The Rise of Rapid
Background
For the past two years, we've worked furiously here at Blue Whale Labs with a variety of clients on a variety of topics, from the mundane to the fascinating. We've come to learn a lot about entrepreneurs, but more from interacting with them that by digging deep into the fuel that burns in our own bellies."There are no rational entrepreneurs" David Rose, Angel InvestorRational, definitely not. Dreamy, passionate, aspirational, ambitious, insane, even delusional - for sure. But there's something special, sexy even, about this combination of traits that keeps your eyes fixated - are we waiting for the fireworks or trainwreck, I'm not sure.
If there’s one trait that can’t be denied, it’s impatience and the general sense of urgency. This urgency stems from all sorts of places, but there’s at least 2 that prevail:
- Urgency to Survive - in this case, the entrepreneur finds themselves strapped for cash or the other resources to get the wind in their sales and they need to act FASTER
- Urgency to Thrive - in this case, the entrepreneur is aiming for a specific opportunity and time is the only real leverage they perceive
Enter Rapid
Urgency, I've found, is the number one reason that bad decisions are made. Urgency, when pressed to the temples of already exhausted minds, leads to disaster. Urgency, unfortunately, is not our best ally, but sometimes our best friends are our enemies.Instead of Urgency, we need to seek out Rapidity. We live in a world that moves faster and faster. We have information at our fingertips and networks under our thumbs. The most interesting personalities to watch today are those wielding the power of one or both. We envy that focus and clarity, we desire the same in our own lives.
"If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done." Bruce LeeI'm seeing a shift in my own thinking, especially as it concerns how I want to help and work with people going forward. While in the past, we would toil for extended periods of time over the details of every interaction, I see tremendous merit in quick, swift guidance that cuts like a razor.
Thinking Rapid
There are countless talented individuals that are willing to commit limitless amounts of time to solving and evolving the answers to pressing problems. We don't want to be one of them. We want to do more with less, tactics over strategy, solutions over options. It's what we expect from our own team, partners and vendors and the least we can do in return.You know you're thinking rapid when you already know the problem and can count on your fingers the people who could give you the answers you need. If your problem takes more than a day to solve, find a smaller problem.Being Rapid
I'm currently looking for tactical experts - the kind of people that others "ooh and ahh" at when they think to themselves, "If I could just get you to work on this I know all my problems will be solved." It doesn't matter the field, just that you're expertise is solid, vetted, and available on-demand.Tactical experts don’t need time to start up or shut down. They hate working on documentation, avoid phone calls, and resent most face-to-face meetings, except when demanded by the situation. Tactical experts have tidbits to share, not blogs to write.
If you are one of these people, send me an email at gregarious AT rapidstrategy DOT com.