Process tends to be the enemy of entrepreneurship. If you are spending time building process, how can you spend time innovating the world and building product?
I had some initial issues jumping into the world of entrepreneurship because I’m process oriented. I blame it on my 3rd generation German blood. When I hired my team at find, I tried to be as hands-off as possible. I didn’t want to create processes to hinder their creative minds. In retrospect, I think I could have added a little more structure to the company – but this “hands off” approach was the correct direction.
Now I am in the process of spinning up a new company. I’m not quite sure what this new company is yet… but I do know that the core element of it today is “me” rather than the firm itself. So, to start scaling my efforts, I’ve decided to start building a team of outsourced talent who can replicate and improve upon the work that I do. Here’s the thing though. I am not looking for people to be creative. I am merely looking for a job – that I have identified – to be done.
I think this distinction is an important one when you consider hiring and managing people. Employee “freedom” is important if you have a goal, but not necessarily a direction. Employee “process” is important if you have work to do, but not enough time to do it.
They are not competitive. And “process” is not necessarily an enemy of entrepreneurship. It is simply another way to grow.