The Power of Pressure: How System Edge Drives Clarity and Efficiency / by Alexander Lyadov

An increase in temperature of 3 degrees or 10% seems insignificant in the abstract. But when it comes to the temperature of your body, such a change feels like you've been put in a centrifuge. Headaches, muscle aches, chills, and weakness are unpleasant but bearable. The bigger problem is the loss of energy and confused thought process. When the flu virus is dangerous, all the body's energy is diverted to fighting it, making it impossible to do any mental or physical work. Even if you muster all your willpower, it won't help because instead of a clear stream of consciousness, there's a muddy, dirty pond inside you. The product of your work will inevitably have a high percentage of catastrophic defects. That's why, for example, it's not possible to drive a car with a temperature of 39°C.

Extreme situations are useful because they help separate the wheat from the chaff. While everything in the system is more or less fine, it seems complicated and there appear to be a thousand important things. But as soon as the system is pushed to its limits, it becomes clear that its entire function depends only on one factor or two.

Knowing this allows you to focus on what really matters and stop wasting resources on anything else. For example, there are many frameworks for analyzing a company, and as a founder, you regularly try to study and apply each of them. It's all interesting, but it doesn't seem to lead to a breakthrough, does it? Perhaps it would be more beneficial to honestly answer two questions on a scale of 1 to 10: 'How energized is my organization?' and 'How effective is our decision-making process?' Although every company is afflicted by different energy-draining "viruses," one thing is certain: they don't infiltrate from outside.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander


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