Coming up for Air
The most important thing I’ve learned building Readability isn’t really about building. It’s about understanding how important it is to occasionally step out of the experience of building something.
I think that when people begin an endeavor of any sort, they can’t help but situate themselves into a story arc. There’s a beginning, a tension that builds and then eventually a resolution, a final act or scene.
What I’ve learned building Readability is that you can really miss the whole experience of building something special if you keep looking ahead towards some unknown result or outcome. In the case of Readability, the product has had so many highs and lows and highs again, that it began to feel foolish to keep looking ahead for that final scene.
I’m working with amazing people, playing in a space (or industry if you will) that is undergoing enormous change, and building something that is used by millions of people every day. On top of all that, purely by chance, our little endeavor happens to be a short walk away from the icons of big publishing. I’ve had the chance to meet everyone from the powerful publishing executive to the struggling writer.
Yet I can’t help but constantly scurry. I suppose urgency and anxiety are part and parcel of the startup mindset. They’re almost necessary traits. That energy helps propel a startup forward. But be careful. You may look up one day and realize you’re not really moving forward. Instead, you’re just moving without purpose and direction.
And then every so often, you catch up with a friend:
“You should be incredibly proud of what you’ve accomplished.”
She seems in slow motion as you hear this. “Accomplished”? She’s implying that we’ve actually achieved something. My instinct is to trivialize and smile kindly at her ignorance. We’ve hardly done a thing. There’s so much more to do. There’s this metric and that. Yardsticks everywhere. Pundits that chime in. VC’s that provide all that constructive feedback as they show us the door. There’s no room for pride here.
Looking back today, what I learned building Readability is that you must occasionally pause and come up for air. Of course, the obvious benefit is that it’s better for everyone’s physical and mental well being, but the real rub is that it’s actually better for the product.
I’ve learned that the constant head-down mindset changes how we work for the worse. It cripples creativity and hinders problem-solving. It becomes an obstacle to making good decisions. It breeds an environment of frustration and stress.
By pausing and reflecting, we’re able to reset everything — our minds, the setting around us, and the way we measure how we’re doing. The result is we’re able to think more soundly and positively.
Fear is a funny thing. It drives you but it can also cripple and paralyze you. There’s adrenaline and there’s the deer in headlights. You can’t always count on adrenaline. Besides, adrenaline is momentary. It spikes and then dissipates, leaving you staring down a very long road. What I’ve learned building Readability is that every so often, the best thing to do is to stop racing, pull over and reflect.
