Nature vs Nurture— in the startup world
You weren’t meant to have a boss, argues Paul Graham. Well, actually Paul, I wasn’t meant to work- I was created to spend my life in leisure, enjoying the better things in life, traveling, meeting fascinating people…….. Oh wait, no, that’s my fantasy projection of myself…
In reality we are made on some level to work but Graham brings up the interesting question of how we are supposed to work and in what capacity. His article, mostly directed towards programmers who have or could have start-ups, is applicable in a wider context.
Graham offers a careful look at the organization of large scale companies noting that they are formed like trees- each person is a leaf filtered into a branch filtered in a trunk so that in the end each individual is forced into the act of being one being. Rather than have an individual purpose- we have a single identity as part of a large singular identity. In this way, each company acts as a singular individual. So while your boss represents you and all your co-workers as one unit in meetings, his boss also represents him and his co-workers as one unit and on and on up the chain. This results in a group dynamic where everyone feels both a part of something and yet nothing at all. He relates this feeling to that of corn syrup which is both a part of everything and a lack of anything.
So now you ask, I’m sure you are asking, what is the relevance of this to entrepreneurship or start ups or anything relating to Global Entrepreneurship Week? Well, the thing is that our institutional culture alienates our ability to be fully ourselves, which means that we are unable to do everything we want to- by working within the corporate structure we are forced to act like this strange amalgamate group. The problem for programmers in doing this is that it stifles their creativity and places boundaries on their ideas. Hence, Graham argues, programmers who create start-ups are more liberated and more able to think outside of the corporate box. In fact, those who have been in the box are more conservative and less likely to push the boundaries in their start-up ideas.
His article should be of interest to anyone interested in beginning a start up at any time in the future because it tells you a key thing- your environment matters. The environment you put yourself into on a daily basis will affect the way that you think, behave, and judge yourself. Are you in an environment that stimulates you and allows you to use your creative energy? If you are not, you should probably think about the effect that this is having on your future. Are you letting yourself become more conservative, less creative, less individualistic?
Even if you aren’t in this environment now, are you letting your company become this way? If you are starting a company whose workforce is 20+ in size you are in danger of becoming this sort of workplace. A better approach would be to create a cell like structure where each unit is capable of moving independently of the whole. This enables each person to have ownership overwhat occurs while also allowing them to have work at their most creative potential.
So from two sides, whether you are working in this environment or creating this environment take the time to analyze it. If your environment is stopping you from being the best you can be- why would you possibly want to be there? Besides in the end, you may realize that the only place to really be your most creative is in the middle of the top deck of your yacht in the Caribbean ocean…….. really could it be that bad?? I certainly wouldn’t object. Perhaps Global Entrepreneurship Week can fling off our digs and take residence on a roving yacht- what could be more global???….
Tags: environment, Paul Graham, programmers, start-ups
