Susan Lehman from the New York Times asked me to write an opinion piece for this sunday’s paper.
Because…
Susan liked what I had to say in my “Why work doesn’t happen at work” TEDx talk.
Because…
I was asked to speak at TEDx Midwest by Brad Keywell. Brad was one of the Groupon co-founders, and I met Brad because I served on the Groupon board from 2009 to 2010.
Because…
Andrew Mason, Groupon’s CEO, asked me to be on the board.
Because…
Scott Heiferman, co-founder of Meetup.com, and a mutual friend of ours, introduced Andrew and me and we had lunch in early 2009.
Because…
I had gotten to know Scott over the years after 37signals designed the original Meetup.com site back in 2001-2002.
Because…
Scott emailed me back in 2001 asking if he could meet while he was in Chicago visiting family. He liked our early web design work at 37signals. No one had ever asked to meet me out of the blue before – and barely anyone knew who 37signals was – so I was flattered and said yes.
Because…
I had started 37signals with two co-founders in 1999. One of those founders was Ernest Kim and the other was Carlos Segura.
Because…
A few years earlier, I had interviewed for a job at Organic Online in Chicago. Ernest Kim was the creative director. I didn’t take the job, but Ernest and I hit it off over design and Nike, so we kept in touch.
and
A few years before that, I was hired on a contract basis by Carlos Segura to help them redesign and rewrite their internal FileMaker Pro database they were using to keep track of their clients.
Because…
I made a popular FileMaker Pro-based app in the 90s called Audiofile which helped people keep track of their music collection. Carlos liked the app and the design and found out I was behind it.
Because…
I couldn’t find a simple tool to keep track of my growing music collection.
Because…
…I can’t remember enough specifics before this, but the chain obviously continues – each link connected to another by a seemingly unrelated event. And I’m sure I’m passing right over a handful of subtle links that made the major links happen.
When you look back on events, it’s pretty incredible how things come together. Nothing happens independently. Everything is tied to something before it. Sometimes the links are more obvious than others, but it’s healthy to take a few moments to reflect on how many things – and people – had to come together in order for another thing to happen.
You just never know.
Nate
on 19 Aug 12I remember downloading Audiofile from eWorld and obsessively cataloging all of my music… I had no idea that was yours.
JF
on 19 Aug 12Nate: Ha! Awesome. Yeah, way back in the day most people found Audiofile on AOL or eWorld.
EB
on 20 Aug 12Great job, Jason! This mindset is what keeps me coming back to 37Signals.
Kees V
on 20 Aug 12Hi—I enjoyed your NYT piece, but, as a small business owner, it did leave me wondering about one thing:
Shifting from 40 hours per week to 32 must impact hourly workers significantly - and perhaps unacceptably - while salaried workers effectively receive a large raise. Assuming you’re at liberty to say, how was this addressed so it would work for both employer and employees?
Francis
on 20 Aug 12@JF
Or you just responded to a post on http://www.helpareporter.com/
JF
on 20 Aug 12Kees, we don’t have hourly workers.
Mike
on 20 Aug 12@JF This is well said. I’m gonna share this with the young people I get to work with and mentor. Initial effort opens opportunity. Maximizing those opportunities leads to good things. You’ve been hitting a lot of home runs and that speaks highly of your preparation and respect for each thing you’ve listed here.
Dane Maxwell
on 20 Aug 12Dude I loved this chain. Jason, the more you write about origin, the more I fall in love with where you currently are.
Hajijah Sperrer
on 20 Aug 12An interesting read. I too enjoyed your NYT article. Thanks for sharing your major dots, Jason! Keep your reflections coming! @Mike – Initial effort opens opportunity. So true!
Howie at Web Choice
on 20 Aug 12Uhm….she asked you to write an opinion piece because of your Ted talk. Done.
Peter Cooper
on 20 Aug 12I’ve spoken on this topic before. The chains you can find are fascinating. I’ll spare you the details, but most of my best chains go back to “because I maintained a directionless personal blog between 1999-2006, despite everyone saying it was a waste of time” or “because I tweet a lot” ;-) Sometimes the most pointless endeavors go somewhere!
eMBee
on 20 Aug 12do you consider an article in the new york times as the greatest achievement of your career?
it was a great article, and i am looking forward to see any effect it has on how work is done. maybe we’ll see in a decade.
Don Schenck
on 20 Aug 12Jason, but didn’t you work a TON of hours when just starting out until you were profitable.
It’s easy to do this when you’re profitable. Until then, you need to work basically all the time.
(The above sentiment is from the owner where I work)
Don Schenck
on 20 Aug 12After reading Jason’s op-ed …
I really hate my job.
Duff OMelia
on 20 Aug 12This is a great post. The overnight success of 37 Signals clearly took a few years.
Brad
on 20 Aug 12only in hindsight does our path appear to be a straight line. some confuse this with intention or purpose. it’s not. it’s randomness in action. we can’t know what is to come, but the urge to believe we should, based on our feeling that the past seems so obviously predictable, is incredibly strong.
it’s very interesting to view the chain to see how this path evolved, but that shouldn’t be confused for a useful measure in determining a persons future path or behaviour.
(for example, how many other lunches with how many other people have you ignored or forgotten simply because they didn’t factor into this particular path)
check out The Drunkards Walk, by Leonard Mlodinow for a fascinating (and very accessible) exploration of this.
Matt
on 20 Aug 12If you keep the chain going, I’m sure it will eventually lead back to Kevin Bacon somehow.
JaySchu
on 20 Aug 12@Brad
While what you say about these being random vs. intention is true, it doesn’t take away from the overall point – maximize every opportunity you have, always give your best, and treat people well. No, you can’t necessarily control these random chains – but you certainly do what you can to plant the seeds and help them grow.
I’ve seen this type of thing before, where a totally random business relationship turned out several years later to create enormous opportunity – all because at the time the person involved gave their absolute best and was remembered for it.
Tony R.
on 20 Aug 12This kind of stuff is too valuable to hear, especially when you’re writing to the audience you are.
Dane Maxwell had a similar sentiment when he spoke to the same kind of audience.
It’s not luck either, it’s being properly prepared for opportunities, I think.
Also, this guy made a movie about it and I think we can all agree he’s the greatest thought leader of our generation (yes, thought leader).
ADI
on 20 Aug 12Love the chain of events. Congrats on the piece.
kathrynmcg
on 20 Aug 12I stumbled on this post from a random web search and it was just what I needed today. Thanks! I’d read your NYT’s op-ed yesterday and thought it was brilliant but more than that—persuasive. We prize creative genius but we don’t often provide people and teams with the conditions that permit them to operate (and think) at their best. And it was a delight to have a man propose a 32-hour work week.
Matt Leban
on 21 Aug 12Inspirational post. Thanks.
Btw will you share the results of the “Pitchday” ?
Piotr
on 21 Aug 12Very inspiring post Jason!
The chain reminds me of Amy Hoy’s Stacking The Brick’s video (in which 37signals gets mentined a lot).
Dylan
on 21 Aug 12I love this.
Waine Tam
on 21 Aug 12Enjoyed both pieces thoroughly, and thanks for the reiterating the message: seemingly one-off accomplishments are the result of many many years of hard work.
Libby Cortez
on 21 Aug 12Love it.
So it all comes down to this: you “couldn’t find a simple tool to keep track of [your] growing music collection,” and your response was to build one. Meaning you saw a need, and rather than sitting back and complaining about it, you stood up filled it.
...next up: New York Times knocking.
Nate o
on 21 Aug 12Nice one J
Alex Dieulot
on 22 Aug 12This demontrates how the overnight success is a myth.
BillP
on 22 Aug 12Hey Piotr, thanks for the link to Amy Hoy. Loved it.
anon
on 22 Aug 12Reminds me of Steve Jobs’ Stanford speech ”...you can only connect the dots looking backwords…”
Bruffin
on 22 Aug 12I love your work approach !!! I’d like to test it.
Mike Sothern
on 22 Aug 12Another great post. My own join the dots seems to have some repeating sections that i should probably iron out
TVD
on 22 Aug 12“You just never know.” – Jason Fried
Live this. Breathe this.
vt
on 22 Aug 12david lewis points out: “Any particular event that we might wish to explain stands at the end of a long and complicated causal history. We might imagine a world where causal histories are short and simple; but in the world as we know it, the only question is whether they are infinite or merely enormous.”
carl sagan also has a famous apple pie recipe that begins with making the universe: http://www.flavourcountryfeedlot.com/2009/09/infinite-or-merely-enormous.html
mark meadows
on 23 Aug 12Now imagine how it would be if you applied the principles from the TEDx talk to our education systems. Children doing art when they are inspired (instead of at 2.30pm), doing maths when they are energised (instead of half asleep), finishing their study of the Higgs (instead of running to the next lesson when the bell goes), etc
Anton
on 24 Aug 12That’s a pretty amazing way of looking at things. You can plan all you like but you would never achieve the same progression if you planned it that way.
There are so many variables in business that one day you can be on track and then a week later you look back and you are on a totally different path.
I think in that vein, it’s difficult to follow exact plans, you need to adapt, to learn, to grow. It made me think of this article about trying to grow, and get bigger, and it’s so regimented that it doesn’t allow for any wiggle room.
If you’d have planned to write for the New York Times, you would never have planned that same sort of timeline. It’s pretty mind-blowing!
Mohamed Ali
on 26 Aug 12According to some the bus driver still has nothing to do with it. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/romney-i-dont-give-bus-driver-credit-kid-making-honor-roll
This discussion is closed.