I started a new book: Rules for Revolutionaries from Kawasaki (I admit I only took it because I liked the title :D).
Ok, it’s true that he’s always saying the same things but, anyway, I like him. I like how he puts it simple, touches everything that’s important, and I like what he thinks about the spirit a company and a team should have.
He wishes to everyone that we, at list once in our lives, get to work in a team like the Macintosh Division of Apple; and then explains some of his leanings on that team.
I specially liked the description of a Strong Leader:
“What is legitimate authority? Knowing what you’re doing, communicating what you’re doing, and expecting the team to add value to your behavior and ideas. Great leaders are paradoxical. They catalyze, rather than control, the work of their teams.They have an overarching vision for the team but are not autocratic in the realization of this vision. Their eyes are open to whatever results occur – not just planned goals, because serendipity is a great innovator. “
I didn’t want to praise them in a too obvious way, but I’ve also learned that from 2 of the leaders and entrepreneurs I’ve worked with lately ;-)
This made me also think about the times I’ve been leading teams, and I believe in those cases, what really mattered was the team. The best experience was a summer camp with Badalona kids. That was my first real and grown up startup. Where I truly experimented the greatness of a team, the need to have a co-founder and the results that can be achieved if you all put passion, even if you don’t have “formal experience”. I will explain that adventure sometime… but I was happy to see that Kawasaki was of the same opinion:
“The two most important things about people on a revolutionary team are their ability and passion. Their educational level or work experience is meaningless”
This sentence also made me think….
“Great teams are made of people who see the current state-of-the-art as a fraction of what could be. If there was a single quality that characterized the Macintosh Division team (besides arrogance), it was idealism. We believed we could change the world.”
Do you think you can be idealist without being either arrogant or naive?
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