CheatCodes - Childlike determination, How to hire incredible people, and Hell yeah, or no
Childlike Determination
"When a child is learning how to walk and falls down 50 times, they don't think: "maybe walking isn't for me."
Bring back that childlike determination. It's a superpower that 99% of us have lost.
When you're a kid, nothing is impossible.
That tree that's definitely, 100% way too big for you to climb?
Not a problem. Let's try the first branch.
This 'walking thing' that is very unnatural and feels weird:
Not a problem. Let's fall on our face until it works.
If we, as adults, can adopt this childlike, steely determination then (genuinely) nothing is impossible.
You can learn any skill, be great at any task, and excel in any field - only if you're willing to fail enough times to begin with.
You've quite literally done this process before.
You can do it again.
How to hire incredible people every time.
There are a couple of key rules I follow when hiring people:
Hire people who will do a good job regardless of the company they are at.
Hire people with high levels of self agency.
Hire energy when you're small, and experience when you grow.
Hire people who will do a good job regardless of the company they are at.
Whilst growing Fanbytes I hired a lot of people who were passionate about influencer marketing, not necessarily those who wanted to be exceptional at a skill.
This meant that at one point, yes the team was incredibly enthusiastic and the vibes were great, but the skills weren't there to scale us to the next level. Whereas, if I'd hired people who wanted to be the best salesperson they could be, or the best marketing manager they could be, then I think we would've been able to scale quicker - even if they weren't THAT passionate about the influencer space.
Hire people with high levels of self agency.
You are hiring someone because they will allow you to undertake more tasks and cover more ground.
This cannot happen if you have to hand hold someone through tasks, or spend your time constantly chasing them.
Those with high self agency will tackle problems head on, learn new skills off their own back, and hold high standards for themselves. These skills are INVALUABLE, especially when you're hiring early people.
Hire energy when you're small, and experience when you grow.
When you're a small company the only advantages you have are time, energy, and focus - that's it.
Therefore, you need people who have those abilities in buckets to make the company work - these are typically young, ambitious, eager professionals looking to make their mark on the world. These people are your best friends for the first 15 hires.
After 15 hires you need more structure, order, and processes to lay solid foundations to allow you to scale to the next level. This is where the experience comes in.
These people are typically seasoned experts with deep understandings of their field and how companies in that field should work. They are the ones who will get you to the level of scale you want.
If you only follow these 3 rules for hiring I PROMISE you'll be better off than before.
Hell yeah, or no.
This excerpt is from the book "Hell yeah or No: What's worth doing?" by Derek Sivers.
I love this excerpt because it gives you an incredibly clear decision making framework that is not purely optimised for happiness.
Does everything you do have to be totally and completely your undying passion? No.
Do you have to be excited by it? Yes.
Operating purely on things that are passion projects is dangerous because you narrow your field of view too much, but operating based on the things that excites you is great because your field of view is wider, your happiness it still protected, and you're still motivated.
If, for the rest of your life, you only do things that excite you I guarantee you'll look back favourably.
It's impossible not to.
