Eric Hotinger
I’ve created something magical: an invisible compass. The product is not astonishing; it’s fragile and young, yet blissful. It hasn’t been announced yet, but it will be later this year. I hope you will find it equally mesmerizing.
For the last six months, I’ve worked tirelessly to offer a chance for it to succeed. It’s not my own company and I’m not getting paid some exuberant amount of money to stay committed to an arbitrary mission. I tried so hard because I believed I could offer a glimmer of change.
Change is painful and arduous. When I began, I carefully detailed its designs and slowly assimilated individuals to take responsibilities. Many people were impossibly skeptical and refused to acknowledge the possibility of success. They’d discredit me and bluntly state I had no role in helping form a new product.
Through this process, I’ve formed two keys to unlock faith and commitment from others. Firstly, you must instill the belief that you can grow their careers if they follow you, regardless of your tenure. Secondly, you must create brilliant ideas and empower others to claim them as their own.
The second key is far more difficult than the first. It requires repetition ad nauseam: slowly asking questions for people to reach the same conclusion you had before. You have to reiterate the same ideas you’ve had until they come up with the same solution. If you tell someone what to do and you are not their manager, you will not be successful. This process of discovery is enlightening and empowering to others. It gives them the feeling that they are shaping the product with their own hands. They believe in their own ideas and want to see them succeed.
In order to create an invisible compass, you need to eliminate your own job. I have three simple goals: 1) to empower others’ success; 2) to not quit my job along the way; 3) to have fun. Previously, I’d watched two other far more senior engineers try to complete a similar project. They tried to carry an entire organization on their backs which made them stressed out and ultimately they both quit their jobs. In doing so, they emotionally and physically harmed themselves and they did not radically change the organization. It is far more effective to create change at an organizational level than to burn yourself out. Even if you are successful in creating a product, but you burn yourself out in the process, you were not successful.
The product I’m proud of is the change in the organization, not the product itself. If I quit my job for any reason, I’m confident everyone will be successful without me. They will be able to find their way. After all, they have the invisible compass.
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