I suppose it’s quite a simple point.
But one really well made.
When it’s put like this.
Mountains.
One of the people talking at the Techfestival in Copenhagen last week.
Focused on the subject of picking team members.
It was interesting to me because the ANGELFYSH team is growing currently.
And the Always Wear Red team will be growing soon too.
This guy asked us to think about the mountains we are looking to scale.
And this resonated.
Because all of the businesses I am involved with are scaling mountains.
Challenging.
Vast.
To be respected.
And worth conquering.
Team Members.
Then, this gentleman asked an important question.
He asked:
Are you trying to make a mountain?
Or find a mountain?
Because if you’re trying to make a mountain you need great designers, architects, visionaries, storytellers and builders.
And if you’re trying to climb a mountain you need great navigators, organisers and climbers.
I like this kind of thinking.
The idea that we need the right kind people for our own personal journeys.
Oh; I know this of course.
And so do you.
But this exact framing made me think about silly managers.
That forget the nuances of their own journey.
Or the silly recruitment companies.
That try to place people without fully understanding their client’s journey.
And that’s when things go wrong.
Brand.
In my world of brand, ‘building brand mountains‘ means having fresh ideas.
Developing pioneering approaches.
Innovating.
Educating.
And doing things for the first time in the new worlds that we create.
And ‘finding brand mountains‘ is more likely identifying existing needs and wants.
And working out how to beat whoever is most attractive currently.
By engineering nuanced, differentiated approaches in these existing worlds.
Same But Different.
There are overlaps, of course.
But I surprised myself when I thought about how I’d build the first team.
Versus the second team.
Because I’d need very different people.
Your Team.
Think about who you need in your team.
Or maybe – who you have in your team right now.
Think about the mountain thing.
Because if you are looking to build a mountain, you may need an almost completely different set of people – or at the very list a different way of thinking – than if you’re trying to scale an existing one.
