#33 - Scandal
Trade offs, truth seeking, and data points
I steer clear of current affairs in this newsletter. I held my tongue during Megxit, stayed quiet during the lockdowns, and even failed to voice my thoughts on the year’s biggest story: #freecuthbert.
But today I’ll break my silence.
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Trade Offs
This week saw Brewdog hit with controversy as 60 former and current employees wrote an open letter flagging the toxic culture. I’ll admit, I was surprised. In my head Brewdog was the model company- truly authentic and bold in their moves. How could their culture not be great? I thought.
It’s a cautionary tale but one I find strangely empowering. I often find myself questioning the choices we make- Social Media is awash with success stories of startups doing things very differently to how we work. It’s seeing stories like the Brewdog story this week that makes me realise there’s no right answer. Every approach is a trade off.
It’s easy to preach about the flaws others and our own virtues. I have no interest in doing either so I’ll keep it general. No judgement of Brewdog from me- I don’t know the story. But if I had to guess I’d say that the cultural issues highlighted came as a result of their cult-like approach to their mission. Many wonderful things have been created by that approach, but it can come at a cost.
Truth Seeking
I spoke with a good friend this week, also a founder, about whether some element of toxic culture is inevitable with massive success. From Google to Uber, issues crop up everywhere. I suspect it can be avoided.
Take Stripe for example- the current darling of Silicon Valley. I’ll stick my neck out and say we won’t be seeing “Stripe toxic culture” articles any time soon. A huge part of this is the down to the founders, Patrick and John Collison. They’re everything leaders should be (from my very-outside perspective).
What I love about the Collison’s is they’re devoid of ego. Completely. The Musks and Jobs’s of the world are forces of nature- willing projects into existence. But listen to Patrick Collison speak and you find something quite different. It’s clear he has a sparkling intelligence but the ego that drive others is simply not there. He speaks with complete intellectual humility. All he’s interested in is finding the truth.
I may well be wrong here (I often am) but I reckon it’s that lack of ego that has set the culture at Stripe. It removes the bullshit. If all the boss cares about is getting to the truth then that trickles down to the rest of the company. Work turns into an infinite game where everyone is a collaborator. No longer are you playing to win, you’re playing to play- a far superior state of being.
Data Points
Any time I feel myself getting frustrated at work it’s my ego. If a project gets delayed, a deal falls through, or we don’t deliver on something, I feel indignation rising in me- my mind casting around for someone to blame. I’m getting better at catching myself in this moment (meditation helps hugely with this) and recognising my ego at work.
None of these issue need to elicit a negative response- they’re neither good or bad. Taking a leaf out of Patrick Collison’s book: they’re simply interesting bits of data- feedback on how the Unplugged system is working. A project overran? No doubt a communication issue. It’s simply a sign that something in the system needs redesigning. I can huff and puff, or I can take an interest in why it didn’t work as expected.
Take the Collison approach and works becomes a puzzle, albeit a tricky one. All news becomes good news- further feedback on how things are working.
My Week in Books📚
Backable by Suneel Gupta
A book about what makes someone backable- a trait I could do with cultivating. Lots of good insight and Gupta also comes across as humble which improves the reading experience in my opinion. A fun read.
The Science of Self-Discipline by Peter Hollins
I had written off discipline as a waste of time (don’t ask) but of course there is a place for it. This book gives a thorough run through how to think about it.
The No-Normal Leader by William Rogers, Jonathan Bradley, and David Coull
A gift from Charl Ackerman- thank you Charl!
A look at leadership in the world of today. Nice to see transparency and openness in there. I sometimes wonder if I over share. Perhaps I’m under-sharing.
I’ll be updating the books I’ve read this year here. Any recommendations? Let me know!
A Final Thought 💡
“In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story.”
- Walter Cronkite
Loved reading this!
love this 💛🤌🏼