All in Life
Startups need to be scrappy to succeed. They need to push the boundaries of their markets, take advantage of all avenues and market rules to not only get their product to market but to compete with the bigger, more established players.
While it’s a nice idea to think that if they simply develop a great product, customers will flock to them, the fact of the matter is that a head to head battle against the market leader doesn’t usually end well for anyone but the incumbent.
In his first letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, wrote:
“In every business we pursue, we’re constantly experimenting and inventing. We’re divinely discontented with customer experiences, whether they’re our own or not. We believe these customer experiences can always be better, and we strive to make customers’ lives better and easier every day.
There's an allure to the grand strategy, the flourish and ambition behind the work we do. We love the exciting, glamorous and sexy parts, because that gets noticed.
And while those aspects of our work are indeed important, of far more importance is the more detailed, granular executional work, as I discuss in today's episode.
Chris Brogan, a writer whose thinking I really admire, recently wrote about the idea of freedom and the struggle so many of us face between our decision to lead (which requires venturing into the unknown) or be led (where we’re told what we should be doing), especially when it comes to our work.
To illustrate this idea, he included in his most recent email (which I’d highly recommend you subscribe to), a quote from Loki, from the Marvel Comic Book Universe, as he subjugates a crowd of people:
The idea of balance - and its importance - is discussed by all and sundry as being key to a healthy life. And it is - in the long term.
But in the short term? Balance doesn't move you forward, and it doesn't help you achieve greatness, as I discuss in today's podcast.
In the list of priorities of any organization, and specifically the management team, keeping everyone happy cannot be high up there. Any mission and its related strategy will - if done with concerted intent, structured focus and ability to execute in mind - polarize. That is, it will have its proponents and its detractors.
And if you, as a leader, have done your homework and have determined that that strategy is fit for purpose and the best path forward, then bringing everyone along cannot be a priority.
One of the hardest but most valuable abilities we can develop is the ability to maintain strength in our convictions, our beliefs and our vision. This is true in all walks of life, but particularly so where you’ve been tasked with achieving a specific objective or leading a team towards a particular end goal.
In that quest, you are called upon to define the specific path, chart out how best to navigate it, and then, as you embark on the journey, bring others with you.
Judging someone's character is a difficult thing to do. A one-off incident or action shouldn't be taken out of context (with a few exceptions) and presumed to represent the entirety of who someone is.
But patterns are different. If the behavior is repeated, if it's recurring, it tells you something. Patterns matter.
There’s an adrenaline rush, a state of heightened performance, that comes with growth, when things are going well. It’s a positive state because it’s a sign that others value what we’re doing and, by definition, in increasing numbers.
All of us want that kind of growth for our enterprises (and ourselves) because it is a sign that things are working. That kind of growth motivates the organization and pushes us to believe, commit ourselves and achieve more. All good things.
The success of whatever we do depends, without question, on our people. It's a cliche but it's true.
So it's important when formulating our teams, to make sure we have the the right "ingredients" in place - not only technically but philosophically. The wrong ingredients will ruin the entire dish, which is the topic of today's episode.
We throw around the word "partnership" pretty loosely. And often, when we do, we're sincere about it. But it's easy to talk about partnerships when there's nothing at stake.
You really find out whether you have a real partnership (or not) when problems arise. And in those moments, there's one trait that matters above all else, as I discuss in today's episode.
Near the end of Crypto.com’s SuperBowl commercial earlier this year, in which Lebron James goes back in time to talk to his 17 year old self, the younger Lebron asks his future self what’s most on his mind:
“Is the hype too much? Am I ready?”
He’s looking for reassurance, of course, some certainty that the choices he’s about to make, the risks he’s about to take, are the right ones. Valid concerns for a 17 year old.
There’s a peculiar thing about the internet, and social media, in particular.
While it is this incredible and unparalleled form of communication, with a versatility and reach we’ve never seen before, it’s not without its issues (and material ones at that).
Central among these issues is that, while it’s ostensibly an objective and ‘fair’ medium, it also has the capacity - conceptually and practically - to set the world (or at least some relevant, targeted universe) on fire.
LinkedIn is now giving people the option of adding a career break to their profiles. Instead of having an unexplained time gap between positions, you now have the option of adding a more specific (and appropriate) description of why you were in-between (traditional) jobs.
The options range from those we might expect (Full Time Parenting and Professional Development) to those we might not (Bereavement, Personal Goal Pursuit, Gap Year, Travel and Voluntary Work).
The “Armchair Quarterback” really is a thing.
In fact, it’s alive and well in each one of us. Time and again, we’ve all taken on that role in one form or another. Whether it’s politics, business or sports, we’ve watched, listened and assessed, and then provided our own commentary on what the answer should have been.
There’s a passage in Ayn Rand’s book, The Fountainhead, where the central character, Howard Roark, lays out his personal rules for Architecture. He says:
"Here are my rules: what can be done with one substance must never be done with another. No two materials are alike. No two sites on earth are alike.
It's always struck me as odd that anyone would choose - over the long term - to do work that meant little or nothing to them.
I get that can be the case in the short term, but in the long term, what we do for a living matters, as I discuss in today's episode. Make it count.
Change doesn’t arise of its own accord. It needs a catalyst. And that catalyst usually comes in the form of pain, problems and (material) discomfort.
Charlize Theron, when commenting on the origins of the #MeToo movement said, “I think at the beginning of every revolution, there’s this opening of a wound.” Intuitively, we understand that - wounds instigates change, and that’s certainly what’s happened there.
A while ago, a good friend of mine sold his company in what was regarded by all parties as a wildly successful outcome. In a little over a decade, he had taken it from an idea to a material, profitable entity, one that was valued enough to be bought out by a major industry player.
From the outside looking in, then, every decision he ever made looked to be validated…
Today's episode is short and sweet. It's about something Brene Brown shared about a core realization of midlife.
And that is that we need to let go of our armor, let go of all the protections we put up. That, in order to become ourselves, we need to become vulnerable.
