Newsletter #6: Relentless Resourcefulness
Read time 8 minutes.
Hey there,
Greetings from Bali, Indonesia, undoubtedly a great place to reflect and write.
In today's newsletter, I want to talk about the most essential trait I seek in people when hiring, especially for leadership positions.
Once again, I will use the context of startups, as that's my area of expertise. So the question is, what makes a good leader, given the dynamic environment of a growing business?
A lot of people may argue that being smart is the most critical trait. But what you need to consider is that in a startup, more often than not, bad shit is coming. The odds of getting from launch to success without some kind of disaster are slim. To put it simply, most startups die but if a startup can avoid dying, eventually, everyone is well compensated.
Going back to being smart. In my experience, a lot of smart people get overwhelmed by those dynamics, get discouraged, and give up.
On the other hand, relentlessly resourceful people do not. Such people are both generalists (highly skilled at a broad set of valuable things) and also experts (among the best in their field within a narrow discipline). They are street smart and have the ability to 1) simplify complex concepts 2) excite the rest of the team, 3) break down the project into easy to execute steps 4) go out to meet customers and test despite all sorts of limitations.
Relentlessly resourceful people do not give up after a feature/project/deal they have been working on for months is killed. Or when things are not working. In fact, what you do in a startup most probably won't work. No one gets it right the first time. In most cases, you launch a product, and no one cares. That's not because you have failed. It's entirely reasonable for startups.
So what kind of people do you want on your team? People who sit around doing nothing, get demoralized and eventually give up or people who take actions, iterate and solve the problem?
Relentless people build routines to address a steady flow of objections; they anticipate and plan for problems.
Being resourceful helps people to jump across projects and deliver almost immediate impact despite all limitations.
Now that we know what we are looking for, that leads to the question of, can this quality be taught?
In my opinion, yes, but it requires a change of mindset. An excellent place to start is to read on "fixed VS growth mindset" and on "GRIT."
As Paul Graham puts it:
"If I were running a startup, this would be the phrase I'd tape to the mirror. "Make something people want" is the destination, but "Be relentlessly resourceful" is how you get there."
Articles worth reading:
How Not To Die - When we were visiting Yahoo to talk about being acquired, we had to interrupt everything and borrow one of their conference rooms to talk down an investor who was about to back out of a new funding round we needed to stay alive. So even in the middle of getting rich we were fighting off the grim reaper.
Levels And Limits Of AI - Buyers should not focus on whether or not a company is “AI,” but rather whether or not it solves a real problem. While technology is important, the most important part of any company is serving the customer. There are specific customer needs that artificial intelligence can address really well. Others, not so much.
Fixed v. Growth Mindset - growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way — in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments — everyone can change and grow through application and exercise.
A quote worth remembering:
By James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.
"The person who learns the most in any classroom is the teacher.
If you really want to learn a topic, then "teach" it. Write a book. Teach a class. Build a product. Start a company.
The act of making something will force you to learn more deeply than reading ever will."
A book recommendation:
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen - Let me begin this review by saying that I am not, and never have been, a runner. I never liked running and I live in a city where it's hard to run outside. Despite that, the book changed my perception of running. Now, I run every morning for at least 10 minutes and I plan to increase that to 20 by the end of the year.
Born to run, has to be one of my favorite books of the last few years. It's non-fiction, but it reads like a thrilling adventure, highly recommended.
Available as an audiobook as well, check it out.
A productivity tool I use:
As mentioned previously, reading is one of my favorite hobbies. I invest a lot of effort to find the highest-rated and most relevant books to help me grow. That would not have been possible without having an account on Goodreads. Their algorithm for recommendations has been instrumental in discovering some of my all-time favorite books. Check it out here.
Onward and upward