Guardians of the Galaxy
Alignment before Organization.
Welcome to your life, There’s no turning back, Even while we sleep, We will find you
Last week, I spent most of my time at Disney World. Probably not what you’d expect from a childless cat lady, but it was my niece’s 7th birthday, and we, as a party of 9 ranging from ages 7 to 82, took on the Magic Kingdom and all of the Disney offerings. I’m not one for rollercoasters anymore, but I was talked into going on Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot (my actual favorite park).
I didn’t know what to expect, so when it took off backward, to the soundtrack of Tears for Fears, I basically screamed in delight for a straight 3 minutes, much to the chagrin of the young boy in front of me.
I’m not familiar with the Marvel movie or the concept of the ride, but there was such joy in riding a rollercoaster to this soundtrack, especially at this time.
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave and synth-pop song with lyrics that detail the desire humans have for control and power, and centres on themes of corruption.
-wiki
Ironic that this ride about saving a galaxy has a soundtrack about corruption.
Last week, thanks to a client’s rec, I was also diving deep into Eric Ries’ new book Incorruptible. You may not know Eric by name, but as an entrepreneur in the last decade+ you’ve been swimming in the waters shaped by his ideas in The Lean Startup. This was an operating manual for a generation of entrepreneurs and investors.
The timing of this book coming out alongside the collapse of the DTC revolution is not lost on me. A perfect bookend to this time period. Previously we were taught to be product focused, or even obsessed.
Now our loudest steward is asking as to be culture focused, governance focused and to build trust to steward the longevity of the company. All of those boring things are finally being put front and center as the ultimate best practices.
You are the ultimate steward, or guardian, of your own galaxy—your company. What allows your galaxy to thrive isn’t control, it’s alignment. It is ultimately about the alignment of who you are, how you lead, and where you want to go. This starts with your own history. To step outside of yourself, to build something out of alignment with who you truly are is one of the greatest risks an entrepreneur can take.
When we fail to integrate our history, to create alignment, we reach for control and domination.
But alignment requires vulnerability, not just awareness. The “gift” of the lean start up was to remove ourselves in some ways: test product, build features, ship work! But the culture that followed those directives (the culture you operated within the last decade) delivered was an economy built on external signals instead of internal alignment. A whole generation of entrepreneurs encouraged to look outside of themselves for validation instead of starting from within. Think white space, advertising trends, social trends. All external feedback loops.
Eric is helping us move away from this era; and so is Pyramid.
Pyramid is ultimately a tool about alignment.
Alignment between who you are and what you build.
Alignment between what you value and how you decide.
Alignment between your long-term vision and your day-to-day actions.
You cannot rule your business or your life. You can become the guardian of it. A ruler controls, a guardian aligns.
In a world where everybody wants to rule the world, perhaps the most profound and rewarding pathway is becoming the guardian of your own galaxy.
BOOK CLUB RETURNS!
We’ll read Incorruptible!
We will meet on Wednesday, July 29th from 12pm-1pmET via Zoom.
This is a free event, please email me to register.