Startups, Snares, and Simple Missteps
Here's a story. Once there was an entrepreneur named Sam. Sam was convinced his competitors and his employees were sabotaging his business. But, the truth? His competitor was just as lost in the maze of startup chaos. His employees? Confused and fumbling through their day.
No malicious intent to be found.
Never assume conspiracy when simple incompetence will suffice.
It's a twist on Hanlon's Razor, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
But let's not call it stupidity. Let's call it being human.
Startups are messy.
Just like your room when you can't find that one darn sock.
People are messy.
Just like your best friend when they spill coffee on your report.
Now, combine those two.
You get a whirlwind of chaos, a cocktail of catastrophe.
Messy isn't necessarily bad, though.
A startup, in its mess, innovates. People, in their mess, evolve.
Most of the time people are not out to get you.
They're too busy untangling their own pile of wires.
They're not plotting your downfall. They're trying not to fall themselves.
Remember the schoolyard game of telephone? Message gets distorted, doesn't it?
Not due to conspiracy, but simply because Johnny sneezed and missed a word.
Most of the time the reason things are broken is because things are hard and complicated and people are doing too much with too few resources.
Call it incompetence, if you wish. I call it overstretching.
Ever tried juggling? It's fun until the fourth ball comes into play.
Next time your delivery is late, or a teammate makes an error,
Pause.
Reflect.
Could it be conspiracy? Or is it simply chaos in action?
Startups are like uncharted waters. Nebulous, uncertain, and oh, so unpredictable.
But isn't that the charm of it all?
The real business lesson here isn't about meticulously avoiding the mess.
It's about diving headfirst into it, accepting the human side of chaos, and learning to navigate with compassion and understanding.
That, my friends, is the human side of startup success.