Book Commentary: The Startup Community Way by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway
❓ What does this book have to do with my coaching?
It’s all about connection.
I picked up the book because I had a chance meeting with one of the authors and was curious about how more knowledge of startups might help me relate better to some of my friends and clients who are startup founders. Despite the startup focus, the book surprised with insights about corporate behavior that apply to my philosophy of coaching leaders in large, complex organizations.
The authors explain some of the characteristics of complex systems and how an entrepreneurial ecosystem fits that model. Complex systems have many interconnected elements, layers and subsystems. They are not fully knowable; prediction is limited; and context is all-important. We cannot hope to control, but only influence and guide. These systems are non-linear, and development is evolutionary rather than mechanical. Components of an entrepreneurial ecosystem include many actors such as establishment players, entrepreneurs, and service providers that interrelate in complex ways. These actors do not all have the same motivations or incentives. Building a productive ecosystem requires making sure the right actors are in place and well-connected.
It’s the interaction between the various elements that creates the excess value of a complex system. Regardless of the quality of the individual components of the system, the value of the system comes from the quality of the connections between the components. When those connections are strong, the system benefits from synergistic integration and a non-linear relationship between inputs and outputs. When these connections are weak, the system fails to take off despite the quality of the individual parts.
This model of a complex system fits the large, global, matrix-structured organizations I’ve worked and coached in very well. In these companies, leadership challenges emerge from the need to influence and guide the system instead of controlling it. Often there’s a focus more on creating quality among the individual actors — the best engineers, the best salespeople, the best technical experts — than on the quality of the connections among these people and teams.
How often have we seen dysfunctional teams composed of highly functional individuals?
In my coaching, I work with leaders to strengthen connections: with themselves, their teams, their clients, and stakeholders within the organization. Only through strong connections can we hope to realize the value potential in the system. Often this work challenges a leader to step back from areas of technical competence where they are most comfortable and enter a much more uncertain, unpredictable, and non-linear world of human emotion, curiosity, and and creativity. That’s the space where true growth and value creation occur.
To talk more about how to improve connections within your world, connect with me here or at john@aconnectedcoach.com