling it a disease of distraction.

Considering the adverse effects that continuous deviation from our targets can have, I couldn’t agree more.

As referred to before, the syndrome is usually affiliated with entrepreneurs, where I questioned whether their drive to succeed is coming from the right place.

Are they trying to reach a personal target or just trying to grow as fast as possible?

An entrepreneurial mindset may confuse overcoming the fear of uncertainty around something new with a shiny object, so it may be difficult in the moment to calm the anticipation of what it could be.

In my research though, I found that SOS is very much about reacting when uninformed rather than seeing the good in the opportunity itself.

The main issue with shiny objects is what it takes away from your priorities.

Time, effort, and sometimes your direction altogether.

In the next post, we will explore how to avoid shiny objects as much as possible and take a deep dive into potential solutions that can assist us in our approach to new ideas and opportunities.

P.S.

How many times have you been distracted by a shiny object?

Shiny objects are often disguised as advice and tips. How do you differentiate distraction from opportunity?