1, #55 - How should we organize our organizations?
On Brilliant, Boring Answers — Estimated Read Time: 45 seconds.
One of the biggest lightbulb moments of my professional life was reading The Lean Startup. I’d stumbled my way into an early-stage tech startup shortly after graduating and had no idea what I was doing. Eric Ries’ book provided a framework that made everything make sense.
This week, I finished a recent podcast interview which confirmed that the original book was not a fluke. Eric has moved on to other things, but his understanding of how things work—his ‘first-principles thinking,’ as the host puts it—is exceptional.
Out of a 2-hour discussion filled with gold, my favorite nugget was this: A company’s ability to have a positive long-term impact depends on its organizational structure. The term “corporate governance” may sound dreadfully bland, but the trajectory of companies is often determined by “boring” things like how the board is selected and who the investors are.
If you’re like me and have felt discouraged about building for the long-term, when companies optimize everything for the next quarterly return or round of funding … maybe we should pay more attention to how we organize our organizations.
Insight from Eric Ries, in this fantastic interview with
. For some additional context: Check out Eric’s latest company, the Long-Term Stock Exchange.