Who before what
In the early days, who matters more than what
In his book Good To Great, Jim Collins explains one of the most important aspects of building a successful company: choosing the right people. The book takes the metaphor of a bus: before you start the bus and before you even know the destination, the most important thing is to make sure you have the right people on board.
Wells Fargo's performance started to boom in the 80s. This was in the making for years and this performance book comes from a leadership change initiated in the 1970s. Wells Fargo's CEO knew that the banking industry would change but did not know how to change and adapt the company. He was smart enough to know he was not a “know it all”. Instead, recruited outstanding people to build the company of the future. He chose who to bring on board before deciding what to change.
Bank of America took a different model. They hired weak leaders afraid to get into conflict and make decisions. Bank of America could not take action in an industry that was changing. It was only when they noticed the performance of Wells Fargo that Bank of America started to poach people from Wells Fargo to see its performance climb again. But it was too late: Wells Fargo's DNA and culture were strong, and Bank of America was still figuring out its identity and culture.
The impact on each company's performance speaks for itself. See the graph below: Wells Fargo is blue and Bank of America is green.
Who is on board at your company matters even more in the early stages. Too often, people think they know what to build before knowing who will build it. This is a mistake that I made.
Before you build anything, gather an A-team you trust and know how to play together. This team will build a plan, divide the tasks, and execute relentlessly. Each member must be an A-player in their domain, not be afraid to get into conflict, and know how to execute in a team.
Finally, the same principle applies to your personal life. Before you start to get serious about spending time with a future partner or friend, make sure they bring value to your life. Dating or marrying the right person will bring much value to your life (happiness, personal growth, common projects). The wrong one can have a negative impact and destroy everything you built before.