High agency
People debate what the most important attribute is for a startup employee. Some say skills or experience. My answer: “high agency”.
High agency means you act on ideas as soon as you have them. You default to asking for forgiveness, not permission. You believe deep in your bones that the universe is a malleable place. You're a "hell or high water" person — because come hell or high water, you always get the job done. Once you lock in on a goal, you'll move mountains to achieve it.
Being high agency is useful in all kinds of professional environments, but it's especially useful at startups. In the earliest days of a company, you simply have to make stuff happen.
- If there’s a critical bug, fix it and push straight to main
- If the bug is from something you built, call the customer and get to the bottom of it
- If you have an idea for a new feature, don't wait for the product team to write a ticket. Build the darn thing!
- If the third-party library you're using has a bug impacting your ability to deliver, either get the source code for the library and fix the bug on your own, or start a thread on GitHub and see if anyone has figured out a workaround
The mark of a “high agency” person is that no matter the challenge they want to dive in and figure it out. Above all, they’re doers.
A startup should endeavor to maintain a culture where employees build without asking for permission, for as long as possible. The upside is astronomically high when people feel empowered. The converse is true as well: A startup should probably be worried if its highest agency people are getting frustrated because the culture has shifted to asking for permission vs. forgiveness.