Managing Your Maker Instinct

Posted on May 1, 2010

The big difference between animals and man is that we can shape and control our instincts. The Maker Instinct runs strong in CEOs, and just how much we make of it depends on how we allocate our 24 hours.

As I tried to relax on my vacation I started wondering why my mind kept snapping back to thoughts about company building. In fact, most of the CEOs I know get really wrapped up in what they do. I now have the answer. It’s called the maker instinct. I learned this term at a recent keynote speech for the Alliance of Chief Executives in San Francisco. The speaker was futurist Bob Johansen. He says that some people have a strong urge to make things, and pointed to a growing movement of do it yourselfers and inventors. In fact, they are having a Maker Faire soon right here in San Mateo on May 23-24 where you can look at all kinds of fascinating things that people are making.

I may go just to check it out, but I’m into company making, not inventing. And my interest is about how to manage this very strong maker instinct in CEOs like myself. I’ve had an 18 day vacation in Europe where I wasn’t supposed to do much if any work, and certainly not much if any company making. But things kept coming up that tied into my company making instinct. We toured the Dewar’s World of Whiskey since I like scotch, and it was all about the building of this family business, and how they survived over the years. I watched a witch movie in Scotland depicting a 44 year old wizard who looked 120 because he used his power too heavily and it aged him. It reminded me of a frustrated, over-worked CEO! There I was, trying to relax and not be productive (by watching TV), and I got an insight that related to my company making instinct.

But this essay is NOT about work-life balance. It’s about making the most of your maker instinct so your company can thrive. You only have so much time.

As I see it, your 24 hours goes into five buckets.

1. Sleeping. Tired, fatigued CEOs don’t have as many leaps of intuition, don’t make the best decisions, don’t deliver an optimal performance. Get enough sleep.

2. Hanging Out. This is spending time living life, poking around opportunistically for things that interest you. This includes watching TV, hanging out, reading interesting books, playing cards with friends, projects you’ve embarked upon on a whim and more. This category could include work related things that caught your interest but aren’t part of your business plan. This can be the antidote for business myopia, where you get tunnel vision. Some of the best things in life happen when you least expect them, and when you aren’t focused on the “proper” objectives in your life.

Shorting the “hanging out” category can make you boring and narrow, which will most certainly stifle your innovation. Family and friends are a great way to add some chill-time. Find out what they are doing and hang out with them. Try something new. On the other hand, hanging out, or “time off” where there is no focus on making anything, can become a big waste of time if done to excess. If you’re hanging out a lot, redirect and refocus on building something. The main project for many CEOs is their business, but if you are feeling bored with your business, it’s time for a change. Either find some exciting executives to work with that will make it fun again, or exit and find/start another company.

3. Tasks. Some things we do in service of our business, like answering e-mails, visiting customers, managing our teams, maybe even delivering some service ourselves. But this category also includes the personal things you do, like dishwashing, gardening, buying a new car, managing your investments, repairing your garage door or outfitting your boat. Many of us CEOs get wrapped up in way too much task work and not nearly enough directing. Some task work is always critical, but most CEOs add the greatest value to their companies by directing, and delegating much of the tasks to a carefully selected staff.

4. Leading & Directing. It takes time to lead the company you are building. Most makers get really focused on certain projects that really matter. This could be your company, or it could be your hobby. But if you’ve made a decision to accomplish something, then the time you spend strategizing, researching, and directing at a top management level is “leading and directing” time. This can most certainly include non-work projects, like the kinds of contraptions that we’ll see at the Maker Faire. When our Maker Instinct is raging, we are either directing or doing tasks.

 5. Self-Coaching. If we are to fully deploy ourselves, we must take some time away from making things and focus our mental firepower on ourselves, thinking through dilemmas and making deep decisions about how we choose to live our lives. When we do this level of thinking, we might be sitting on a bench doing nothing obvious, but thinking deeply. Some use meditation for this purpose. Too many people give self-coaching short-shrift. They just don’t spend enough time thinking about how to deploy themselves. Nearly all of the CEOs I know are high potential human beings and it’s a shame to see them not live up to their full potential. The notion of adjusting how you spend your time is just one of the elements of self-coaching. At the core of self-coaching is that time when you focus your mind to solve problems and make judgment calls. In 2007 I wrote a story on just that, titled Using Pure Brain Power.

For each of us, there is an optimal mix of these five time-buckets. I’m over the top in tasks, way under in hanging out, and a bit under in self-coaching and sleep. What is your optimal mix? The big difference between animals and man is that we can shape and control our instincts. The Maker Instinct runs strong in CEOs, and just how much we make of it depends on how we allocate our 24 hours.