One of primary traits that separate those who consistently innovate from everyone else is the innovator’s habit of constantly asking questions. While everyone else worries about appearing dumb or being too forward, innovators question every assumption.
Don’t Let Fear of Looking Stupid Stop You From Asking Important Questions
Questioning is how insights are gained and new paths reveal themselves. Begin by asking “what is the current situation?” and “why?”, and move on to asking “what if?”
All great solutions began with asking the right questions.
If you want to scale your business, you need to separate yourself from the role you play. Train your business to run without you.
When Employees Come to You for Help, Don’t Just Fix their Problem, Fix the System
Establish a repeatable process for the employee to follow that prevents the problem from occurring in the future. It may take more time up front, but spending that time once means the problem gets solved for good, freeing you to focus on other parts of your business.
Don’t water down your vision in an effort to appeal to a broader market.
Proudly Exclude People
It’s a big world, you can confidently leave out 99% of it.
The more narrow your focus is, the more passionate your customers will be about you and your business.
You don’t need to be especially brilliant to be successful in accomplishing your goals.
Intelligence can even work against you at times—intelligent people often make simple things more complicated than they need to be.
Intelligence is Not a Prerequisite for Success, but Determination Is
Your journey will be filled with unseen difficulties. There will be many opportunities to give up along the way. Stubborn determination will be your greatest asset through these challenges.
Startups face a never-ending series of challenges that can be solved by spending either time or money. While the supply of money is variable, time is finite.
The Biggest Problem Entrepreneurs Face is Not Having Enough Time
When things are going well, there isn’t enough time to take advantage of all the opportunities. And when things are not going well, you need every moment to get things back on track.
Next time you are tempted to save money by doing something yourself, consider that you may be giving up something even more valuable.
Isolated concentration is not the best way to bring clarity to your ideas.
The More Voices You Engage With, the Clearer Your Own Voice Becomes
By listening to, and interacting with, diverse groups of people—especially those with dissenting opinions—your ideas are tested from a variety of viewpoints. Your thoughts become stronger and more complete.
“Sometimes a voice from left field can set your right.”
Safe, boring messages don’t get passed along. To effectively spread, an idea should be remarkable enough that people say “You won’t believe this.”
Messages that are Controversial Demand to be Repeated
Go to the edge, be shocking. Embrace a worldview. Don’t be afraid to alienate a few people, great companies don’t please everyone.
It’s hard to be remarkable and support the status quo.
Most businesses are short-lived, but people have longevity. Customers find it easier to trust individuals than they do organizations.
Personal Brands are Becoming More Important than the Brands of Organizations
Organizations are being defined by the brands of the people that work for them. Individuals must cultivate their own brands for the long-term.
An employee’s value is increasingly determined by how visible and findable they are.
When employees are given a chance to match the challenges of their jobs with their skills on a daily basis, their talents become highly refined.
To Grow Your Business, Grow Your People
Creating a culture of fully engaged and constantly improving people should be a priority for any startup.
When its people are continuously looking for new challenges, an organization will be continuously finding new opportunities.
. . . Become interested—in others.
Listen closely to the challenges they are facing. Make their problems your problem.
– From The Startup Daily
Commit Yourself to the Growth of Others
Use every opportunity to help those around you. Recommend a book, offer a new perspective, or connect them with someone else who can help.
People will want you around when you make them stronger and more successful. They will find ways to hire you, buy from you, and make you successful in return.
