Unfocus, Experiments and Leadership
Edition #047
Introduction
Welcome to The ContraMind Code.
The ContraMind Code provides you with a system of principles, signals, and ideas to aid you in your pursuit of excellence.
The Newsletter shares the source code, through quick snapshots, for a systems thinking approach to be the best in what you do.
The Code helps you reboot and reimagine your thinking by learning from the best and enables you to draw a blueprint on what it takes to get extraordinary things done. Please share your valuable thoughts and comments and start a conversation.
Take a journey to www.contraminds.com. Listen and watch some great minds talking to us about their journey of discovery of what went into making them craftsmen of their profession to drive peak performance.
Allocate 20% Of Your Time for Interesting Hobbies Every day.
by Anne Sugar
In this interesting article in Forbes, Anne writes about her conversation with Doris Clark on how you really find the time to do something, especially since people find it hard to allocate time for hobbies and measure if there is any payoff from it.
Tip #1: Just do something - Clark states that not every action will have an obvious payoff but that it’s worthwhile to create a schedule that allows for consistently nurturing interesting experiments. Over time, some of the small bets will pay off.
Tip #2: Look for parallels in your work history - Clark shares how studying religion helped her with her work. Over the years, Clark noticed a crossover between religion and building one's brand: both draw on finding and creating meaning in the world.
Tip #3: Being too busy isn’t an excuse - Clark suggests we should think of our work and responsibilities in waves. Then you will find the time.
Read the article here.
The Past, Present and Future of Search
In this Podcast, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Founder of Neeva, shares his ideas about search and his views on the future of search.
Here is what he covers as a part of this conversation:
History of search right from the days of Yahoo and how Google search grew in scale and size
A lot of Google was built with brilliant partnerships - Yahoo deal, AOL deal etc. and the importance of taking a long-term view.
Google borrowed ideas from a lot of others. US$ 1.6 billion in 2003 to US$ 100 billion in 2019 when Sridhar left to start Neeva
Google, in 2021, had a 90% share of the business today!
The importance of the hierarchy of trust in Search
The Three way of the intersection of Click
Google’s Business is about the volume of queries vs the number of clicks.
The importance of customisation and personalisation in search
The definition and impact of anti-tracking and pro-privacy
Sridhar - Lessons he has learnt over the years
What really drives engagement is the meaning.
by Fred Kofman
In this fireside chat between Reid Hoffman and Fred Kofman, Author of the Book The Meaning revolution, he emphasises how material incentives like salary and benefits only drive a small portion of employees’ motivation. He weaves the economic and business theory together beautifully.
Fred Kofman talks about:
The feeling of what we do day in and day out and how that makes a huge difference.
How it is essential to be a Leader without followers.
The importance of focussing on the mission rather than the leader.
How to focus on the deep-rooted fears and anxieties as a means to lead a purposeful life.
Unfocus, Experiments and Leadership
It turns out that focus is good, but being unfocused is also essential. But how do you really be unfocused? Be focussed on things that are outside work! This is where hobbies become important. It can be a sport you play, a music class that you may attend and learn, social work, etc. What this does is that it takes your mind away from what you are focussed on 200% of your time. When you take your mind away through these hobbies, it gives you new ideas, alternative ways to think and new people who come across to work with.
Thinking back on the history of search, the importance of trying as many things based on your hypotheses seemed very critical. In one of the episodes in ContraMinds, Chris Yeh said, “ Quantity beats Quality”, which is one piece of advice he got. So, it is super important to keep doing a lot of experiments to validate a bunch of ideas. This will act as a catalyst for product development, innovation, new feature to be added to existing products etc. So, maybe the number of ongoing experiments and results is a critical metric that could be a part of the KPIs you must track.
The importance of leaders caring about the people who they work with in totality beyond work is vital. How much do you know personally about what is happening in their family and what is occupying their minds can make a huge difference. Also, ‘Listening 100%’ when you have a conversation with your people - irrespective of what pressures leaders are going through themselves- is essential, and most of the time, leaders don’t do it. These things leave a lasting impression on the people who you lead.
Some of the lessons we learnt from this week’s mission:
Take time to pursue interesting hobbies outside your work time. Give it 20% of your time, which can add significant value to the balance of 80% of your work.
The importance of partnerships, learning from others and experiments as you build products.
How meaning plays a massive role in driving deep-rooted engagement and purpose in anything you do.