Chronic Enthusiasm

Many managers choose to make important decisions by themselves after some discussions with the team members involved. Companies desiring a consensus management culture pass the decision process to the team itself. The downside is that decisions can take a very long time with the corresponding negative effects upon schedules.

A powerful solution that I learned from Dave Brown in my first two startups was his practice of setting a deadline for an important decision. He would say, “You guys make a decision by 10 AM on Tuesday. You decide on time or I will.” This method simultaneously delivers timely decisions and positively reinforces the company culture.

Steve Case makes a strong case that the major reason for startup failure is the use of the classic Product Development management process rather than the emerging Customer Development process. The Customer Development Model is an excellent slide show on the subject.

I am considering how to apply these concepts to “Saxworks”, my new small business.

Abrevity, the start-up company I co-founded in 2003, was shut down during August for many reasons that I am not going to discuss here. I purposely delayed this post until all interested parties had time to officially hear the news.

When we started Abrevity I was both emotionally and economically comfortable with the handful of probable start-up outcomes which are:

1. A Huge Success
2. A Moderate Success
3. A Living Death (The company has enough revenue to be alive but cannot grow.)
4. A Complete Failure

I would highly recommend that anyone involved with starting or joining a start-up company should clearly be able to visualize the personal consequences all of these outcomes before joining a start-up or starting a company.

My enthusiasm for new companies is still strong as I have recently restarted one of my earlier small business companies “Saxworks” and filed a patent application for its new saxophone accessory product.

In Paul Graham’s blog he introduces the concept of a maker’s schedule vs. a manager’s schedule. A quick glance at the concept suggests that people getting things done perform best without interruption while while managers are constantly being interrupted. Personally, I have spent significant time on both types of activities. Upon reflection my most creative moments have occurred when I was working on a maker’s schedule.