I have come across a useful tweet, which made me think. For more than a decade, I have been thinking about becoming an entrepreneur. I reckon that an entrepreneur in a capitalistic society is the mostly and ultimately adapted specimen. They're are useful and productive, they're an innovator.
Instead of:
- Hard work → Trial & error
- Focus → Many things at once
- Optimization → 80/20 rule
- Consistency → Intensity
- Avoid distractions → Embrace randomness
- Practice 10,000 hours → 10,000 bets
- Goals → Stay in the game
- Efficiency → Slack in the system
The perks are the ones you won't find in regular employment too. It's much more captivating and easier to develop skills in different domains instead of burying your head in specialization's sands. Asymptotically, an entrepreneur gets more freedom and money than an employee as well.
Leaving aside a few attempts of building something on my own in 2020 and 2021, which didn't have enough commercial potential even from my unwary point of view, I am still far away from entrepreneurship. The question is, why?
I think it's due to the mindset I've got. It has been shaped and tempered by my vast employment experience. I am used to solving existing and, to some extent, well defined problems, building plans given just a few unknowns, and trying to understand and plan what has to be done and in which way ahead of time. But it seems that it's better to take a different approach.
As per Vassallo's straight to the point tweet, instead of working hard it's better to try different things and make mistakes. Focus less on doing the same thing repeatedly and make various small bets instead. Give up on trying to be perfect in favor of focusing on the important (80/20 rule). Choose intensity and iteration over staying consistent.
Understand and accept chaos and randomness without trying to get rid of all irritations. Perform 10,000 attempts instead of polishing skills for 10,000 hours. Aim not at achieving goals but at staying in the game. Appreciate the inevitable mess and abandon chasing ultimate efficacy.
All of my beliefs have taken root much more than it may seem at first. The shape of my consciousness after years of employment defines my approach to life entirely, including how I evaluate opportunities and get on with my plans.
The most important conclusion of these observations and my past experience is I need to be faster and try launching more different projects. Of course, in order to do this, I should reconsider my approach to implementing the ideas I've got.