Where The Real Work Really Happens

I used to think the story of business success was about the beginning and the end.

The spark of the idea… the thrill of launch. 
The pitch decks… the headlines.
Then… the exit! 
The acquisition… the IPO… the big “exciting” announcement post with champagne and rocket emojis.

But lately, I’ve been thinking mostly about the part in between.

The part that doesn’t get a TED Talk or a Netflix docuseries.
The part we don’t celebrate or glamorize.
The middle… the grind… the good kind of grind.
The years where you’re just… working.
Delivering value… refining the market fit… serving customers… building trust. 
Reinventing things quietly while no one’s watching.

We don’t talk about that part nearly enough, do we?

For my dollar, that’s where everything actually happens.
I’ve been sitting with this because (if we’re being honest) we’ve built a professional culture obsessed with velocity.
Founders are expected to scale fast.
Employees are expected to grow fast and move faster.
Marketers are expected to capture attention fast or get lost in the scroll.

Everything is optimized for motion… but not for meaning.

Here’s the truth (for me) that keeps showing up:
The companies that last… and the people who still love their work decades in… they’re not obsessed with speed.
They’re obsessed with the craft of it.
With the relationships they’re nurturing.
With the culture they’re creating.
With the teams they’ve stuck with through the ugly parts.
With the customers they’ve earned (and re-earned) through years of quiet consistency.

That’s the middle.

And it’s not a waiting room for something better.. it is the actual work.
We’ve been sold a narrative that the point of a company is to grow it, sell it and go again (I’ve been a part of this problem).
As I age, I know that the deeper success is showing up for the long haul… without needing bellyrubs and lollipops in the boardroom to prove you’re still in the game.
Maybe the real flex isn’t launching something new.
It’s not exiting something big.

It’s staying…

Staying curious.
Staying principled.
Staying committed to building something that still matters… even if the headlines have moved on.
Staying with it so that when you’re no longer there, everyone else still wants to keep going.

I’m thinking differently about ambition these days.

Not as the drive to win… but the courage to keep going.
Especially when no one’s watching.

This reflection came out of my conversation this week with Dave Whorton (the founder of Tugboat Institute and co-author of a great new book, Another Way – Building Companies That Last… And Last… And Last) for Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Dave believes we need a different kind of capitalism. 
One that values the long term and the leaders who build not for exits… but for endurance.
If that resonates, I hop you will check out our conversation. 

It might just shift how you think about your own middle and a path towards a healthier economy.

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