The Entrepreneur’s Plague
I was recently asked by a mentor of mine what motivates me as an entrepreneur. He said that in many industries people talk and talk and talk and you just want to grab them by the collar and say “Enough already!!! DO something!!!” But that with business people, and in specific entrepreneurs, the dilemma is actually quite the opposite. That we are almost plagued by the need to act immediately and that you almost want to tell us “WAIT!!! We don’t know enough yet…just stop and think for a second!”
I’ve been thinking about his question and in particular about being almost “plagued” by the need to act immediately on things. I’ve also been thinking about how I think about things to get a little bit freaky meta on you.
You know, it is such an appropriate use of the term. I really am plagued by this. I know he didn’t mean to give a negative connotation by saying it, but its so true! Every conversation that I have with somebody my mind immediately is going to implementable solutions…so much so that its almost pathalogic. Really! I started observing myself, even in the mellowest of meetings. In every consultation, regardless of whether I’m speaking or not my mind is always racing trying to think of the solutions. What are our options? What are the best options? What is my criteria of selection of possibility? What am I going to do personally to implement this? Who is the best person to do this? What are the logistics of the situation? What are my milestones? Ignorance or confusion or lack of knowledge also is almost something that’s attractive…somehow it makes it more challenging. I love being in an unknown environment and having to act…the thrill of improvisation, never knowing what’s coming next. It keeps me sharp its when I’m at my best. Its almost like when things are completely chaotic I’m at my most internal peace. We don’t know enough you say?…Perfect! Pathologic indeed….
I think what a lot of this comes down to is that I value doing over thinking (as ignorant as that might sound). I know that there is not a dichotomy here and that thinking and doing must go hand in hand, but somehow for me thinking is of value when coupled with (and perhaps moreso driven by) action. Theoretical frameworks for me too often seem airy…this is why I could never stand academia. It would drive me crazy that ten people would sit around talking about economics or education or whatever instead of getting in there and actually doing something. It almost seemed like a waste of time to me…that things move so much faster when you’re in it, and that theoretical musings become an end unto themselves and lose themselves in themselves, and never prove anything until someone actually implements it. Within my language and my tone I think my bias is really evident…obviously deep thinking is essential, especially for large frameworks. Thinking on your feet is good for the practical implementation of anything, but you could be thinking on your feet in a dead end alley in which case all the quick thinking in the world won’t help you get out. Like quick thinking within an economic system rooted in a totally antiquated paradigm perhaps. So here is the value of deep thinking I guess…to look far enough out that you are really considering the long term implications of what you’re doing and so your doing can inform not only the immediate next steps but also 10 steps out which of course necessitates very deep thinking.
I also thought about a comment he made about that element of the entrepreneur that holds ideas back lest somebody else take them and run with them (note me thoughts on Intellectual squatting, the fallacy of the origin and the slow painful death of IP and the fallacy of IP). I had the fortune of receiving some timely assistance in musing over this topic as in the last few months as 3 of the web applications that our TinyApps team created were almost exactly replicated within short periods of when we launched them and, get this, ALL OF THEM ended up on the front page of the biggest industry websites (techcrunch, mashable, etc.). The “replicas” that is, not the ones we developed. What is more…none of them gave credit to us. Now there’s a very real chance there was a synchronous moment in the universe and all three ideas came to them at the same time lest we forget the advent of calculus, but we also felt that the possibility that we were being stalked for good ideas was also a very real one. Notwithstanding this though, I was very pleasantly surprised to recognize my reaction in retrospect (one shared by the other members of the team). It didn’t bother me in the least. I don’t know if its because I’m from the open source generation or somehow that I’ve really taken to the collaborative/open/transparent movement, but if anything their success validated our original thinking for creating these apps in the first place. So any reticence on my part to display my thinking (like in the form of this blog) really is more an attribute of my own inability to clearly articulate it rather than a proprietary agenda. Ironically, it may be the person reading it that would be able to more clearly articulate what I’m getting at and so maybe the solution to my reticence is to just get over myself and do it (hence this blog). Oh the sneaky ego…sometimes it tells you you’re good, sometimes it tells you you’re useless…either way I suppose its an over-reliance on self.
I think we don’t think about how we think enough…what do you think?
Tags: blogging
May 8th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Interesting Thoughts Toddicusero!
I do believe in synchronicity, which an old friend drilled into my head years ago. Ideas are always mashups of something that already exists, and with over 6 billion minds around the world, I’m sure we run into similar thoughts all the time. A lot of scientific discoveries have had the synchronous experience, halfway around the world. But on the point of action vs strategic thinking, I teeter totter with both sides a lot and when in action, I lose sight of the big picture. But with thinking, I also feel like I am wasting time because I’m not taking action. Catch-22. I need somebody to smack me when I’m off balance. Unfortunately, that somebody is Mike, and he’s only available at nights and weekends, times that I’d rather just hang with him and lazy out. The plague is constant Dr.
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August 29th, 2009 at 5:12 am
As I read this I could visualize you thinking about your thinking as it relates to this entry. let me assure you that this (thinking your way) is as innate a talent as rolling your tongue inwards or outwards, only a chosen few can do it :). Wonder no more about the streams of consciousness gushing forth from thine head..It hath been willed to be!!
Your reflection on your entrepreneurial practices resembles, in my opinion, that of a teaching/mentor/facilitator etc. than a hardcore business man (with all the generalizations that come with that title). By that I mean that your satisfaction in your craft, as I understand you say, stems from the actualization of your vision, by whomever is most capable and expedient at that time. Not that you couldn’t do it yourself, perhaps even with greater success, but to see another succeed in a venture is authentically more fulfilling. So while you and the hardcore business man are in the same field and the ultimate end results of your ventures may be similar, your underlying drives and motivations to do well and stay in it may vary. Once you have thought out your ideas or at least planted a seed somewhere, you are ready to hand it over as you move on to the next thought. This seems to be more true of the little I know of your dealings…
Mmmmm…okay, let me revise what I had said earlier, your reflections seem similar to those of a teacher/facilitator/etc. of an independent study project with some self motivated, self-starter, critical thinking adherents to work with
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