Execution: Where Dreamers Die and Doers Thrive

Honing your bullshit detector when people make big plans

Something I’m Learning

Consider these situations:

1. Someone frequently complains about their job, but when asked about exploring other options, they claim they're just too busy.

2. A group of friends is planning a trip, but no one offers to draw up the itinerary or details.

3. A group of fellowship alumni are planning a meetup, but they avoid committing to specific dates or they discuss a location with multiple barriers to entry (flight costs, visas, distance, etc).

A common understanding in entrepreneurship circles is that while things like storytelling ability and networking are critical success factors, projects or start-ups fail not due to the strength or weakness of an idea, but because the team couldn't implement it. I'm seeing this more and more often, both within and outside professional life.

It’s funny how many great quotes there are about this. The most popular one is General Bradley’s “Amateurs talk strategy but professionals talk logistics.” Picasso had a better one: “When art critics get together, they talk about Form and Structure and Meaning. When painters get together, they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine.”

I got the Picasso quote from Claire Hughes Johnson, former COO of Stripe, who also wrote, "10 percent of the work is figuring out the plan and 90 percent is executing on it and making hard choices about what you will and won't do."

It’s those pesky hard choices that trip people up. Life is trade-offs, consciously or unconsciously made. I’ve been honing my this-will-never-happen detector over the last few years and testing it publicly.

About 18 months ago, a classmate from a fellowship program I once did in Europe told me about a reunion plan for our class in India in 4 months. I had twice previously tried to organize this group and failed, so I told her it wasn’t going to happen. I said I’d only commit once everyone else bought tickets. It never happened.

Last summer, I helped organize a small fellowship program for senior leaders. This group told us they would self-organize meetups without help from the organizers. They began to plan a trip together in a few months. Given their behavior up to that point, I turned to a colleague and said, “this won’t happen.” It didn’t.

I've slowly become more comfortable asking "are you actually serious" questions when evaluating ideas. I especially want to see if they’ve thought about the trade-offs of not doing something versus doing it.

Is there value in all this talking and dreaming? Maybe it’s just good fun! But it’s worth having a nose for when your group is serious and when they’re just talking.

Here are 7 signs that someone or a group will not or cannot make it happen:

1. They can't articulate clear next steps or a timeline or a specific plan.

2. They waver when it comes to pulling out their wallet or staking their credibility.

3. They haven’t considered the opportunity costs of whether or not it happens (both sets)

4. No one steps up to drive the initiative forward

5. The people willing to do the legwork lack the formal or informal authority to persuade or compel others to follow them.

6. They frequently change the subject (often using jokes as a distraction tactic) when asked for specifics.

7. Anyone, at any time, uses the words, “I’m really busy…”

Something to Consider

Or maybe we all just need a cheerleading squad every step of the way. This will make your day.

Something to Quote

The most persistent hauntings are the ghosts of lost futures.

- Naomi Alderman, The Future