I gave a short pep talk this week to a class of graduating Praxians. I had about 10 minutes at a coffee shop to prep, and asked myself, “What would I cultivate if I were just starting my professional career today?”
Interestingly, what I came up with varies somewhat from what I would’ve (and have) said for most of the last two decades. I think cultural and technological change have shifted the ROI for various skills and mindsets.
The most prominent shift is in the first item on this list. Not many years ago, I would’ve said the opposite.
- Idea generation. Ideas are more valuable than execution now. The ceiling on a great executor with few or weak ideas is lower than a person full of good ideas who is moderate but not great at execution. Why? Because there are more tools to handle more of the execution part than ever before. Generate tons of ideas, sort them later.
- Good judgement. Judgement is hard to define and I’m not entirely sure how to cultivate it, but roughly it could be described as, “Knowing what to say and do when.” Read the room. Understand motives and incentives. See the games.
- An entrepreneurial way of seeing. This is where the sorting of ideas comes in. Learn to see not just products or companies, but markets and business models. The order of importance in building a good business goes something like: Timing>Market>Segment>Problem>Distribution>Business Model>Team>Sales>Product>Innovation. When you look at products and businesses, ask yourself who their market is, what their model is, and whether it makes sense.
- Story finding. When you encounter facts, learn to tease a narrative arc out of them. Get curious about the story behind them. Seek it out. Find it. Humans (including you) are motivated by stories, and learn through stories. Turn data points into a connective tale.
- Story telling. Now learn to put those stories into a compelling format and deliver them. Story tellers can win partners, investors, employees, and customers. Start by learning to tell and retell your own story to yourself. Where are you in the grand arc? Knowing this will help keep you motivated and focused.
Don’t hold me to this as the definitive or absolute top five things to cultivate. They came to me top of mind at a coffee shop. But I’d absolutely tell my 20-year-old self, if he existed in 2024, to get busy cultivating these.