Collaboration
I focus best amidst distractions. It might be because I grew up on trading desks, it might be because I was built with a hyperactive mind and a restless spirit, and it might be because I drink too much coffee. For whatever reason, while most focus best in quiet solitude, I do my best work behind blinking screens, loud music, constant interruptions, and blasts of energy.
Collaboration is fuel for creativity and some of history’s greatest renaissances have been the result of communities of talent feeding off of each other. 1960’s folk music in Greenwich Village, and then 1990’s grunge music in Seattle. Plato’s school, and then again with Aristotle. Maybe Silicon Valley belongs here too, time will tell. Perhaps even economists in Austria in the mid-1900s. But I digress.
Creative energy just doesn’t happen in solitude.
We’ve all spent too much time working alone recently. I too love working in pajamas, but let’s be real: zoom is no way to build a company culture.
I’ve been running solo the past few months. I’ve been working on a capital raise for atNav, which mostly involves crafting a narrative that will resonate with capital partners. It’s a fun project, and it has almost nothing in common with my other project, which is the actual atNav business building. That project involves writing a patent, deep market structure research, and most importantly, listening to future clients.
Some days I can see that I am making big progress. Other days I’m not so sure. Asking for capital to build something that can up-end major financial institutions is no easy thing. Asking during the onset of an ominous market environment is even harder. But every day is an opportunity to move the ball forward, and forward the ball moves.
Grinding without a team is especially hard, and I miss the collaborative energy I’ve had with some of the great teams I’ve worked with in the past. So all I can do is remind myself to Get Shit Done…
…and to focus.
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Ok, I’m breaking the fourth wall here. I just took a break from writing this post, went for a walk, and then sat back down. I don’t love this post. Feels a little self-indulgent. The world is changing, temperatures are rising, and the economy is in trouble. Big trouble. My state of mind doesn’t rank. As long as you are kind enough to give me your time the least I can do is try to make it worthwhile for you by exploring topics of a heavier weight.
The goal of this post was to work through capturing that collaborative creative energy while waiting for the opening bell to ring. There are a lot of potential paths for me at the moment, and what happens from here in terms of atNav, in terms of who I partner and work with next, and what that trajectory looks like, I can’t say.
As that path gets settled this substack will narrow it’s focus. And whatever I end up writing about, stick around, because one thing I do promise you is that I will never come lightly to the blank page.
*from Stephen King’s On Writing.
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Back to the post, I want to close with one final thought on collaboration. It is hard to quantify the value of a good team. Work chemistry, different ways of thinking, mutual respect, trust, an understanding of the greater good… there is no framework for valuing these things.
But if you’ve ever been on a great team, I don’t need to tell you. Whatever anyone on the outside thinks it is worth, it’s worth more. Value your team accordingly.
Always worth reading your posts--entertaining, interesting, defined, cogent.