I think the reason that founder mode appeals (and works) is that singular vision and execution generates opinionated and effective outcomes.
Unfortunately, even brilliant individuals have rate limits
- productive time
- cognitive load
- specialist skills & experience
So we hire to unlock more opportunity, with a hope that that tether to an opinionated individual (or a culture that hive-minds to a shared point of view & ambition) will avoid the inevitable decay of design-by-committee.
But the reality is like all human systems, the quality of this operating model tracks to the behavior of its agents. That brilliant specialist expert becomes a diluting force in a sea of a diluting forces. Because of time, cognitive load, and pro-social collaboration cultures, opinions become weakly held, that shared POV gets lossy, and execution (speed and quality) suffer.
Everyone owns a lil slice and the whole suffers.
What makes me so unbelievably excited about AI is it breaks down many of the barriers for maximizing the impact of a single, smart, ambitious individual. With the tools we have today you can
- offload administrative thought and maximize using your human brain for creativity
- access and even implement specialized skills & initiatives, without necessarily having to compromise on vision
- create more effective time by allowing automations to work while you don’t
THIS is why I’m so bullish on this being the era of the IC. I’d bet on the visionary, AI powered, beast-mode individual over the mythical “empowered product team” in most situations.
If startups beat big companies, then individuals might also beat teams.
Does this mean I’m anti-collaboration and anti-team? NO. I think brilliant teams working in the same direction can make A LOT happen. I’ve been and am part of some pretty great teams.
But I do suspect there is something we need to start planning for, designing for, and optimizing for when we build organizations to win. And that means deciding where the individual rules the roost.
I don’t find this dystopian at all; in fact, I think if we can maximize what one person can do, we’ll open up a whole exciting world of creative ideas, new technologies, and things to build.
More people can have MORE impact, and that to me is a win.
So learn what you need to learn.
Remove your rate limits.
And apply teams with caution ⚠️
Unfortunately, even brilliant individuals have rate limits
- productive time
- cognitive load
- specialist skills & experience
So we hire to unlock more opportunity, with a hope that that tether to an opinionated individual (or a culture that hive-minds to a shared point of view & ambition) will avoid the inevitable decay of design-by-committee.
But the reality is like all human systems, the quality of this operating model tracks to the behavior of its agents. That brilliant specialist expert becomes a diluting force in a sea of a diluting forces. Because of time, cognitive load, and pro-social collaboration cultures, opinions become weakly held, that shared POV gets lossy, and execution (speed and quality) suffer.
Everyone owns a lil slice and the whole suffers.
What makes me so unbelievably excited about AI is it breaks down many of the barriers for maximizing the impact of a single, smart, ambitious individual. With the tools we have today you can
- offload administrative thought and maximize using your human brain for creativity
- access and even implement specialized skills & initiatives, without necessarily having to compromise on vision
- create more effective time by allowing automations to work while you don’t
THIS is why I’m so bullish on this being the era of the IC. I’d bet on the visionary, AI powered, beast-mode individual over the mythical “empowered product team” in most situations.
If startups beat big companies, then individuals might also beat teams.
Does this mean I’m anti-collaboration and anti-team? NO. I think brilliant teams working in the same direction can make A LOT happen. I’ve been and am part of some pretty great teams.
But I do suspect there is something we need to start planning for, designing for, and optimizing for when we build organizations to win. And that means deciding where the individual rules the roost.
I don’t find this dystopian at all; in fact, I think if we can maximize what one person can do, we’ll open up a whole exciting world of creative ideas, new technologies, and things to build.
More people can have MORE impact, and that to me is a win.
So learn what you need to learn.
Remove your rate limits.
And apply teams with caution ⚠️
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