I am currently reading Seth Godin’s latest book (at least I think it is), “The Dip“, and it is a pretty good read so far (not to mention short, which is always good). Anyways, the gist of the book is that quiting is good, and you need to know when the right time to do so is. I can understand what he is getting at with this, but that is not the reason for the post (well at least not the main, but on second thought, it is definitely an underlying theme).
He makes a good point about why one should quit and what the benefits of it are, and that is that in order to be the best at whatever it is that you do, you need to know when to quit certain things and focus on those that are going to make you the best at what you do. Of course, best is a relative term, so to be the best in the world only pertains to the world in which you live. For example, if you are looking for the best Rails developer that can work 60 hours a week and lives in your area and is willing to work for peanuts, then your world is pretty limited and you may find the best that fits that world, but very well may not be the best in the world, just the best in your world.
So why is it then that big companies will enter into a saturated market and wind up failing? According to Seth, it is their willingness to compromise, but they mask that by convincing themselves that they can throw around their clout and they will become the best. It is exactly this mentality that causes them to not be the best. Instead of focusing on being truly innovative and groundbreaking, in other words be the best at whatever it is they are trying to do, they settle.
This is the advantage that smaller companies have over the big guys, is that they focus on being the best at what they do, and leave all the rest by the wayside, they know when to quit certain things that do not attribute to them being the best at what they do. Perhaps the big guys could take a page out of the little guys play book and learn when to quit and learn how to be the best.
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ABOUT 15 MEANINGS
Will Kern's take on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not really, but it is my take on startups, the web, life and everything in between. Have a question or just want to shoot me an e-mail: kernwill [at] yahoo dot com.
I read The Dip this summer; the week when I had made the decision to leave Disney and join a 70-person org. Both companies are ambitious, profitable, and there’s no shortage of creativity. In each working scenario, there are conversations about all the things we could do, tempered with what we should not do — things that would take us too far from our core values and spread ourselves/our brand too thin. But the difference I’ve noticed with being one of the little-ish guys is that it often boils down to resources. These constraints help maintain focus and steer us away from the pitfalls of dilution, especially when the cost of maintaining a marginal idea is blindingly obvious.
There’s something about being a jack of all trades, master of none, which resonated for me in The Dip. But also something about how much harder and smarter you work when there’s more at stake, more risk, more to lose (be that investors, revenue, audience, respect).
There are few incentives to be the best in a large organization, as risk and reward are rarely paired appropriately.
You could lose the company tens of millions of dollars on a hair-brained idea and (if you’re politically connected)get promoted.
You could just as easily come up with a plan that saves the company millions and maybe see an extra $3,000 when bonuses come along.
At a smaller organization if you screw up, every one will know it. If you do something big, not only will everyone know it, but you have a much bigger stake in the rewards.
Oh, but when you are the best in a big company, it’s great. You get the flexibility to experiment without the risk of a fly or die startup and you have all the resources of the large company to draw on. When we did ficlets, I didn’t have to worry about capital, hosting, paying contractors or finding office space. I was allowed to just go build it… which I wouldn’t have been able to if I’d done it as a startup on my own.
Oh, and I don’t think I’m “the best” at AOL… I said that wrong. When you take risks in a big company, they’re not as risky as they are when you’re on your own.
Part of the excitement and the drive to be the best is knowing that your livelihood depends on whether or not you are producing the best product. Now don’t get me wrong, being the best at a big company is great as well, but chances are unless you are at or near the top, if your product is a total failure, you still have a job. Either way, we should all strive to be the best at what we do, and not get distracted by those things that we cannot be the best at.
Will