Great summary here, thank you for sharing. On the topic of prioritization, i fully agree, but I would also suggest those priorities may shift over time. A constant 'revisit' based on changing business conditions is needed to keep everything directionally aligned and sharp. In my experience, the prioritization is usually never a 'one and done' exercise. Thanks for the opportunity to share as well.
Very well articulated, completely relate to it as a founder.
My take is that not having clarity (whats the core pain you're solving, who the user is ...) is the root cause. And finding out the unknowns is the most important prioritization problem for founders, and can mean the difference between life and sudden death, smooth execution vs constant firefighting.
My first stint was a lot of firefighting (fake it until you make it), kept pushing for more and more numbers every week with short term tactics. A cannon pointed in the wrong direction.
Thankfully at some point the realization dawned on me that I need to critically evaluate the offering and fix the direction its headed.
Prioritization is indeed a superpower. So too is the need for free/thinking time, so that needs to be prioritized in a leader's diary too. It's easy to find ourselves doing too much 'doing' and not enough 'thinking' about what we should be doing! Good prioritization is a function of having had the time to think through what to prioritize.
Hi Nikhil, as a VC operating in Africa, one of the most challenging is to assess the Founding team. I know this is even more important than the idea; and also difficult to do as we rely on intuition . Is there a psychometric tool that can guide this process?
I very much agree, and the most effective leaders I've worked with have stunned me in how much they are able to get done without feeling in a rush thanks to their keeping their eyes on the prize and continually adjusting direction when appropriate. A key aspect of this, I think, is discerning the nature of various obstacles: I tend to get intimidated and discouraged by bureaucratic obstacles, but effective leaders I've worked with find all sorts of ways to make little bits of progress that eventually allow for a breakthrough. But of course some obstacles really are instrumental and require a dramatic change of tack, and I've seen some organizations where understanding that and actually doing it take months or years, and others where it can happen in the space of a day.
Nikhil, good article. I also like the fact that amongst the three, you have identified Talent as one of them. As a Talent Acquisition practitioner, I cannot emphasize enough, as to how important hiring top class talent and A players can make or break the organization. On your note on prioritization, I also assume Time Management is a part of it.
Last year I launched a perfect tool exactly for prioritization / item selection from any list.
For example, you can choose your most necessary goals using SMART++ criteria (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-phased, Ethical, Environmentally sound, Positively stated, etc.).
Or you can prioritize weekly tasks, evaluating them by your criteria of choice (Urgency, Importance, Unavoidability, Manageability, Impact, Ethical, social, and ecological responsibility, Financial return, etc.)
As an investor, you could get help choosing a founding team for funding, evaluating them by the criteria you mentioned: hungry, humble, knowledgeable, and attractive for talent.
Great summary here, thank you for sharing. On the topic of prioritization, i fully agree, but I would also suggest those priorities may shift over time. A constant 'revisit' based on changing business conditions is needed to keep everything directionally aligned and sharp. In my experience, the prioritization is usually never a 'one and done' exercise. Thanks for the opportunity to share as well.
Very well articulated, completely relate to it as a founder.
My take is that not having clarity (whats the core pain you're solving, who the user is ...) is the root cause. And finding out the unknowns is the most important prioritization problem for founders, and can mean the difference between life and sudden death, smooth execution vs constant firefighting.
My first stint was a lot of firefighting (fake it until you make it), kept pushing for more and more numbers every week with short term tactics. A cannon pointed in the wrong direction.
Thankfully at some point the realization dawned on me that I need to critically evaluate the offering and fix the direction its headed.
Succinct post, Nikhil.
Just to let you know that I included it in my leadership newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/ce685677af58/tfol-navigating-complex-environments-intuition-chatter-the-voices-in-our-head
Prioritization is indeed a superpower. So too is the need for free/thinking time, so that needs to be prioritized in a leader's diary too. It's easy to find ourselves doing too much 'doing' and not enough 'thinking' about what we should be doing! Good prioritization is a function of having had the time to think through what to prioritize.
Thanks for the insight. As a founder, your article hit me.
Hi Nikhil, as a VC operating in Africa, one of the most challenging is to assess the Founding team. I know this is even more important than the idea; and also difficult to do as we rely on intuition . Is there a psychometric tool that can guide this process?
I very much agree, and the most effective leaders I've worked with have stunned me in how much they are able to get done without feeling in a rush thanks to their keeping their eyes on the prize and continually adjusting direction when appropriate. A key aspect of this, I think, is discerning the nature of various obstacles: I tend to get intimidated and discouraged by bureaucratic obstacles, but effective leaders I've worked with find all sorts of ways to make little bits of progress that eventually allow for a breakthrough. But of course some obstacles really are instrumental and require a dramatic change of tack, and I've seen some organizations where understanding that and actually doing it take months or years, and others where it can happen in the space of a day.
great post. Prioritization is a hard skill to learn but can change your direction and trajectory quickly and in dramatic ways.
How do you prioritize? any rules of thumb that has served you well?
Nikhil, good article. I also like the fact that amongst the three, you have identified Talent as one of them. As a Talent Acquisition practitioner, I cannot emphasize enough, as to how important hiring top class talent and A players can make or break the organization. On your note on prioritization, I also assume Time Management is a part of it.
Last year I launched a perfect tool exactly for prioritization / item selection from any list.
For example, you can choose your most necessary goals using SMART++ criteria (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-phased, Ethical, Environmentally sound, Positively stated, etc.).
Or you can prioritize weekly tasks, evaluating them by your criteria of choice (Urgency, Importance, Unavoidability, Manageability, Impact, Ethical, social, and ecological responsibility, Financial return, etc.)
As an investor, you could get help choosing a founding team for funding, evaluating them by the criteria you mentioned: hungry, humble, knowledgeable, and attractive for talent.
Here is the link:
https://www.1st-things-1st.com