Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Hunter-gatherers and Farmers. Which are you?

There are truly no new ideas so I won't claim authorship of this one. Just rediscovery. I have been thinking a lot recently about who I am in relationship to the work I enjoy and have developed a set of mental models (analogies at best, self-deception at worst) to help me understand this better. I recently read Is the World Half Crazy? and came to the realization that I am a Creator Hare (as opposed to an Advancer Hare, Refiner Turtle or Executor Turtle). This explains why I like creating things out of whole cloth, but enjoy iterating and operating much less. Another distinction hit me today which I call "hunter-gatherers and farmers." An operating role is like being a farmer. You decide what crops to grow (where you want to place your bets and investments), you plant the seeds and nurture them until you can harvest the crop. How well you plant and cultivate, along with the randomness of the weather, determines what your yield will be. The hunter-gatherer, which I believe describes some aspects of what I enjoy most, surveys the landscape and goes after what is already out there that fits the need. My current role involving M&A-type activities fits this model as does my passion for recruiting talent for Amazon. Are these answers? No. But they are interesting lenses to view the world through and understand our place in it.

No comments: