Don’t compromise, find the best solution.
Let’s take a look at a few examples on how compromises can hurt progress in building something worth pursuing.
With regards to Company-building
There are many angles to explore how compromising could hurt the business you’re involved in building, but I would argue that the foundational one is the mission. If you try to formulate a mission for a company so that every person can find themselves in it, could potentially serve a different set of customers or change the core of your product at any point in the future, you’ll end up with a bunch of people doing their own thing, uncommitted customers, and probably have a hard time positioning yourself in the market.
With regards to People
This one is straight forward: if you compromise on the people you bring on board or surround yourself with, you will end up with a low performing team. The missing parts add up. You’ll fight plenty of battles that have nothing to do with taking the company to the next level.
With regards to Product
If you compromise with regards to your product, you certainly won’t end up with a product that is superior to all your competitors or leave the door wide open for disruptors to swoop right in.
These are just a few problems that will arise with compromises and I’m afraid there will be many more in the realm. There is a better approach though: find the best solution. This requires a few different ingredients than finding compromises:
1. Embrace disagreement, because there is an opportunity to illuminate your own blindspots;
2. Champion meritocracy, because the better argument is more important than the better title;
3. Relentlessness, because you can’t be satisfied with the first idea that sounds somewhat reasonable;
4. Externalize clear and objective expectations, because everyone needs to understand what you are measuring against (and that it’s not your subjective opinion).
Please don’t compromise, strive for the best solution! |
