Welcome to mindful manager! Today we’ll explore 2 ideas I’ve been recently pondering / playing with:
One of my all-time-favourite quotes about minimalism
A useful paradygm for approaching a new business venture
Enjoy 🙏
Less Is More
This is definitely one of my favorite quotes of all time, by mathematician Blaise Pascal (although I have seen variations of it), and I will paraphrase:
“I’m sorry if I wrote a long letter, but I didn’t have the time to make it shorter.”
I love it. It perfectly encapsulates the concept of effort that needs to be put into making something shorter, denser, and more essential. Basically, “less is more”.
It is a mantra I am always trying to keep in mind, since I think there are many situations in which it is natural to look for a solution to be added to our lives, while everything could be solved simply by removing stuff (thoughts, objects, people).
It is the reason I am trying (and hopefully succeeding) to be concise in these newsletters, which definitely take more time to write than my usual stream-of-consciousness journal entries, which are usually two to three times longer and take half the time to be written.
And it is the same reason I usually abandon a book if I feel the author is just filling the pages with the same concepts over and over again, while I fall in love with books that are so dense, you feel the urge to highlight half of the sentences (like all of Taleb’s writings).
The 5 Stages of Any New Business
I recently came across a video of Alex Hormozi (he may seem like a “guru” at first, but I actually appreciate the depth and substance of his content) summarizing the 5 phases any entrepreneur experiences when starting a business. Even though I do not yet consider myself an entrepreneur, I deeply agree with the overall perspective, so here are the 5 steps:
Uninformed optimism: You have an amazing idea and you are excited. This is definitely the most satisfying phase for the soul. The enthusiasm is at its peak, you think you have the million-dollar idea you were looking for, and it is just a matter of time before you achieve success.
Informed pessimism: You start to understand that your idea was not so unique, well-thought-out, or promising. There are many little things you did not consider when you were starting, and many difficult steps you took for granted.
Valley of despair: You are at the lowest point. You feel ashamed for not having anticipated how hard it would be, and you start to really think you should quit. You made a wrong and uninformed decision, which happens even to the best. This is where most people give up and usually jump onto a new shiny and promising opportunity, returning to uninformed optimism and ready to repeat the cycle again and again, never finding success.
Informed optimism: If you find a way to stick to it and persevere, finally at some point you begin to see the light again. Many people have quit by now, and you find yourself armed with the perseverance and experience needed to really compete with the few that are sharing the market with you. Slowly but steadily, you start to grow.
Achievement: Best practices start to emerge. Every new negotiation becomes easier and easier, you form a strong network of connections in the field, and word of mouth starts to kick in. Congratulations, you are in (a successful) business.
Naturally, this is an oversimplification. However, I think the jump between steps 3 and 4 is what separates most successful and unsuccessful business people.