Entrepreneurship

Executionist

Nobody cares about your great ideas.
They care how we make ideas happen.

This tribute to action was originally titled execution, but that’s insufficient. To honor such ingenuity, let’s loudly celebrate those who apply action to nudge the world, by calling them executionists.

Executionists appreciate planning, but don’t get stuck in endless brainstorms. They’re not rushing into bad ideas, but they are often the first to tinker. Action-based execution is why the title of my book (and podcast) will remain true. It even grounds the preface of You Don’t Need This Book, which I thought might be neat to highlight here:

There are good reasons why we have so many clichés about talk being cheap. Action is required when it’s time to get things done. Cheers to so many who don’t stop at ideas. Heretics who build when others don’t. Leaders who choose to make a ruckus without permission and in doing so, go beyond the status quo by evolving ideas into reality.

Executionists keep the promise.
Executionists leverage uncertainty.
Executionists perpetually learn by doing.
Executionists connect dots with real skills.
Executionists courageously communicate.
Executionists take time to be detailed oriented.
Executionists stay organized to be efficient.
Executionists add pieces to the puzzle.
Executionists enjoy shifting gears.
Executionists are Serendipitists.

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After three years, decisions were made to spin away from the weekly cadence of my writings. Fresh episodes of YDNTP will continue brewing innovative energy each week and occasional contributions may still land into Roasted Reflections, but these last few writings of 2023 are a closing finale.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Triangulation

Cross-checking helps determine distance, maneuver around obstacles, and identify missing objects. Alongside the math, a triangulated team diversifies real skills and increases dependability.

With more distinct perspectives, entrepreneurs add synergy that accelerates forward movement and increases confidence when the same problem is attacked from multiple angles. This nimbleness can be leveraged as co-founders also create an invigorating culture that makes each person feel significant. With back-to-back episodes of You Don’t Need This Podcast featuring my two co-founders in FliteBrite, what a wonderful chance to reflect on talented friends who build as one.

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“One’s company, two’s a crowd,
and three’s a party.” -Andy Warhol

If you’re on the prowl for co-founders, consider the value of triangular patterns. Connectors become connected, so show up and be quick to make interesting introductions. Even when the first degree of contact lacks obvious opportunity, remember it’s often the second and third degree of connectivity that delivers more precision. Over time, generosity within an entrepreneurial ecosystem will expand and tighten engaged networks. Instead of forcefully recruiting co-founders, the open-ended activity of a serendipitist will have us colliding with friends we simply haven’t met yet.

When it’s time to build, bonds that formed naturally will support lasting collaboration with people you already respect. That said, established trust is not an excuse to get complacent. From start to finish, be honest and transparent. Every story ends, so invite difficult discussions early and often. Agree on terms, leave space for change, structure the business, maintain an operating agreement to ensure clarity with less tension, and lead by nurturing the power of triangulation.

  • commit to abundant communication
  • invite responsibility, keep the promise
  • remain attentive to details
  • take blame, give credit
  • celebrate in style

Lone wolves can move mountains and rare resources are required with more human capital brewed in, but the expanded capacity and ongoing resilience makes this odyssey worthwhile. When long-term players play long-term games together, the chemical reaction is an affinity toward work that feels like play. Cheers!

By Ben McDougal, ago

Echos

The echo of an idea is always fading.

How can we extend ideation long enough to activate early moves, blow through barriers, and maintain lasting enrollment? This is clearly a loaded question. Much goes into enabling ideas into reality and the rate of an idea’s degradation depends on a million factors, but let’s sip on the artistry of pushing without being pushy.

As seen in the Ideation and Research chapters of YDNTB, personal reflection is the easiest way to think through the various angles that might make an idea interesting. This private contemplation doesn’t require much skill and we don’t get stuck trying to earn the attention of others. Unfortunately, the ease of your own activity is matched by the hardships that await those who don’t let ideas breathe. This is why stealth mode is precarious and ongoing customer discovery is key.

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Will you spend time or money?

When we share a new idea with someone else, the situation becomes complex. This is the moment we put our idea on a hook. It’s when we push past fear and invite doubt. Connecting dots within such complexity is difficult, takes time, and is never straightforward. Research helps to build confidence and adds clarity to how opportunities are articulated. While this preparation helps guide others through layers of understanding faster, a blend between patience and urgency is required to align interest.

This makes blunt repetition tempting, but ineffective. Whether it’s potential co-founders, mentors, early adopters, or investors, more of the same (without execution) can chase away interest. To avoid potential fading too fast, find different ways to motivate movement.

For a fun visualization, let’s imagine a small pond. If one pebble drops in, the lonely ripple would be obvious, but also fades fast. While it made a splash, it’s soon forgotten. Now, imagine many pebbles being thrown in different ways, all around the pond, and over time. The pond is now alive! The echo of each pebble is magnified and the abundance of rippled collisions leave a more lasting impact.

Like this pond full of pebbles, we can nudge progress long enough to activate action by adding variety into how we introduce and continue to explore an idea. Conversation in different environments, creative analogies, inquisitive questioning, active listening, talking about anything else, releasing reluctance, or getting more people involved are all ways you can keep building without seeming frantic, repetitive, or desperate. This intentional diversity allows different echos of one idea to each feel different, and yet, all bounce in the same direction.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Small Business Owners

Words matter. When “small business” and “small business owner” is used over and over again, it begins to feel belittling. Together, opportunity awaits those who brew fresh ways to talk with and about small businesses!

First, let’s get an elephant in the room. Everyone understands the need for business categorization within an economy and yes, size is a simple metric. Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) are quick to explain that because of government policies, regulated programs, and the history of small business owners not thinking of themselves as entrepreneurs, using “small business” has become second nature.

The opportunity exists within events where the assemblage are small business owners, but what about this fear of marketing that won’t resonate without a clear call to “small business owners”? Here’s the trick. Use small business terms to gather awareness, but then let those technical terms chill once everyone comes together. This ensures clarity in branding, online activity, and event promotions. As events get underway, emcees, speakers, panelists, and staff can embolden the audience by using “small business owners” as necessary, but intentionally use more alternative titles that add depth to the narrative. Instead of everything being stuck on small, try these seven synonyms that describe greatness, importance, appreciation, growth, and yes, small business owners.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Leaders
  • Students
  • Innovators
  • Heretics
  • Creators
  • Community Builders

As people who may have only identified as a small business owners start using enlivened vocabulary, these side conversations become a signal of something lasting! If this effort continues at future events, more people will connect with more terms they feel inspired by. This exposes small business owners to even more relevant resources, helpful ideas, and different areas to confidently explore within an expanding entrepreneurial ecosystem.

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When was the last time you wanted something important to be small?

Using this working draft of synonyms, we can each quietly inspire more inclusivity through fresh assimilation at events. Even if policies remain rigid, more people will learn to celebrate and identify with more codifications.

Over time, more will feel allyship with all that is entrepreneurship. We will remain proud small business owners, but just as vested when we hear whatever the latest jargon may be.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Popcorning

There’s an energy that comes from jumping between different initiates in a diversified career portfolio.

An ability to popcorn between progress is what makes a diversified career portfolio work. Over time, the mental and physical exhilaration strengthens an elastic-type of energy that builds focus, even when it’s applied on multiple fronts and in tiny time windows.

This ambitious movement fuels action within different slices of a diversified career portfolio and should be celebrated. For example, the impactful days where we hammer on one thing, ship progress; pop to the next thing, ship different progress; and then pop one or three more times to fuel momentum on even more! This type of work is exhausting, but the flow makes us feel tenacious. With practice, this multi-modal focus is refined, increasing the leverage to explore exponential activities.

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I have a fun new phygital item for sale.
Video – https://youtu.be/6toglC21dwI

They’ll say you gotta focus. Only chase one rabbit. Maybe. If financial stability relies on a single income or paid employees depend on you to lead, less diversification will help support stability.

That said, who knows a leader who only does one thing? Leaders are everywhere, doing everything! We are efficient humans with super computers all around us. Even when different ventures don’t seemingly relate, there is a shared thread that sews efficiency into the work. YOU!

For anyone with more to build, there’s no permission required to add creative slivers to the pie chart of how you spend time. Does it take an extra gear? Yes. Might it require practice to stay balanced? Yes. Will you have to play 80 hours in order to avoid working 40? Yes. It is absolutely possible for anyone in our connected era? Yes!

Cheers to this elastic-type of energy that comes from popcorning between various initiates within a balanced diversified career portfolio.

By Ben McDougal, ago