The Imagination Attribute of Founder Mode

Paul Graham made a very insightful observation about a quiet trend that has plagued founders. The tried and failed experience of founders to adopt conventional business school wisdom, predominantly “hire good people and give them room to do their jobs.” He explains that many founders have struggled to successfully implement this business school gold standard. And because this topic came to light at a Y Combinator event it raised questions that perhaps this tried and failed experience is reflective of a different type of business management — a manager mode type of management. And that founders who were successful in their business, but not successful in implementing textbook principles of management were operating their business in founder mode instead.

This intrigued me as I just finished writing a book on the critical role of imagination for businesses to overcome the existential technological disruptions of our time. In it I identify the following four facets of imagination:

1. Identity: (1)The ability to fully harness and leverage the narrative of a founder’s identity and/or that of a company’s identity. (2) To be able to stay anchored while reimagining the organization’s identity in the face of changing and evolving times. (3) to be able to understand and deliver a value proposition within and through an organization’s identity and in service of the customer’s identity.
2. Convergence: The ability to be fluent in the technology butterfly effect of (1) how technologies converge, (2) how technologies and infrastructures convergence, (3) the compounded way data and networks expand value.
3. Humanity: The ability to lean into humanity and the human needs that an organization is truly in service of.
4. Dreams: The ability to dream up what does not exist, to believe it can be brought to life and to subsequently pursue that dream relentlessly into reality.

In the book, I offer examples of businesses that have proven successful at harnessing each form of imagination. What I didn’t realize, until after I read Graham’s article, is that each and every success story example I use in the book is of a founder who saw the world differently and did things their way.

While more research is needed to study the managerial style of different successful founders, I believe that there is an imagination attribute at the heart of each founder. Some examples of companies I mention are:

• 3D home printing company ICON that imagined their business purpose through the lens of humanity and made their business about the dignity of shelter.
• NVIDIA (decades later still run by a founder) being a master of convergence and being able to imagine how technologies would converge down the road and become the digital economy supply store of the world.
• Dreamscape Immersive Immersive whose founders imagined a world where you could step into a dream, creating new forms of content that the world has never seen before.

I look forward to seeing perspectives on the core elements of “Founder Mode” as many start to share their thoughts and perspectives. Mine is that imagination will be one of the attributes of founder mode and there are four facets of imagination within the imagination attribute.

My book “Imagination Dilemma: Tools to overcome it and thrive through disruption” will be out on January 7th, 2025 and will be available for pre-order in October 2024. You can sign up for updates at www.imaginationdilemma.com

If you are strategically looking to hedge your organization’s future during these rapidly changing times, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Consulting: reach out to explore the strategic advisory services I offer focusing on convergence for business growth opportunity areas, competitiveness, moat protection and emerging technologies. Check out my Linkedin profile for the over hundred countless glowing reviews about my advisory work.
2. Board Advisor: if you are looking to diversify your board’s thought leadership with complex systems thinking, convergence viewpoints, emerging technologies, a world view and a team player contact me.
3. Speaking & Workshops: if you’d like more of these kinds of technology convergence thoughts, my global speaking engagements on emerging technologies, the 4th industrial revolution, artificial intelligence and the importance of imagination in an era of AI have been well received with comments like “I wish I met Lydia sooner” and “I deeply admire her intelligence and humanity, and of her ability to challenge and explore how to make any enterprise more impactful and successful toward the greater good.” I also offer quarterly technology convergence awareness and exposure talks. Reach out to book me for a talk.