Create with a purpose — Cool Wears off. Useful Never Does.

it’s easy to put your head down and just work on what you think needs to be done.

It’s a lot harder to pull your head up and ask why. Purpose is what drives fulfilment in every single micro task your doing. Here are some important questions we ask ourselves at Hero to ensure that we are doing work that matters 👇

• Wait, why the f@*ck are we actually doing this?

Ever find yourself working on something without knowing exactly why? Someone just told you to do it. The spreadsheet that took you two hours that gets deleted quicker than those uncomfortable sexual memes’ your aunt throws onto the family WhatsApp group. No one reads something that doesn’t remotely excited them — everything you work on, you're selling in a small way.

That’s why it’s important to always ask why you’re working on something. What is it for? Who benefits? What’s the motivation behind it? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you better understand the work itself and where to spend your time.

• What problem are you solving?

What’s the problem? Are customers confused? Are you confused? Was something not possible before that should be possible now? Sometimes when you ask these questions, you’ll find out you’re solving an imaginary problem. That’s when it’s time to stop and reevaluate what the bloody hell you are doing. Valuable businesses solve real problems by talking to real people.

• Is this actually useful?

Are you making something useful or are you just making something? It’s easy to confuse enthusiasm with usefulness. Sometimes it’s fine to play a bit and make something cool. Pass me a flat white and Adobe Illustrator and, well, nothing will happen I’m useless — I still don’t know how to unlock a layer, but you get the point. Eventually you’ve got to stop and ask yourself if it’s useful. Cool wears off. Useful never does.

• Will this change behaviour?

Is what you’re working on really going to change anything? Don’t add something unless it has real impact on how people use your product or service.

• Is this really the easiest way?

Whenever you’re working on something, ask, “Is there an easier way?” You’ll often find this way is more than good enough for now. Problems are usually pretty simple. We just imagine that they require hard solutions. Why? well it’s quite simple — hard solutions require more of our time and attention which ultimately makes us feel useful and justifies all the “hard work” we have put in. No one gives a shit how hard you work. It’s the output that matters.

So… Let’s not be scared to be real about what we are working on 🙌

We start the week at Hero telling each other how much time we wasted the week before. Often, realising that Cam’s long winded Key Note project plans are about as useful as Facebook Stories. These questions over time become a natural part of your thought process.