Founder Operating Style test

Toward the high end, people tend to check each new idea against the bet the company is making now and set aside those that do not serve it, however attractive. That gives one direction time to show results, but a tight filter can also screen out a useful signal from customers. Toward the low end, people tend to follow promising ideas as they appear, such as a new customer group or a partnership, often before the current direction has evidence either way. That can catch a better opening early, but attention spreads across several bets.

Chases new openings

You often say yes to an attractive idea before the current bet has shown whether it works, which keeps options open but splits your time across several directions.

This week, write each new idea on one list before you act on it, and on Friday check which ones serve the current bet.

Filters case by case

You set aside some ideas that fall outside the current bet, and at other times start on one before the current direction has evidence.

Before you start on a new idea this week, write one line on how it serves the current bet, and park it if you cannot.

Guards the current bet

You usually say no to attractive ideas that do not fit the current bet, which lets one direction run long enough to judge but can shut out a useful surprise.

Once this week, spend twenty minutes with the ideas you set aside and ask whether any is a customer signal the current bet is missing.

Toward the high end, people tend to come out of a bad day, such as a lost deal or a launch that falls flat, still knowing the next practical step. That keeps work moving, though a quick return can skip what the setback was saying. Toward the low end, one setback tends to blur the whole direction for a while, and the next practical step gets harder to see. That treats a setback as a real signal, but it can cost time, and a team may read the pause as a change of course.

Takes time to regroup

A single setback can blur the whole direction for you and hide the next practical step, which takes the setback seriously but can hold work up for days.

This week, after any setback, write down one practical step for the next morning before you finish for the day.

Regroups after most setbacks

After most bad days you find the next practical step again, though a larger setback can still blur the direction for a while.

End each day this week by noting the next practical step, so a bad day leaves you somewhere to restart from.

Keeps the next step

A bad day rarely costs you the next practical step, so work carries on, though you may move on before a setback has taught you much.

The next time something goes wrong this week, spend ten minutes writing down what it tells you before you move on.

Toward the high end, people tend to spot a task that keeps coming back, write down how it is done and hand it to someone who can follow the steps. That frees founder time, though a process written too early can freeze a task that is still changing. Toward the low end, people tend to keep repeated work and its details in their own head and do it themselves each time. That can be quick while the company is small, but work waits on one person and can stall when they are away.

Holds the details

You tend to handle repeated tasks yourself and keep many of the details in your own head, which is quick while things change but leaves work waiting on you.

This week, pick one task you have done twice and write its steps so someone else could follow them, even if you keep doing it for now.

Hands some tasks off

You have turned some repeated tasks into steps another person can follow, while others still depend on details only you hold.

Choose one recurring task that still depends on you, and move the details only you know into a shared note this week.

Turns tasks into processes

You tend to turn repeated tasks into steps someone else can follow, which frees your time but can lock in a process before the task has settled.

Ask the person who follows one of your processes what has changed since you wrote it, and update the steps this week.