Friday Forward - Speech Rules (#436)
Valuable lessons in proactivity, resourcefulness and community
Last week, at an event with a group of entrepreneurs, I had the privilege of hearing a talk from Speech Thomas, frontman of the iconic 1990s hip-hop group Arrested Development, who were known for their uplifting style of music. Speech’s story had a lot of highlights, but my favorite takeaway was a personal mantra he shared: "Do what you can, with what you have, with the people around you."
In a world that offers increasing abundance and seemingly unlimited options, I have always found constraints to be valuable. Given that, I found myself reflecting a bit on each segment of Speech’s mantra.
Do What You Can
When we want to pursue an ambitious goal, we often hesitate to act on that desire out of fear that we’ll fall short. In these moments, remember that talk is cheap and taking small actions on a consistent basis is the most effective way to make progress. If you get one percent better at something every day, you’ll be 37-times better at it in a year. So don’t wait for the perfect moment to start chasing your goal or solving a problem—instead, focus on doing what you can today and letting your actions compound over time.
“Do What You Can” is a particularly relevant principle in leadership. Pretty much every challenge a leader faces can’t be solved easily or quickly—if something makes it to the leader’s desk, it’s hard. By encouraging a culture of continuous improvement and celebrating small wins, leaders can build momentum and inspire their teams to keep doing what they can, making visible progress each day.
With What You Have
The second part of Speech’s framework, “with what you have,” highlights how constraints often inspire resourcefulness. We face a lot of pressure to acquire more in life—more skills, more tools, more connections. While growth and development are important, so is the ingenuity that allows us to accomplish more with less. For example, as a leader, if you can just throw money at every problem, you’re not going to help your team hone their creativity and problem-solving skills. Remember, so many of the tech unicorns that tanked the past couple years collapsed in part because they never learned to operate without unlimited resources.
The Apollo 13 mission exemplifies the power of constraints. When an oxygen tank exploded on the spacecraft during its attempted lunar mission, NASA's astronauts and mission control team had to creatively use the limited resources on the shuttle to return the astronauts to Earth safely and quickly. This incredible feat illustrates that the best solutions don’t require more; they require you to be effective “with what you have.”
With the People Around You
The final part of Speech’s mantra, “with the people around you,” underscores the value of community and collaboration in our lives. Very few people achieve lasting success without a vast network of help, but our society’s emphasis on individualism and solo achievements has led to less collective effort and more loneliness than ever before.
Fifty years ago, if your roof leaked, you’d likely find the person in your town who was known for fixing roofs and fix it with them, offering to repay the favor with your own talents. Today, in many countries, you simply call someone to fix the roof and probably never even speak with them. While this approach offers remarkable convenience, it’s removed an opportunity to connect with the community around us.
The reality is that our relationships, communities, and networks are crucial to our growth and well-being—there’s really no point in doing anything if you can’t share the journey and achievement with others. This sentiment is expressed in the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
The next time you face a problem or an opportunity in life or leadership, think about the simplicity of Speech’s framework. If you simply focus on what you can do, with the resources you have available, while leaning on the people around you, you’ll usually find a path forward.
Quote of The Week
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt
Have a great weekend!
Very valuable
Thank you.