Sunday Musings - The Thief of Joy, Options and Creation, Meetings, Risk, and the Ignorance Tax

Happy Sunday Friends! Here is 1 quote I’m musing, 2 Ideas, 3 of my favorite things from the week, and 1 question. If you find it useful or interesting, please feel free to forward this along to some friends or others!

First, Holy cow! I decided to post up a newsletter here in parallel with my substack and didn't expect so many of you to read it here! I'm pumped, grateful, and a little shellshocked! Thank you all for the outreach and time you've given me.

One Quote I’m Musing

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

I love this quote, and I love the story behind the asthmatic kid who became a cowboy and a president. We can look for lights in the dark path on our journey, but everyone is in a different place in their story; and that story isn’t ours.

I was recently visiting an organization who is producing some impressive results in an area that we’re interested in. My circles had been chirping about them and I took my subject matter expert with me. My intent was to observe and learn as much as possible. The group that we went with, also experts from various areas. *Note, I’m going to be vague on what it is because the exact thing isn’t as important as the lesson, and it’s sensitive in nature (but not anywhere near classified).

They showed us a bunch of awesome things they were building, operating, and collaborating on. I listened, asked questions, listened to others’ questions and those answers. The organization didn’t hold anything back. They showed us everything, answered every question.

So, they had rapid development and prototyping updates following operational postmortems that they then implemented immediately. They tracked particulars of anomalies discovered and classified those. They built automated models and projects that they could update based on their results. It was great.

Why can’t we do this?

Observation: We can, it’s not magic.

It dawned on me about 30 minutes into it. I knew it was less than an hour because my coffee was still warm in its little paper cup. They had a couple key things that we didn’t, and it’s not what you’d think.

Time. Time is a huge factor. They had been doing this one thing, and only this thing, for decades while we were just starting to pick it up.

Technical complexity is a crutch. Some very talented minds were already leaping into quantum concepts in order to achieve results before talking with these Old Crows (it’s a legitimate term). As it turns out, the magical, amazing, technological wonder turned out to be a lot of very basic concepts implemented by some very experienced and innovative people in a novel way. We’re talking excel, small databasing, python, and java. None of that at the extreme levels. This is the second biggest lesson I brought back.

Know Your Role Is and Know What Isn’t. The techs leading these projects were very comfortable with their expertise and comfortable knowing when to ask for help from another expert or hire in expertise. This is the biggest lesson I brought back. It’s impossible to be the subject matter expert of all things.

Why is this the most important? Great question!

I’ll answer with two great quotes. First, Epictetus teaches us, it is impossible to learn that which one thinks one already knows. Second, we will meet tomorrow’s problems, as Marcus Aurelius would say, “with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present”.

Look at it this way.

If we think we already know the way to solve a problem with only what we already know, we’ll never find the best way to solve it. Nor will we meet the best people for the problem.

Now back to me.

It’s no longer my job to code that tool, to build that capability. My job is to know where we were, where we are, and where we are going as an organization. To create culture, cohesive teams, and inculcate shared understanding and sense of purpose. I must use my faculties to provide the “what” and the “why” to create a shared vision, shape the requirements and end goals or effects. Then I let my people astound me with their ingenuity and innovation for the “how”.

Leaders don’t need to be (I’d argue can’t be) the deep technical experts. Many of us start there, but we can’t be forever. We have to focus on expanding the horizontal plane of the “T” or “M”, see my musing about that. Which makes our depth less, but our ability to lead much stronger.

When leading organizations of experts, rely on your experts’ deep knowledge for the “how” of accomplishing the exquisite details. We must do what others cannot; provide the “what” and the “why”.

Learn and polish our ability to envision the results, translate the vision into actionable decisions and begin implementation.

I’m taking this mindset with me to Norfolk, Virginia at the end of the week for a four-day long build and create session with 757 Startup Studios. They’re an awesome hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in Hampton Roads and have graciously begun partnering with us at Clipt (Apple Store | Play Store) to help us take the company from the amazing app and small community of stylists and barbers we’ve built to the next level. (If you’re in VA and want a haircut at your place, go support your local stylists with the app!)

I’m super excited to meet all the others and engage with the 757 folks to see the amazing ideas and people there! If you’re in the area, drop me a message and I’d love to see about having a coffee.

-e

Two Ideas From Me

1. Saying no to something is keeping your options open. Saying yes is saying no to anything else that could occupy that time and space.
2. To build something from nothing is a thing unique to you and that creation. Fall in love with the process of creation, of doing; don’t judge the result.

Three Favorite Things From Others

1. Ignorance Tax is the price we pay for not knowing what you need to know to be as successful as you could be - Alex Hormozi
2. “Risk is an essential need of the soul. The absence of risk produces a kind of boredom which paralyses in a different way from fear, but almost as much.” - Simone Weil, The Need for Roots | More
3. This meetings addon recommendation for the cost of a meeting by @0xgaut on X

One Question

If I did more of what I’m great at and empowered others at what I’m not great at, how would my daily/weekly schedule change?

Send Me Some Feedback!

What did you like? What else do you want to see or what should I eliminate? Any other suggestions? Just send a DM to @erichaupt on X and put #SundayMusings at the end so I can find it. Or [email protected] for long form email. Have a wonderful week,

I’ll see you Sunday.

-e