Don't be an octopus
Too many commitments, so many tentacles to move and not enough coordination. 🐙
I'm not talking about octopuses, but about us when we can't delegate.
Is this metaphor thing getting out of hand? Perhaps. But trust me.
Welcome Back To The Notes! Today we dive in, Bottom to the sea, to study an animal, the octopus, which reminds me so much of us young entrepreneurs and startups struggling with our small big projects.
In the beginning, in fact, we really look like an octopus: each of our tentacles is engaged in a different task. Do everything yourself, from sales to project management, from design to HR.
And, even if it seems like the most natural solution, you soon discover that keeping all these tentacles moving alone becomes heavy and, above all, slow.
And we don't want to be slow,
we want to grow,
we want more,
we're hungry, even right now, but that's maybe all this talk about octopuses.
How much do tentacles weigh? 🐙
The adrenaline at the beginning, how cool.
We feel invincible, ready to handle everything.
But soon, the fatigue makes itself felt, and with it come the first oversights or mistakes.
When it comes to creating a company, each tentacle is engaged on a different front, and the risk is to feel like a slammed octopus (Bari lore activated):
with eight commitments but zero energy.
Delegating means just that: recognizing that, in order to grow, you need to give the tentacles to people who can dedicate themselves full-time to that function, doing it even better than you could, because they have the time and concentration to optimize it. But how to do it?
Share your tentacles with the right people ✅
Delegating doesn't just mean getting rid of a task:
but finding the person who can make it a fundamental part of our project.
Each tentacle is different, and each person has their own way of working, which is round and which is square, remember?
How to play with Duplo, but in an adult version:
Shapes and colors, compatibility and shared vision.
It's not just about technical skills, on the contrary, less and less.
We must achieve it, this is our most important contribution: we are building a network of people who not only complete the work, but evolve it. Entrusting every tentacle to someone who sees its potential means creating a team that grows with you, maintaining the essence you have set and this, just that, you don't have to delegate.
Did you know that octopuses have 3 hearts? 🤯
But there are parts you can't give up, otherwise you can't give up, dead, in a cold salad as an appetizer. It's not the tentacles, but the 3, I swear it's true, octopus hearts.
I like to think of them as that triptych of elements, whether they are your values, personal values, your purpose or skill, that have brought you this far and that give direction to the long-term project.
They are your vision, the profound motivation that drives you every day.
Delegate yes, but never lose sight of them, sharing them with others rather, that they are also a reason for commitment and pride to be part of the project.
When you look at them 👥
I have always been a visual type. And I'm not weird.
Seeing something makes it real, and gives a lot of emotions.
The first few times are special, you enter the studio and you see new faces, at first you are really surprised: Then you understand the true value of delegation: not only have you freed yourself to concentrate on what is really worth doing in the first person, but you have created a system that works even without you having to take care of everything.
And there is a special satisfaction in knowing that, thanks to them, every part of the project continues to evolve. It makes me feel in seventh heaven, in the clouds of Open.
See you in the next Note,
Marco
And if you've come this far, you deserve a treat: Seeing how a creative studio works is important to get inspired, to learn concepts that you didn't know before. I found this octopus here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dQ6yKSttEc, on the studio channel of the famous youtuber MKBHD. Very interesting!
