Growth is being able to do something we were not able to before. Every growth compounds towards success.
Startup success is rapid growth of financial value in short period of time. This requires leaders to constantly improve capabilities to run the growing organization.
Growth is arguably the single most important skill for any leader in the long-term. We all start with zero base. Great leaders continuously outgrow the past selves to adapt to constantly changing demand.
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Give everything a try as a default
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Trying something we have never done is the first step to become more able. We cannot walk, speak or do anything without a first attempt. Static inertia is the worst enemy of any startup. Try every major action needed to build and scale a company.
Record trials. Document every try, from what we tried, what went well to what didn’t. Not everything will work out with the first attempt. But every try should reveal our capabilities (what we can or cannot do) and needs (what we need to learn). Document these at the end of every cycle (day, week to annual).
Trial as a habit. Trying (we don’t know, but we will figure out by acting upon it) should be the default. The less we try, the slower our growth will be. Make trial automatic to continuously and consistently progress.
Learn to try. Upon acquiring new knowledge (helpful info), we should put into action as soon as possible. If we find that our comms is not working well, we should try a new way of comms. The longer we wait to try new approach, the more we remain with mediocrity (repeating same mistakes).
MVT. Some actions just cannot be tried at full scale. Go for Minimum Viable Trial. MVP for product. Trial period for new hires. AB testing before website renewal.
As we automatically try and document each try, we create the foundation for our growth.
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Analyze our experience in full details and derive constructive insight
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Reflect upon our experience to derive constructive insight. For every try, analyze, think deeply and document what we can do better next time in an internal tool (Docs/Notion).
3rd person view. Most of us rationalize our past behaviors and blame on external factors (people/ environments) for what did not work out. This self-defense mechanism makes us avoid more and rarely helps us grow. There are two approaches to objectively analyze our past behaviors: