The Hustlers and the Humans: Finding Purpose and Growth in Startups
Move Fast and Break People #2
You’ve probably seen it by now.
About a week ago, Basecamp CEO Jason Fried tweeted the following message and ignited a passionate debate that spanned the far reachers of VC/ Founder/Startup Twitter for a few days:
Fried’s message is clear and direct (and arguably uncontroversial): if you find yourself in an environment with unhealthy work conditions or schedules, you should probably leave.
Yet as it made its way across Twitter last week, Fried’s seemingly sensible take morphed into an ad hoc referendum on hard work and what it takes to succeed. Two distinct camps formed as this conversation developed: The Hustlers and the Humans.
Far from the typical vacuous Twitter-spat, the arguments employed by each of these two quickly-emerging factions helped uncover powerful themes in the startup world and how they relate to mental health, culture and management.
As the subtweets and comments permeated from this original message it became evident that this debate had little do with the number of hours spent at the office and much more about two common startup narratives: finding purpose and personal growth.
I wanted to unpack both world-views to help shine a light on what to make of a very worthwhile Twitter-feud.
The Hustlers
This wholly-American point of view undoubtedly has its roots in Silicon Valley. The mindset is simple enough to grasp: Working obscenely hard is the way to make it.
There are many virtues of this attitude. Companies and teams that embrace the Hustle are scrappy, nimble, efficient and get things done.
For the Hustlers, the stakes are high as noted investor and former PayPal COO David Sacks highlights:
The Hustler mindset derives purpose and meaning from the struggle. It’s an us-against-the-world, winner-take-all, whatever-it-takes world view.
Like their purpose, the Hustlers see personal growth as a zero-sum game. Trial by fire is both the best way to learn and the best way advance your skills. Don’t know how to do something? Figure it out.
In both cases, unwillingness to commit totally to solving a problem or apprehension to attacking a challenge swiftly and decisively is seen as weakness.
The Hustlers ask: “What is the point of doing something, if not committing to it 100%? What are you waiting for?”
The Humans
The Humans care a lot about working hard and succeeding, despite the criticism from Hustlers.
It’s just not the ONLY thing on their minds.
As Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke detailed in an epic thread about his commitment to working reasonable hours, building a successful company does not have to completely take over your life or the lives of your employees.
Instead of focusing on how many hours they work, the Humans place a lot of emphasis on squeezing as much out of the hours they do work. This means efficiency and productivity versus perfection and 80 hour work weeks.
Frequently cited in the Human side of the argument is Parkinson’s Law, and the idea that amount of work will expand to fill the time allotted to it.
In other words, you will always find something else to do unless you close your computer and walk away once in a while.
Where the Hustlers tend to glamorize the relentless effort required to solve big problems, the Humans like to attribute to concepts like Deep Work and extreme focus to achieve the same amount in less time.
It’s not a question of effort but what you put that effort into. For the Humans, you get to leave the office at a reasonable time because you work smarter, not harder.
In order to grow personally and achieve purpose as a company, your effort and intention should be spent on working as efficiently as possible.
There’s Meaning in Balance
So who has it right?
Despite my admiration for companies like Basecamp and Shopify, I see a fluid relationship between these two points of view.
I like working for founders like Jason Fried or Tobi Lutke who understand the importance of keeping things in perspective and creating environments where leaders and employees alike take an approach to work, growing and learning that prioritizes areas in life beyond North Star Metrics, AAR or DAUs.
Yet I can still see the allure of the Hustler mentality, especially if I really believed in the company mission. It’s motivating to be so focused on solving a problem.
So who would I rather work for? A Hustler or a Human?
As I wrote last week, I see a lot of value in finding environments that work for you. Be honest with yourself about where you’d feel comfortable.
Like so many elements related to mental health, there is not a clear “answer” here. I think the best we can hope for is understanding that you don’t have to be all one thing or another.
Maybe it’s alright that we all probably have a little of both Hustlers and Human tendencies. The real question isn’t who’s right, but rather how can we pick the right moment/environment to deploy the right part of ourselves.
Try This
I often find it difficult to cope with seemingly mundane triggers for stress and anxiety at the office. This could be something like having an idea rejected I was really passionate about, not being tagged on a doc where I could provide value or having to start over on a project after it was already far along.
That these situations and many more are daily occurrences in most companies does not make them any less significant or easier to dismiss.
At Alan, my coach and I have talked a lot about how to build a toolkit to combat this relentless stream of “small triggers.” Recently, I’ve begun a note in my phone called “The Good Stuff” where I record positive things people have said to me in my personal and professional lives.
When I feel the pinch of anxiety in my stomach at the office, I take a deep breath, open up “The Good Stuff” and read through a few comments.
Having this rolling record of positive reinforcement helps me fight off the pressure that builds over the course of a work week.
What do you think? Would this help you?
Thanks for reading. Happy New Year 🍾
Sign up to the Move Fast and Break People newsletter below:
