Orient on making decisions fast and well, as this is central to performing effectively in all white-collar and leadership roles.
Recognize that ‘what got you here won’t get you there’ and continuously evolve your learning patterns across various fronts to adapt to changing circumstances.
Help people realize their full potential and capabilities, encouraging them to rise above narrow self-interest and make decisions that benefit the group, becoming better leaders in the process.
Generally, making a decision faster is better; only delay if additional time demonstrably improves the decision significantly enough to justify the cost of delay.
Design simple plans and strategies because they are most effective and can spread throughout an organization without distortion, even if it means being slightly overly simple.
Understand that making decisions, though it may reduce short-term options, is essential for creating significant long-term opportunities; avoiding decisions keeps you in a liminal state, missing bigger chances.
Practice making immediate decisions when confronted with major choices, not to finalize them, but to train yourself away from discomfort and quickly identify what specific information or input is truly needed.
Before making a decision, determine if it’s a ‘one-way door’ (irreversible) or ’two-way door’ (recoverable); for catastrophic or expensive one-way decisions, demand a higher degree of certainty and evidence.
Learn from decision-making science to identify and avoid common biases like sunk cost bias and blind spots, which can lead to decision failures without your awareness.
Beyond hiring, actively build a network around you (e.g., through financing, conferences) to gain support, knowledge, key learnings, and access to collaborators and potential hires.
To scale yourself, delegate tasks and grow your own organization by hiring people who can take on new responsibilities, allowing you to execute more effectively.
Continuously hone your skills, improve decision-making, and use tools (like a running agenda in OneNote) to operate better and faster, especially in combination with delegation and collaboration.
Use a tool like OneNote to maintain a running agenda for people you interface with, noting discussion points or companies to share, to operationalize your network and avoid relying solely on memory.
Avoid the mistake of only promoting from within or only hiring externally; a combination of both is usually needed to leverage internal knowledge and gain diverse external experience.
When scaling rapidly, be prepared to hire external people into senior roles to bring in new experience and knowledge, even if it feels uncomfortable for internal promotions.
Understand people’s ‘alpha tendencies’ (leadership instincts) to effectively compose teams and organizations, recognizing that strong alpha tendencies drive projects harder, while their absence may lead to less drive.
Be aware of strong alpha tendencies that might cause disruption if misaligned with reporting structures, and manage ‘repressed alpha’ which can manifest as passive-aggressive behavior, for effective team composition.
When investing or building teams, look for individuals with very strong, big ambitions, as this drive is crucial for overcoming the inherent difficulties of challenging endeavors like startups.
If a business or situation is trending negatively, make early judgments and cut it off quickly, as this proactive approach is crucial for survival and thriving.
During a crisis, assess how to convert your business to the new reality by pivoting operations to meet changed customer needs, as exemplified by a restaurant shifting to takeout during a pandemic.
When facing uncertainty, consider a broad range of possibilities and probabilities, then strategize to both survive and thrive across those potential scenarios.
During crises, look beyond operational and revenue impacts to address the massive stress and disruption faced by employees, considering how to support their mental health and practical needs like childcare.
As a board member or participant, commit to bringing at least one important question the company might overlook and one new, helpful insight from the outside world to each meeting.
Utilize established decision-making frameworks like RACI or DACI to effectively distribute decision-making authority within an organization, fostering empowerment.
Use a variety of communication tools—detailed written reports, PowerPoints, or bullet lists—depending on the required depth, cost-return, and the specific ritual or goal.
Engage in detailed writing to thoroughly think through complex issues, uncover hidden risks or decisions, and ensure others can pick up information in depth.
Employ PowerPoint when you need to quickly provide an overview of a broad area, facilitate moderate understanding for decision-making, or solicit rapid feedback and data from multiple people.
Use simple bullet lists to quickly share top-of-mind opportunities, risks, concerns, and challenges, especially in settings like board meetings where speed of current information is critical.
Before fully committing, explore if you can experiment with a decision or try it out on a smaller scale to gather data and reduce risk.
When considering decisions, project forward one, two, three, and five years to evaluate if the chosen path will lead to satisfaction and happiness when looking back.
Dedicate time each week to activities outside your core commitments, such as taking diverse meetings, reading different books, or listening to varied podcasts, to broaden your perspective and foster serendipity.
True optionality isn’t just about keeping options open, but also about being willing to make changes and pivot when new, compelling opportunities arise.
While committed to current endeavors, consciously think about what might be important in your future and position yourself to be ready to dive into new opportunities when they appear.
To consciously position for the future, reflect on your own thoughts, consult people who know you well, and regularly meet with interesting individuals knowledgeable about markets and industries to inform your future optionality.
Entrepreneurs should establish early connections with multiple potential funders, sharing progress and building trust over time, rather than only reaching out when immediate financing is needed.
Understand that all companies are becoming technology companies at varying speeds due to technology’s pervasive impact on industries, necessitating adaptation and strategic response.