Editorial
This article is the first in an ongoing series about Management by Haiku. Check back for more!
Management by Haiku is inspired by the Japanese art form known for its succinct structure. Writing a poem in 17 syllables requires ruthless concision and clarity. When you manage by haiku, you’re forced to laser focus on your priorities and cut out everything superfluous. It’s a concept I’ve developed to inspire leaders to expedite decision-making, stay on track, be intentional and go further faster.
As I’ve lived and led by this philosophy, I’ve introduced an important caveat.
Ruthless clarity about your priorities is not an excuse to live in a comfort zone.
Your haiku is a filter, not a safety blanket. It’s an avenue to facilitate fast decisions and efficient operations. It should keep pushing you forward — not hold you back.
It’s about status next, not status quo.
“But This Is How We Do Things.”
Watch out for the signs you’re leading from a comfort zone:
- Outcomes have stagnated.
- Your company culture has limited tolerance for risks.
- You aren’t routinely challenged on your approach.
- Maybe you’ve stopped feeling uncomfortable.
In life, comfort is often a goal. It’s a hot cup of tea, a favorite book, yoga pants…all good stuff. But in business, comfort can be a problem.
When I wanted to connect with someone about the power of stepping out of comfort zones — not only for a leader or a company, but even for an entire industry — I reached out to world-renowned venture capitalist, Aileen Lee.
Aileen shared some words of wisdom that I can’t get out of my head:
“Don’t let discomfort be an excuse to go back to what you’re comfortable with. Discomfort isn’t a sign that you’re doing something wrong.”
Honestly, paint that on a sign and put it on my wall. I want to read it every day.
Related Article: Why Taking on More Strategic Risk Can Be Fuel for Growth
Blazing Trails and Finding Unicorns: The Cowboy Ventures story
“It was scary.”
That’s what Aileen says about founding Cowboy Ventures, one of the tech industry’s first female-led VC firms, which specializes in seed-stage investments. Aileen already had a major foothold in the VC space prior to founding the company, but going out on her own was a clear – and intentional — disruption of her comfort zone.
Cowboy Ventures seeds “trailblazers, change makers and legends in the making.” These words also sum up Aileen herself. She’s the person who invented the term “unicorn” to describe the rare startup with massive potential. (Today, it’s hard to imagine the financial world without it.) And she didn’t get where she is by conflating clarity of purpose with comfort zones.
I couldn’t help but be impressed with the remarkably clear, and inspiring (not to mention delightfully haiku-esque) way the company articulates its vision:
Cowboys work as a team.
Venture as a craft.
Ready to ride.
Room around the campfire.
Blaze new trails.
More Room Around the Campfire: Why Smart Leaders Foster Diversity
Aileen’s ability to embrace the discomfort of building something new has led her to create a remarkable and disruptive business.
There are many, many reasons why Aileen and Cowboy Ventures have been so successful in the world of venture capital, but one of them is their deliberate effort to seek out companies that eschew stagnant groupthink.
Aileen and team have created their own niche in the VC market by investing in both ‘pedigreed’ founders as well as first time founders from non-traditional backgrounds. They pride themselves for being among the best partners for historically underrepresented founders.
Female co-founded startups raised only 15.4% of all US VC funding in 2022, while female-only founded startups raised just 2% of all VC funding last year. Aileen and her team are working to change that.
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The Cowboy Ventures team leans into the facts that removing constraints like budget, staffing and time — in addition to having a diverse team, are the drivers of better results.
In their own words, “We’ve seen firsthand the power of the venture industry and we’re big believers that everyone should have access to knowledge on how to break into the industry and be successful on the job. Having diverse perspectives around investing tables will only help accelerate the pace of innovation.”
And as the research points out, elevating underrepresented founders is a great way to get more returns.
Aileen and her team believe that “women and people who have less represented backgrounds in tech make great founders.” We have the data to bear them out.
As she simply states: “More diversity within teams just works better.”
Related Article: Are You Developing Diverse Talent?
An Invitation to Break out of Your Comfort Zone, Blaze New Trails, and Enjoy Many Happy Returns
Aileen’s haiku is about recognizing the power of diversity and the importance of returns. You can see it in action not only when she founded Cowboy Ventures, but also when she helped found All Raise, a nonprofit that seeks to increase the amount of funding received by female investors.
I hope you’ll consider this your invitation to find your haiku. Those of us who manage by haiku welcome challenges. We want people to tell us what’s wrong. We value diverse perspectives. We believe in data. We want to keep stretching, growing, evolving. We strive to stay focused and purposeful. We achieve clarity through constant evaluation. We do the right thing because it’s good for people and for business.
We don’t all need to do something as bold as starting a new company, shaking up an industry or inventing an industry term. But as Aileen shows us, Management by Haiku means being willing to try something new. It means trying your hand at doing or building something great, even when we are uncomfortable.
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