10 things I have learned over the years
Moonshots
Technology is moving at a very rapid pace. Incremental changes to your product are easy to replicate. Incremental changes may include additional features, pricing changes, added support etc. For long-term differentiation you need products which are 10-15 times better. Go big or go home!
Manager is out, Doer is in
“Manager” is obsolete. If you hire the right people, and empower them the right way - you don’t need to manage. Hiring managers just to manage only adds layer of hierarchy to the organizational structure. Modern corporations need managers who are doers as well - leaders who talk less, do more.
New generation, new style of leadership
Days of command and control are over. The new generation demands new style of leadership: “Servant leadership”. If you haven’t read the book, I strongly encourage you to pick a copy. Leaders are here to serve their employees. Think of it as an inverted organizational structure. The CEO serves the VPs, the VP serves the Directors, the Director serves the front-line employees and the front-line employee serves your customers.
Experience is overrated
Let’s start with few examples: Aaron Levie, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs. Each of these founders had zero experience in their respective industries but they completely disrupted their markets. Less experience is good. You are not tarnished by assumptions in that industry so you start questioning everything. Hire smart people, give them hard problems to solve and see magic happen.
Karma matters
Don’t give up on opportunities to earn karma points. Your colleague needs help? Jump in, even if it doesn’t benefit you in the short or long run. Majority of your day-to-day work will require assistance from your coworkers - keep those karma points handy, you can cash them later.
Shit happens
Things will go wrong. That super secret project will leak to the press. Or your service will crash once in awhile. Remember shit happens! Keep your cool and carry on. It is of paramount importance that the conversation shifts to “how it can be fixed” rather than “how it happened”. Finger pointing is a thing of the 80s.
Good always wins over Evil
Never swindle your customers or your employees. They will always discover the truth over time. It takes years to build reputation and a day to ruin it. There are tons of research which shows corporate responsibility maximizes shareholder returns.
Never never give up
This is more of a life lesson that can be applied to work. Perseverance wins! There is a saying which I am sure you have heard, “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”. Shit happens, things will fail - the key is to try, try and try till you succeed.
There is more to life than work
Your productivity at work is very much affected by what you do outside work. Encourage your employees to pursue interesting hobbies and live a fulfilling life. Ask them to read a book, go for a hike, run a marathon or take a beach vacation. Remember “great cheese comes from happy cows”.
Do your own thing
Yes! you heard me right. There will be hundreds of people advising you how to do it the right way. Let me whisper in your ears, “there is no secret formula to success”. So don’t listen to me - do your own thing, create your own list. Most importantly, stick to it.
