Let’s consider why that is important.

Production is the act of creating output, good, or service which has value to others.

Consumption is the act of satisfying one’s needs.

The decision is how you want to spend your time. Both are relatively easy today.

Satisfying your needs or creating something that may help others.

I won’t claim to be getting this right. Just something I’m thinking about…and trying to fix.

Regret is you imagining you should be somewhere else doing something else.

Show up. Be present. Do things that matter today.

A couple of quotes I like right now.

There is nothing wrong with being a wandering generality instead of a meaningful specific but don’t expect to make the change you seek. ~Seth Godin

If you are not in the process of becoming the person you want to be, you are automatically engaged in becoming the person you don’t want to be. ~Dale Carnegie

Relationships - Do you like the people you work with and do you find the relationships nourishing?

Good Work - Do you like the work and is it work that matters?

Learning & Growing - Does the work challenge you and allow you to grow?

Compensation - Do you feel valued and respected for the work you do for the organization?

Using the stool analogy, if each one of these is a leg of a stool and one is missing, then it falls over.

Each one of us, particularly leaders, play a role in helping our teammates achieve this balance.

We all want to do good work, with good people. Let’s be good to each other.

Great comes when a person decides that the effort is personal. They are going to commit to making/doing something that is great. They care about the details. Every nuance. It is a reflection of them, their ability, their vision, and their promise to whoever is going to consume that something. And they have the guts to do it right and the humility to ask for help.

I’ve also been thinking about why is it so hard for large organizations to make good software. Not all large organizations, but definitely some.

This likely applies to any product or service, not just software.

Working theories. Some or all (or none) of them might be right.

Simplicity – “Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” – Lao Tzu – What if we looked at building things through this lens? Make it as simple as possible (easy), have the patience that you will make it better over time (ship it), and have compassion (understanding) for your end-user. Sometimes, or most of the time, we insist on overcomplicating what we make.

Negotiation is Bad – Collaboration is good. Building by democracy is bad. A strong visionary doesn’t budge on what is important. Unfortunately, survival in large organizations often comes down to negotiation. Give and take. Politics. Can we please find the best way, not just have our way?

Focus – You can’t be all things to all people. Do what is important. I mean really important. Figuring that out is hard and saying no is hard. Also, the very best people are often focused on too many things. If you want to make great, you have to focus. A real product champion with real authority across all silos with the time to focus is required. Multi-tasking doesn’t work during your day and it certainly doesn’t work with your organization’s priorities. Maybe we should call it ‘multi-focusing’? Either way, not good.

Honesty – People struggle with being honest. Either they don’t have the courage to call it like they see it or the culture isn’t safe enough to allow real honesty. Ultimately, that’s a leadership issue. The best relationships (and teams) are built on trust. If we can’t have honesty between each other what can we have?

Agility – this is the “ability to move quickly and easily”. Long road maps with product features with no real understanding of the concept of MVP. You can be assured that user needs, the market, and the technology will change. We get stuck on a waterslide with big walls and no ability to stop and turn. Move fast. Ship. Learn. Ship again. The only thing guaranteed is you are going to get it wrong. You must be able to change course.

Creativity – We are all creatives. Society doesn’t necessarily encourage creativity. Frankly, I think it is trained out of us. We often take the known over the unknown. “You aren’t going to get fired if it just works.” Ugh. I can’t think of the last time I rewarded someone for trying something hard and failing. I will fix that. We need to have the courage to put it out there. Don’t be scared. I can promise you not everyone is going to like it. Make it for the people that will.

Ego – Go find the truth. Don’t be afraid of what people will say when you put it out in the world. Take blame, give credit. Admit when you are wrong. Have the courage to listen and go back to the team (and board) and say we have spent $1M building XYZ and guess what, we were wrong. That takes courage. You can’t make great by committee but you can make great when you understand reality and make what the world needs. I’ve found the best things I’ve made are when I check my ego, gain perspective, and ask for help.

Most importantly, be courageous. The hardest, and most important, things take courage.

I don’t think this is a complete list (or necessarily right) but it’s rolling around in my head. Send me your thoughts – kelly@vohs.co and if you know someone that might find this helpful, please share.

Keep building, Kelly

Some footnotes.

Sometimes we get to have ‘believer bias’. We get stuck. I’ll share my rants on that another time.

Working theory – the very best leaders have no issue with confrontation (or at least they work through the issue and confront anyways).

Maybe it is just where my head is these days but I’ve been giving a great deal of consideration to choices. You may recall I wrote a bit about that recently with the concept of Be. Just Be. If you missed that you can read it here.

It’s really Simple

Don’t Worry, Be Happy….and those are both choices. Just choices.

The only thing that affects whether you worry or whether you are happy is the little voice in your head. You know that little voice right? We all have it. That little voice that seems to feel obligated to remind you of your fears, your uncertainties, and your doubts. That little voice that reminds you of your preconceived notions of how things ought to be…who you want to be, what you think you need, how you think it should be, etc.

You Are In Control…Of Your Perception

The only thing in this world that you control is that voice. You can decide what it says and when it says things you don’t like you can choose whether you want to listen. The reality is the world can take away all of your freedoms but it cannot take away how you perceive the world. When you start to control your perception then you really begin to control your world and your reality.

And Your Perception Is Your Reality

I don’t always practice this and historically I have had the propensity to worry and see how things can go wrong. To see the things that aren’t and the things that could be. I think as I get older that gets better. Maybe it is confidence. Maybe it is because of where I am in life (I am very very lucky…crazy lucky). Maybe it is maturity. Maybe it is just self awareness. Maybe I have decided to choose happy over right. Maybe I realize how much of life I’m not in control of after all…Maybe it is all of those things.

So here we are 25 year old self. Don’t Worry, Be Happy…those are both choices you make. Just let the dice fly. It’s all going to work out in the end. After all, your perception is your reality.

PS:

This isn’t easy. It’s hard. And bad things happen. Really bad things. We lose people and that is hard. It happens, we come together, we process and for their sake we get back in the fight. That is what they would want. But as we’ve talked about you should go head first into hard. It will be worth it. For me the above requires my second by second attention. Maybe that will get easier. My gut tells me it will. Hit me up and I’d be happy to share how I am approaching all of this in more detail. Doesn’t mean I’m right just how I’m trying to get better everyday.

PPS:

A few thoughts from Bruce Lee that seemed appropriate for this topic.

“For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.”

“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”

“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”

“The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.”

“Not being tense but ready. Not thinking but not dreaming. Not being set but flexible. Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement. It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come.”

“Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.”

“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.”

“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Every day we earn our place in the lives of others.

My favorite people:

• Are good
• Are honest. With themselves. With others.
• Are real. Authentic.
• Are empathetic
• Are nice
• Are humble
• Are fair
• Are consistent
• Are loyal...or at least honest when they can't be
• Are positive. Maybe not always. But they sure try.
• Are focused on we, not ‘me’
• Are interested in taking care of people
• Are eager to put the others first, help others win
• Are aware they aren’t perfect
• Are sure there is a better way but are willing to try. Something.
• Are able to admit when they make mistakes
• Are okay saying “sorry, I messed up”
• Are committed to following through on their promises
• Are the ones who take responsibility for their actions
• Are curious
• Are interested in finding the right way, not having their way
• Are comfortable asking for help. Or admitting what they don’t know.
• Are willing to sacrifice
• Are there to support their team and do what it takes for that team to win
• Are trying to be better everyday. Whatever that means to them.
• Are relentless when it comes to protecting what/who needs protecting

These are choices. Just choices. Choices each of us make every second.

Those kind of people step into every day hoping they can leave the people they meet a bit better than they found them. It’s likely they don’t do it every day. I know I don’t. There are a lot of times I leave people worse than I found them. I need to get better. I try. Maybe breathe more. Maybe listen more. Maybe be more grateful. Maybe see the good more. Maybe love more. Maybe work less. Maybe run more. Maybe a lot of things. But I thought I’d start with being honest. I play favorites. But at least you know what my favorite kind of people are.

Hey favorite people. Thanks for being you. The world needs more of you.

PS – I might be wrong. That happens all the time. Maybe now too. But I’ll proceed unless convinced otherwise. Thanks.

PPS – Sometimes people fool me. Hopefully, I figure it out...I usually do....eventually.

“You can do more good by being good than any other way.” – John Wooden

It just takes courage and a willingness to take responsibility. You aren’t responsible for all of the answers, just all of the decisions.

#leadership #courage

1. You will be happier.

2. Everyone else will be too.

It's broken today.

It's not their fault, they don't feel safe.

They don't know it is okay to make mistakes.

They don't want to show vulnerability or weakness.

My fault.

We set benchmarks, often arbitrarily, and say do X. Maybe those targets are what cause a risk-averse culture. It's likely that fear causes risk-averse cultures but fear of missing those targets doesn't help. Those targets keep us focused. Maybe too focused as opportunity goes by just out of sight.

I’ll take progress, sprinkled with a few mistakes, over waiting for perfection.

Growth, not performance. How are you growing? (personally and professionally) How are you growing the organization? How are you growing your relationships? How are you helping others grow? Think small. Work hard. Get good. Just try. Fail. Try again. It's okay.

'Make Better'... every day. Do. Learn. Make Better. Repeat.

Make the process better. The product better. The team better. Yourself better. The world better.

“You can do nothing about yesterday, and the only way to improve tomorrow is by what you do today.” – Coach Wooden