if it isn’t broken, break it

There is a potential need to deconstruct “something” within your organization to comply with some standards. It could be a manual – or automatic procedure, soft- or hardware, privacy-sensitive data, the actual organization itself… The list goes on.

The “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” adage doesn’t always apply. Before extending certain certifications, the issuer wants the requester to deliberately break stuff or even fake malicious attacks.

If it isn’t broken yet, at least think about what it would require to break it, how it can be avoided, and how it can be resolved.

ontological humility

All the people I know, who truly excel at what they’re doing, are extremely humble. Additionally, great teachers, artists, entrepreneurs, developers… rarely seem to be satisfied with their work and have tons of pointers on how to improve.

As Fred Kofman wrote in the book Conscious business: “ontological humility is the acknowledgment that you do not have a special claim on reality or truth and, that others have equally valid perspectives deserving respect and consideration.”

Is humility a prerequisite for greatness?

suffer on purpose

Owning property is “fun” until something breaks, and there is no landlord to call. Sometimes we suffer because of something we forgot we asked for in the past.

Many entrepreneurs suffer tremendously. Always on, never not working. Long days and short nights. Heavy-weighing pressure with people depending on the entrepreneur. The list goes on.

Obviously, (almost) nobody asks for extra distress. Entrepreneurs choose to suffer on purpose temporarily to create a better outcome down the road.

royal pizza

On Friday, we went for pizza with the king. While queueing for one of the top pizza spots in Brussels, a party of four exited the restaurant. One of them looked a lot like the king of Belgium, is what I thought. A second later, I realized it was the king, his son, and two bodyguards.

Sire, king, majesty… While I was trying to figure out what the protocol was to address royalty, the king passed right by me before I could ask if he remembered me. As a kid, I played a (lead) role in a musical titled: “The King and I, which the actual king had attended at the time.

All jokes aside. Michael Porter once said: “you can’t be all things to all people.” Apparently, in some rare cases, it is possible.

If you can make a product so good that it appeals to kings and queens and us mere mortals, you’re definitely onto something.

question mismatch

Sometimes, we get asked the wrong questions. Not a simple yes or no question in this case. A question that requires an answer in the form or shape of a report, document, or plan. A wrong question, not in the sense that the topic is sensitive or taboo. Wrong in the sense that the resulting answer is probably not going to be satisfactory.

Maybe you get asked to develop a certain plan, one that you know will be obsolete instantly. Perhaps the question hasn’t taken current legislation into account. Do you answer the question, or do you come up with an alternative question and answer the latter instead?

If possible, do both. Answer the question the way it’s being asked, but have your alternative answer ready.

ego puffer

Those who feel the need to inflate their ego by criticizing others without offering a solution are inflating the ego of the party at the other end of the table as well.

Perceived as a total waste of time, the advice unasked for will be met with resistance. Lots of it. Inflating the ego of the receiver in the process.

There is a minuscule chance that some value can be derived from criticism, even without alternative solutions. Maybe it sparks some insights or forces the narrative to be altered.

However, without clearly stating what the purpose and desired outcome are of the criticism session, the risk of all egos involved looking like pufferfish is substantial.

critic please

Asking an entrepreneur to appear in front of a committee can potentially be very valuable or a complete waste of time.

Depending on how the committee acts, obviously. If the committee adopts a critical mindset, challenges the entrepreneur, chances are, there will be a multitude of learning opportunities. Surely, entrepreneurs will know how to appreciate this.

If, on the other hand, the committee adopts a passive role, what’s the point?

Like Haemin Sunim once said: “Being a critic is easy. But if the critic tries to run the operation, he soon understands that nothing is as easy as his criticisms. Criticism without a solution is merely an inflation of the critic’s ego.”

Either contribute or don’t steal people’s time.

overlapping monologue

We all get how conversations work. Don’t we? Back and forth, listen and react. Easy enough.

Even though the act of listening seems fairly passive, it shouldn’t be.

Often times we engage in overlapping monologue as opposed to dialogue. Give real dialogues a chance.

impress yourself

Trying to impress someone has very little to do with you. It has almost everything to do with the actual person you’re trying to impress. Maybe the person is easy to impress, or quite the opposite? Perhaps they’re having a bad day? Chasing values that you have no control over at all is generally not the best idea.

Like Ernest Hemingway once said: “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”

If you must impress someone, impress yourself.

tranquil restlessness

If I could just tweak this. Improve that. Ship this build. Release this feature… In the mind of an entrepreneur, there is never a dull moment.

Minor, latent anxiety feels like being perpetually slightly over-caffeinated. Constantly running out of time. Battling against the clock.

The trick is to find tranquility in restlessness. Calm in the midst of turmoil.