Reading Notes - The System [Scott Adams]

Monday, August 31, 2026 — I started reading Scott Adams' book [The System]

I still have one chapter left before finishing, but I want to organize the memorable parts I've read so far and apply them to my new life.

Your boss's boss's boss

Strangely, this phrase caught my attention.

I worked as an elementary school teacher from March 2009 to February 2024,

and then from March 2024 to June 2026, I worked at a regular company, experiencing a completely different environment.

I think the reason I left the company in June is related to my boss.

Now, as the head of a one-person company, I work alone and have no boss.

Even during my time as an elementary school teacher, there was an approval chain of teacher → head teacher → vice principal → principal,

but since I had a lot of independence and decision-making power as a homeroom teacher, I never felt stress about a boss.

It was only when I joined the company that I first came to understand relationships with a boss.

I was given the title of "manager" in some recognition of my teaching career, and at first I didn't think much about the title,

but a few months ago, when I decided to resign, my boss's influence played a big part.

When thinking about services for teachers, my ideas and my boss's ideas differed.

I tried to persuade him with plenty of logic, experience, and research, but he couldn't budge from his own boss's opinion.

That's when I finally understood the structure of the company — that as a manager, my opinion could only move forward if I persuaded and won approval all the way up to my boss's boss's boss.

So I resigned in June without any regrets.

Now, as the head of a one-person company, my ideas become results directly, and with AI helping me, I can turn thoughts into outcomes much faster.

Of course, compared to being at a company, there's naturally some anxiety, but since it's something I have to accomplish myself, I don't regret it.

To all the office workers out there, even those at companies with a horizontal culture...

I think having a boss's boss's boss must be tough no matter what.

Unless, of course, there's hope that if you work hard, you could eventually become that boss's boss's boss yourself.

Or unless that boss's boss's boss is someone you genuinely respect...

With a cheering heart for all working people, I also find myself thinking about how I should behave once I eventually become a boss myself.

Psychology terms you should know

Scott Adams names understanding psychology as a key skill for success.

He lists many psychology terms and introduces the idea that understanding psychology is itself a skill that leads to success.

There are far too many terms to list one by one — some I already knew, and some I was hearing for the first time.

Starting with the next post, I'll unpack these terms one by one on this blog together with AI.

Psychology is, in the end, a discipline about understanding people. And that includes me too.

If you understand yourself well and understand others, any business can succeed.

You need to know psychology and use it well — the book is packed with detailed techniques for doing exactly that.

Since the first edition was written in 2013, some of those techniques can now be replaced by AI.

If anything, that makes it even easier to acquire the skills that lead to success.

We're living through a time when it's much easier to prove the author's claim in the book that "beginner skill + beginner skill > proficient skill."

This aligns closely with what I want to emphasize in AI education as well — the importance of domain knowledge and the importance of convergence.

Systems over goals

This phrase is the core of the book.

For example, if your goal is to lose 10kg, then you're only considered successful once you've reached that exact goal.

Losing 5kg would be perceived as a failure.

So the key is to turn "exercise every day" into a system, and build a system of success out of even the smallest things — walking for 5 minutes, walking for 10 minutes, even just putting on your running shoes.

As in Atomic Habits, if you turn small successes into a system, those small wins accumulate and eventually become a big success.

In my own life too, it's usually been a series of small successes that eventually led to a big one.

Now, entering my third month as a solo founder, I want to apply small habits and systems of success to my life, building from small wins all the way up to big ones.

Written by Codingly, Thursday, September 3, 2026.