Makes sense, but it can also be nice to throw your weight behind a cause alongside others. How it's framed here, it seems like we should all be on our little rafts, individually saving the world.
Agree that it is incredibly valuable (and absolutely necessary) to join an existing mission, working alongside others to solve complex problems - we go further together.
This is why we like Jason's framework since it adds some nuance to the "neglected" concept:
"you don’t see other people approaching in the way that you would do it—even if the opportunity is not literally neglected"
If you can bring a better solution, join the competition and contribute to progress in the field. Otherwise, collaborating on existing projects is often more impactful.
It is essential to both support individuals to act independently while also cultivating a cohesive and aligned community.
Wow, I just read about FieldBook. It sounds like exactly the sort of product I would've liked to work on, and I was unemployed in 2016 and 2017 too. Admittedly it's not the thing I wanted to work on most―I wanted to make developer tools and programming languages more than anything, and it's too bad I discovered things that the world needs even more desperately―but I always thought spreadsheets were blatantly suboptimal, so prima facie it really sounds like my kind of gig. What happened to the code when the company folded? Is there no possibility of an open-source product? Anyway, ultimately I went on to build (yet another) product almost from scratch at a startup that is now successful. Problem is, this product could easily be net negative for the world.
Which is a perfect segue to this post. I've never been able to find an overlap between "what the world needs" and "what you can be paid for", which is why I'm trying to earn a million dollars at my current company, just so I can burn it all for the chance to build something the world needs. I don't think this is a good plan, but I'm too busy working to come up with something better!
„How to choose what to work on“ is a nice read. It also reminded me of quite a few things (similar and partially orthogonal) I’ve come across elsewhere quite a while ago. You might know and/or like some of that.
First, an article by Tomas Pueyo titled „How to Become the Best in the World at Something“[1] where he talks about the power of „skill-stacking“:
„It’s easier and more effective to be in the top 10% in several different skills—your “stack”—than it is to be in the top 1% in any one skill.“
Then, Seth Godin made a similar point in „Linchpin“ [2], linking it to being *human* as well when attempting to be a linchpin:
„The linchpin sees the world very differently. Exceptional insight, productivity, and generosity make markets bigger and more efficient. This situation leads to more opportunities and ultimately a payoff for everyone involved. The more you give, the more the market gives back.“
And last but not least, thirdly, I think Venkatesh Rao recently made a nice, orthogonal point to that too: In order to connect to other human beings, we must pay attention that we don’t put a „elitist“ identity in front of other humans in a way that makes us unapproachable and un-relatable, but instead take great care to perform our identities such that they become easy to connect to [3]:
„It just means choosing the most accessible parts of your life as the basis for the identity performance you present to the world. To invite it to connect to you; plug into your life.
To seek a maximally commodified identity is to simply avoid making your differences the basis of how you try to connect with others.“
perfect timing. i was asking myself this exact question as this article was delivered to my inbox.
i would add that it doesn't hurt spending a little time thinking about what the macro tends in your industry or the world at large are headed towards. asking ones self what the world might need in 5-10 years could be helpful as it will probably take that long to build something excellent.
Makes sense, but it can also be nice to throw your weight behind a cause alongside others. How it's framed here, it seems like we should all be on our little rafts, individually saving the world.
True, I guess I wrote it with independent founders or researchers in mind. I think you could adapt it for deciding what efforts to join as well.
For sure. And to be fair, you started the piece with a whole bunch of opportunities to join existing initiatives.
Agree that it is incredibly valuable (and absolutely necessary) to join an existing mission, working alongside others to solve complex problems - we go further together.
This is why we like Jason's framework since it adds some nuance to the "neglected" concept:
"you don’t see other people approaching in the way that you would do it—even if the opportunity is not literally neglected"
If you can bring a better solution, join the competition and contribute to progress in the field. Otherwise, collaborating on existing projects is often more impactful.
It is essential to both support individuals to act independently while also cultivating a cohesive and aligned community.
Great article. Yes, I agree that you should pick something that:
1) you are obsessed with
2) you believe is important
3) you don’t see other people approaching in the way that you would do it
That is exactly how I decided to write about the history of material progress and what we can learn from it.
Wow, I just read about FieldBook. It sounds like exactly the sort of product I would've liked to work on, and I was unemployed in 2016 and 2017 too. Admittedly it's not the thing I wanted to work on most―I wanted to make developer tools and programming languages more than anything, and it's too bad I discovered things that the world needs even more desperately―but I always thought spreadsheets were blatantly suboptimal, so prima facie it really sounds like my kind of gig. What happened to the code when the company folded? Is there no possibility of an open-source product? Anyway, ultimately I went on to build (yet another) product almost from scratch at a startup that is now successful. Problem is, this product could easily be net negative for the world.
Which is a perfect segue to this post. I've never been able to find an overlap between "what the world needs" and "what you can be paid for", which is why I'm trying to earn a million dollars at my current company, just so I can burn it all for the chance to build something the world needs. I don't think this is a good plan, but I'm too busy working to come up with something better!
„How to choose what to work on“ is a nice read. It also reminded me of quite a few things (similar and partially orthogonal) I’ve come across elsewhere quite a while ago. You might know and/or like some of that.
First, an article by Tomas Pueyo titled „How to Become the Best in the World at Something“[1] where he talks about the power of „skill-stacking“:
„It’s easier and more effective to be in the top 10% in several different skills—your “stack”—than it is to be in the top 1% in any one skill.“
Then, Seth Godin made a similar point in „Linchpin“ [2], linking it to being *human* as well when attempting to be a linchpin:
„The linchpin sees the world very differently. Exceptional insight, productivity, and generosity make markets bigger and more efficient. This situation leads to more opportunities and ultimately a payoff for everyone involved. The more you give, the more the market gives back.“
And last but not least, thirdly, I think Venkatesh Rao recently made a nice, orthogonal point to that too: In order to connect to other human beings, we must pay attention that we don’t put a „elitist“ identity in front of other humans in a way that makes us unapproachable and un-relatable, but instead take great care to perform our identities such that they become easy to connect to [3]:
„It just means choosing the most accessible parts of your life as the basis for the identity performance you present to the world. To invite it to connect to you; plug into your life.
To seek a maximally commodified identity is to simply avoid making your differences the basis of how you try to connect with others.“
[1]: Pueyo, Tomas. “How to Become the Best in the World at Something,” April 20, 2023. https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/how-to-become-the-best-in-the-world.
[2]: Seth Godin. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Penguin, 2010.
[3]: Rao, Venkatesh. “Life Is Pain, Only Potato.” Substack. Ribbonfarm Studio, September 14, 2024. https://studio.ribbonfarm.com/p/life-is-pain-only-potato.
perfect timing. i was asking myself this exact question as this article was delivered to my inbox.
i would add that it doesn't hurt spending a little time thinking about what the macro tends in your industry or the world at large are headed towards. asking ones self what the world might need in 5-10 years could be helpful as it will probably take that long to build something excellent.