🦸♂️ Ignorance as a Superpower, 17 Lessons from Starting My Business, and ✌️ Questions to Consider
PROGRESSION: August 2023
I recently stumbled on a quote from Franz Kafka that’s stayed on my mind.
“There are two cardinal sins from which all others spring: Impatience and Laziness.”
More often than not, I err on the side of impatience. Things rarely move as fast as I want them to. I take action and I want to see immediate results. But I’ve found the most meaningful outcomes require consistent effort and a whole lot of patience.
Which of these cardinal sins do you fall into?
Books, Articles, etc.
Things Built Quickly by Patrick Collison (Article)
Okay, now I’m going to contradict what I just said. While some great projects can take a lot of time, others can be completed insanely quickly. Patrick Collison, founder and CEO of Stripe, wrote a post called Fast where he shares 20+ projects that were built quickly. Here are three:
Disneyland. "The Happiest Place on Earth" was built in 366 days.
The iPod. Steve Jobs greenlit the project in March 2001. They hired a contract manufacturer in April 2001, announced the product in October 2001, and shipped the first production iPod to customers in November 2001, around eights months after getting started.
The Empire State Building. Construction was started and finished in 410 days.
Sometimes we need to take our time. Other times we need to challenge our assumptions and push the pace.
Confidence Comes From Ignorance by Orson Welles (Quote)
Orson Welles was once asked where he got the confidence as a first-time director to direct Citizen Kane, a film so radically different from contemporary cinema.
“Ignorance … sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal it. It’s only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.”
I love this quote and the 3-minute clip is worth the watch. I felt similar to Welles when I moved into HR and then again when I became a coach. Both times I remember thinking, how hard can this be? I can figure all this out. While I’m slightly embarrassed to say that, I do look back on that bravado with a bit of admiration.
Sometimes, ignorance can be a superpower.
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (Book)
While on vacation last month, my wife and I turned on the TV and started watching Titanic. I got curious and picked up this book, which provides a minute-by-minute account of the sinking of the Titanic. I had two key insights from A Night to Remember.
The first is how many things went wrong.
If the titanic had heeded any of the 6 ice messages…
If the ocean had been rough or there had been more moonlight…
If the ship had seen the iceberg 15 seconds sooner or 15 seconds later…
If the ship had hit the iceberg from any other direction…
If the watertight bulkheads had gone one deck higher…
If the ship had carried enough life boats…
If any of these “ifs” had happened, things would have turned out very differently.
The second insight is how much confidence people had in Titanic. Everyone believed it was unsinkable. “Even God himself couldn't sink this ship,” Edward John Smith famously said. But ironically, Titanic didn’t complete it’s maiden voyage and it now rests at the bottom of the Atlantic.
The author, Walter Lord, described the sinking of the Titanic as the end of an era. There was such a strong belief that it was unsinkable, and that belief was dashed to pieces. Lord argues that since that moment, we’ve steadily grown disillusioned. We now doubt everything. The confidence and optimism we once felt as a society is no more. Part of me wishes we could go back to that era. We need more optimists. We need more builders. But we do occasionally need a dose of humility.
Observations
17 Lessons Learned in the First Year of My Coaching Business
Last year, I said goodbye to the corporate/startup world and started my own business.
I recently hit the one-year mark and was asked by a friend how being a full-time exec coach has differed from expectations. So I wrote this piece to answer their question and document lessons I've learned in the past 12 months.
Here are four of those lessons:
I picked a bad time to launch a coaching business
I picked a perfect time to launch a coaching business
Focus on activity, not reward
Deliver value before asking to be paid
It's been an incredible journey and I'm grateful for the opportunity I've had to work with so many amazing leaders. If you're a high impact leader looking to scale yourself and your company, I'd love to chat. Click here for the full article.
Two Questions to Consider
If you want to get better answers, ask better questions. I invite you to take a few minutes and answer these two questions:
If someone could only see my actions and not hear my words, what would they say are my priorities?
What is the most neglected important area in my life right now?
Feel free to shoot me your answers. I’d love to hear from you.
Gratitudes
I’ve found power in regularly expressing gratitude so I’ll continue the habit. I’m grateful for opportunities to serve. In my church, there are no paid leaders. Everything is done by members volunteering their time and efforts. Local leaders invite us to serve in various capacities. I was recently asked to teach Sunday School to 16-18 year olds and I couldn’t be more excited to be with the youth. My wife was recently asked to lead the young women’s organization. This is a stretch assignment and it’s brought her a lot of energy and fulfillment so far. I’m grateful for experiences that pull me away from focusing on myself and allow me to focus on others. I’m grateful for opportunities to serve.
If you've read anything worth sharing I'd love to hear about it. And do let me know if there's anything I can do to help you.
Nathan
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