Four years of EverestEngineering

A letter to the cofounder from the world's highest post office

Hi Craig,

I am writing this letter from Komic, the world’s highest village, and I am posting the letter from the world’s highest post office in Hikkim. I rode close to 4,800 km on my bike to get here. I am pondering on organizational scaling, and I wanted to share a few of my thoughts.

If Rome was not built in a day, how long did it take? Eight hundred years. All great companies are created in a few seconds of dreams that generate value, followed by execution. All great ideas spark in a few seconds and become great companies soon. Except, in reality, it is not. Apart from dreams, they happen in movies.

Adam Smith talks about the pin factory in The Wealth of Nations:

“The trade of a pin-maker: a workman not educated to this business which the division of labour has rendered a distinct trade, nor acquainted with the use of the machinery employed init (to the invention of which the same division of labour has probably given occasion), could scarce, perhaps, with his utmost industry, make one pin in a day, and certainly could not make twenty. But in the way in which this business is now carried on, not only the whole work is a peculiar trade, but it is divided into a number of branches, of which the greater part are likewise peculiar trades. One man draws out the wire; another straights it; a third cuts it; afourth points it; a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head; to make the head requires two or three distinct operations; to put it on is a peculiar business; to whiten the pins is another; it is even a trade by itself to put them into the paper; and the important business of making a pin is, in this manner, divided into about eighteen distinct operations, which, in some manufactories, are all performed by distinct hands, though in others the same man will sometimes perform two or three of them. I have seen a small manufactory of this kind, where ten men only were employed, and where some of them consequently performed two or three distinct operations. But though they were very poor, and therefore but indifferently accommodated with the necessary machinery, they could, when they exerted themselves, make among them about twelve pounds of pins in a day. There are in a pound upwards of four thousand pins of a middling size. Those ten persons, therefore, could make among them upwards of forty-eight thousand pins in a day. Each person, therefore, making a tenth part of forty-eight thousand pins, might be considered as making four thousand eight hundred pins in a day. But if they had all wrought separately and independently, and without any of them having been educated to this peculiar business, they certainly could not each of them have made twenty, perhaps not one pin in a day; that is, certainly, not the two hundred and fortieth, perhaps not the four thousand eight hundredth, part of what they are at present capable of performing, in consequence of a proper division and combination of their different operations.”

While this book was published in 1776, the core idea is still relevant: that a group of people collaborating can be more productive than working alone. Equipped with people, knowledge, connectivity, tools, and automation, how much more value can we generate for our customers? Scaling by collaborating better is what makes companies stand out. I would like to share a few principles that can keep us autonomous, grounded, and collaborative while we are scaling.

Every day is Day 1

We have experienced many new restaurants that are excited on Day 1 and offer a lot of value to customers. Then, after a bit of success and revenue, they start taking things for granted. A kind of complacency(casualness) comes in. When we recall Day 1, we would not have that complacency.

Another example is a personal relationship. The first time you meet and speak to someone, you want them in your life. You put all your energy into impressing them. Nothing is more important than them. You arrive early to meet them. Once they become part of you, you take them for granted. That is Day 2. You make them wait for dinner. On Day 3, the relationship disappears. The same applies to companies.

Don’t most companies start with a great dream and immense hunger? Some successes are coming; we see complacency while people, customers, and the budget are taken for granted. Likewise, people join companies with great dreams and motivation. We must increase people’s motivation.

“How would I do this if it was Day 1?” “What and who am I taking for granted?” “How can I keep my team motivated?”

Clear the debt mindset

Long ago, there once was a princess. In her youth, she started to rule the kingdom and wanted to create the planet’s best empire. She ordered her ministers to find the best benefits empires offered around the world. She always wondered why the rulers did not provide all the best benefits to the people. She granted all the benefits she had heard of. Hearing about these benefits, many soldiers migrated from other kingdoms. Eventually, she realized that her treasure was running out. She removed each of the benefits. Many soldiers started migrating to other kingdoms. She lost half of her existing soldiers. She then learnt what her parents learnt from Dan Ariely: loss aversion. Loss aversion is the tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains.

It is best to have the mindset of running on debt and acting to clear the debts. It is a good way to make decisions on expenses and benefits.

It is easy to give and hard to take back. I remember, initially, we couldn’t hire more people, as we couldn’t afford laptops. So, we were cautious with laptops, service costs, and other expenses.

“Would we give this discount if there was debt?” “Is there a chance that we can pull this benefit off in the future?” “Can we offer this during the pandemic?”

Progress is better than perfection

As we scale, a few processes, people, and tools become bottlenecks. Symptoms of this are delayed outcomes. Two or more people working together block others from progressing. Subjectively, all of them will be right. Excellence is important but not at the cost of delaying decisions, annoying colleagues, hindering work–life balance, and creating bottlenecks, anxiety, or stress. This does not mean you should be completely laid back, but you should prioritise better collaboration and decision-making.

“Am I blocking progress for perfection?” “Can we see the big picture, and is this aligned with the organizational goals?” “What is the risk of going faster on this decision?” “Am I afraid of failure?” “Can I break this into smaller wins?”

Reduce organizational waste

We have 60 open roles, yet we have 40 people on the bench. Organizational waste comes in different forms. The easy one to start with is from the revenue and costs perspective — software licenses, hardware repairs, unpaid invoices, underused servers, and fines for late payments. Some other wastes involve people’s time, such as coming late to meetings, making people repeat, and having bad operational setups like weak internet signals and unclear audio.

Building something wrong by not understanding the requirements is another type of waste. Gossip and unhealthy discussions are forms of toxic waste. Skipping good practices like retros, feedback, CI/CDs, and DevOps will create collaboration waste.

“Am I taking others’ time for granted?” “Is this conversation adding value to our team?” “Is this tool really required?” “Can this be automated?”

Pragmatic transparency

When an organization scales, it is tough to be very transparent. The reason for transparency is to generate trust and help individuals and teams make informed decisions. A bit of searching can show reasonable evidence that more transparency is not always right. Privacy is also equivalently important. For example, making salaries public is difficult.

Missing or inaccessible information also causes assumptions and delays decisions. Additionally, we lose valuable insights, which will blur our projections and foresight. Incorrect data also breaks trust and generates waste. For example, the staffing team projects that 60 people will be on the bench by next month’s end. This projection helps the sales team align the new sales. Once the discussion starts, a quick look shows that 20 people are not coming on the bench; the client has not confirmed their extensions. This mistake in data frustrates people, and the conversation shifts to addressing why the data is wrong. Since no more trust exists in that data, the 40 people on the bench are going to wait longer.

Pragmatic transparency requires creating and sharing all the necessary information, with quick and timely access, and the insights for the individual and teams, to make better decisions. This requires people to be accountable to ensure the information is up to date.

“Am I blocked with this missing information?” “Why do I need this information?”

Question status quo

Just as even good bridges break when the load exceeds the capacity, a well-defined process breaks as we scale. It is essential to question the status quo, which is hard. Challenging the status quo follows change, which is harder. It resembles bridge reinforcement; people are annoyed with the diversions during the work, but soon they appreciate the betterment of broader bridges. When bottlenecks occur, question the status quo. Use platforms like retros and surveys to discover better methods. Collecting feedback from new team members is a good way of perceiving the status quo. They come with fresh eyes and are not used to the usual methods.

“Is this process enhancing us or slowing us?” “Is scaling the team easier? What is coming our way?”

Be a prepared soldier

Celebrating success along the way is important, but not to the extent that we become blind to what is ahead of us. Casual armies celebrate victory in battles so much that they lose the war. A soldier is always prepared. A great soldier wakes up early, is physically ready, keeps tools ready (so they won’t get stuck), and wears all the protection, and is half-awake in the night. You are sure to win any war when such a soldier is beside you.

You need always to be prepared and have that foresight. Keep up to date on knowledge, tools, and practices. If you add collaboration to this recipe, you will be a very valuable person, not only to the team or organization but anywhere.

“Am I celebrating too much?” “What are my blindspots?” “Am I up-to-date with my knowledge?” “Do I have the right tools?”

Power

Many go after power but don’t know what to do with it once they have it. Power has made many people blind, which is the reason for a lot of suffering in the world. If we can transfer the power of taking to the power of sharing, the world will be a much better place. Compassion and empathy keep people and companies grounded. I would be thankful for all the leaders who have used their power in the right ways to make the world a better place.

If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. — Toni Morrison

Let us build a better world together.

Regards,

Ranganathan B