First, we believe all-in super-overachievers share a cluster of personality traits very closely aligned with what psychologists call obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, or OCPD.

In Obsessed with Success, we used John Wooden as an example to illustrate some of the OCPD tendencies we see in most all-in super-overachievers, including a preoccupation with order, perfectionism, and attention to detail.

Fortunately for us as investors, this cluster of personality traits forms early in life. Psychologists tell us OCPD traits typically emerge in teenagers or people in their early twenties. That gives us a window of opportunity to identify these traits in leaders before they achieve the extraordinary.

Clearly only a tiny fraction of people with OCPD tendencies become all-in super-overachievers. The difference between mere mortals with OCPD and all-in super-overachievers is the latter have somehow found a way to channel their OCPD tendencies into highly productive activities. Mortals with OCPD wash their hands incessantly. All-in super-overachievers work on the details of human flight or winning championships or creating value.

We believe the ability to channel OCPD tendencies into highly productive activities also emerges early in life. In other words, we believe it is possible to identify OCPD traits and also determine whether those traits are channeled into productive activities early in the career of a business leader. 

One tool that many all-in super-overachievers use to channel OCPD tendencies into productive activities is some sort of self-constructed behavioral framework. All-in super-over achievers love frameworks that guide not only their activities but the activities of the people around them.

In All-In Super-Overachievers, we used Ben Franklin, the godfather of the all-in super-overachiever class, to illustrate the use of self-constructed frameworks that emerge with astonishing regularity among all-in super-overachievers. All-in super-overachievers are systematic; they create frameworks specifically designed for achievement and accomplishment. They work within those frameworks.

Franklin had his thirteen virtues. Wooden his pyramid for success. Buffett had his investment framework. Nearly all all-in super-overachievers we have studied operate within one of these self-constructed frameworks. Some of the frameworks are explicit, like the thirteen virtues. Others more subtle.   

The intriguing thing about these frameworks is our all-in super-overachievers developed them early in life. The frameworks were not developed for some sort of post-retirement lecture circuit. The framework came first, success later. The frameworks were developed early in life as a blue print for future behavior.

Wooden developed his pyramid for success when he coached at the Indiana State Teachers College in 1948, sixteen years before his first championship. Franklin was just twenty years old when he penned his thirteen virtues. Buffett likely started on his investment framework before the age of twenty.

This type of activity is very unusual for a teenager, yet is typical among our all-in super-overachievers. These frameworks are blue prints for future success, almost always created by the all-in super-overachiever him or herself. 

Second, all-in super-overachievers have perfected the art of iteration. In A Little Closer to Perfect, we described how Steve Jobs compared the business processes at Apple with John Lennon writing songs. Both are iterative processes. They iterate, they iterate, they iterate. At some point along the path of endless iterations, the product crosses the line from ordinary to extraordinary. All-in super-overachievers push iteration to a level far beyond what most mortals can tolerate.

All-in super-overachievers are committed to a lifetime of self-improvement. Self-improvement, which at its core is nothing but a penchant for endless iteration, runs deep in their veins. 

In The Omaha Paradox, we described how Warren Buffett’s largest investment to date would likely have never occurred had his investment framework remained rigid over the years. He too iterates. He not only improved his investment framework over time, but he improved the execution of important elements within the framework, especially, as he once pointed out, the analysis of people. Apple Inc. at the time we wrote that piece represented 25% of Berkshire’s market capitalization, an investment that Buffett in all likelihood would have never pulled the trigger on had he not iterated.

Third, all-in super-overachievers have no need for external validation. Whereas most of us have a need for some sort of positive feedback, the all-in super-overachievers have no such need. They walk alone. No entourage telling then what to do. No consultants. No investment bankers. They have their framework. They live by their framework. They tune out distractions.

In, Defiant, we used Henry Singleton as an example of this unique characteristic. He just didn’t care what others thought of him. All-in super-overachievers have rigid self-imposed internal standards. They work every day to meet those standards and they also expect others around them to strive for those standards. They ignore critics of their framework.

When a suitable light-weight internal combustion engine didn’t exist to power their machine, the Wright brothers designed and built their own. When doubts emerged about the so-called lift tables that existed at the time, the Wright brothers built a wind tunnel, conducted experiments, and developed their own lift tables. When propeller designs of the day proved ineffective, the brothers designed and built their own propeller. They accomplished all this with no electricity, no external funding, and essentially no formal education.

That is the power of an all-in super-overachiever. They get the details right.

In The Priceless Investment Value of Exceptional Leadership, we described the importance of the people side of equity research. For investors with investment horizons measured in days or weeks, the people running the companies they invest in make little difference. For investors with investment horizons measured in years or even decades, the people running the companies they invest in make all the difference.

While good business leaders matched with good business models usually make good investments, our all-in super-overachievers are by themselves the investment. While Walmart was his vehicle, Sam Walton was the real investment. Likewise with Warren Buffett, Henry Singleton, and Steve Jobs. All-in super-over-achievers create their own opportunities. They create their own value.