Tag: start

No idea

FabrizioLeave a comment

While everyone talks about Salesforce buying Slack, it is interesting to look at how Slack came to be.

Its founder Stewart Butterfield really wanted to make a great video game. He first tried with a game titled Game Neverending. You have never heard of it, because it failed, but putting together a bunch of features they had developed for that game, Stewart and colleagues came up with Flickr. Which you might have heard of, and sold to Yahoo! for 20 something million dollars. Later on he tried again, this time with a game titled Glitch. Fortunately for him, that did not work either, and while developing the game, Stewart and colleagues had put together a funny tool for internal communication, that later became Slack.

The point is, Stewart had no idea. He did not have any great master plan to build Slack (or Flickr), any recipe for the success of his video games, any routine or ritual that would make him smarter, faster, eventually richer.

He was lucky.

And he was (probably still is) in the habit of doing.

Now you can go and read “The 3 steps to make your startup successful”, or “Rich entrepreneurs typically do these 5 things (first thing in the morning)”.

Or you can start shipping. You already know what and how.

[…] this, by the way, I think is the greatest software development methodology that’s impossible to replicate, which is, don’t think about what you’re doing, have no ego. There’s no speculation, there’s no, “I can imagine a user would want to.” To spend a minimum number of minutes addressing the most aggravating problems that you have, and just use it, and then see.

Stewart Butterfield, Masters of Scale

If, when, and how

FabrizioLeave a comment

In life, as in business, it is often not a matter of if.

Things will happen that will mess with your plans, disturb your tranquillity, challenge your assumptions, force you to review your ideas.

On the other end, it is pointless to make it a matter of when.

You can’t control change, and timing might turn into an excuse to not do things. Tomorrow, when the right situation will present itself, after we have completed this, just one more time, and so on.

It turns out it is almost always a matter of how.

You are stronger if you have a practice, if you have a strategy, if you have a purpose, if you have a culture. Not because things will not happen right when you are not expecting them, but because you have something to step onto for the following leap.

It is always the right time for doing.

Agree and disagree

Fabrizio3 Comments

Always make an effort to start with what you agree on.

We are wired to focus on the negative feedback, on the opposite opinions, on the rejections, on the new ideas. And so, we need intention to spot agreement.

Next time you get a difficult email, a new plan, a lengthy piece of feedback, a written comment, the notes from a difficult conversation, the minutes of a heated meeting. Print it out, take two markers of different color, highlight what you agree on with one and what you disagree on with the other.

Be honest and impartial. You will have set yourself on a learning path.

First, then

FabrizioLeave a comment

First perfect the making of the dough, then go buy the perfect oven and tools to cook the best pizza.

First learn to communicate transparently and effectively, then go buy the app that makes your company more open and inclusive.

First establish a practice of running, then go buy the equipment that will make you feel more like a pro.

It’s easier to start with the details that embellish the core. It makes us feel as if we are doing something important, as if we are going in the right direction. But if you do not get the core right, you have nothing to fall back onto when you realize details are just details.

Do not want and cannot

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Sometimes we mistake what we cannot do with what we do not want to do.

For example, we might say we do not want to jump in the water or dance or give that presentation in front of the whole team, while what we actually mean is we do not (yet) know how to do that. Or perhaps we feel unsure about our skills. It is not a matter of “do not want”.

Other times, we mistake what we do not want to do with what we cannot do

For example, if somebody offers a new responsibility, we might say we cannot take it as we are too busy, but certainly that is not the full story. We are most likely not very interested in the responsibility offered, or we do not want it because it might expose some of our weaknesses. In any case, it is not a matter of “cannot”.

“Do not want” and “cannot” are often used interchangeably, but they are well distinct.

“Do not want” expresses will, power, decision, acceptance. It is a brave decision, and a necessary one in many cases.

“Cannot” expresses an opportunity, incompleteness, desire, potential. It is a step on a long road, and you will get there eventually.

Using them for what they are enables our clarity and helps us focus on what matters (and of course, drop what does not). Do it with intention.