One lesson that has constantly been reinforced throughout my life has been the value in working with the best people possible. While perhaps everyone strives for this, I am a huge believer in trying to surround yourself with top notch talent.
I think it is up to you to define what “top notch talent” really means. It, of course, depends on what you want to do, where you want to go – what your goals are and how quickly you want to get to them.
I write top notch in the sense that when I work on projects, create things, etc. I want to work with the best people I know.
Why? Why do I care so much about this?
Because working with the “second best” is perhaps 10x harder. Perhaps this sounds ignorant/stupid. The point I am trying to convey is that the very best people (the 10x people) will save you more than 10x money, time, etc. You will get compounding returns by investing in the best.
This was a really hard lesson for me to learn. Many would say…why do they have to really be the “very best.” Why not “settle” and just get someone to work with quickly.
I think this is a naive mistake. You often end up spending way more money, time, frustration, etc. by trying to train/motivate people.
With all of the projects I am working on right now, I am working with, what I can see as some of the very best people in my network. I am investing in them. They are investing in me. 1+1, in this case, should equal something much larger than two.
I believe that as a team, we can achieve massive returns on our time…why? Because we have formed a group of the best.