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Home » The Famous Blog » The Success Epiphany

The Success Epiphany

September 7, 2012 - Last Modified: April 1, 2014 by Grant Hensel

The Success Epiphany

Some people’s lives have an enormous impact on society at large. They make history, push the bounds of the possible and reinvent reality.

Others are simply “successful.” They live in nice houses, drive nice cars and are recognized for their impressive work ethic and intelligence.

Dozens of books can teach you how to become personally successful. But how do you make it to the next level?

There are two paths, and two types of success:

  • Those who pursue individual success rely on themselves. They are often the smartest, hardest-working people in the room. They feel like they don’t get enough support and that their coworkers aren’t quite as good as they are.
  • Those with powerful, world-changing aspirations rely on their team. They understand that great things are accomplished by great groups of people, not lone geniuses. They build organizations instead of focusing on their personal contribution.

Take a moment for honest reflection. At your organization, what drives results: you or the team?

Background – Life as an Individual Contributor

Embarrassingly, I spent much of my life chasing individual success.

My first successful business was a website called eTestNotes.com, which sold study guides to students preparing for the AP exam.

eTestNotes was entirely my project. I did all of the work and reaped all of the rewards. I outsourced a few tasks, but maintained command-and-control relationships with the contractors. I managed to build a valuable website which recently sold for five figures.

All-in-all I felt pretty successful, but had I really accomplished something meaningful?

What Got you Here Won’t Get you There

Selling eTestNotes was great, but there was a problem that hamstrung my subsequent efforts.

I had started a new business called Viibrant with two exceptionally talented co-founders. My goal was to build a marketplace where experts in any subject could make money and build their influence by creating online courses. Long-term, I wanted to entirely reinvent education by creating a new experience, empowering the student and leveraging market forces to drive constant course improvement.

I was reaching for a goal that was much bigger than myself, which was a step in the right direction. I wasn’t just concerned about personal success anymore.

The problem was that my leadership style didn’t reflect this change. I still felt like I needed to be present if stuff was going to happen. I was operating under a command-and-control model with my cofounders, although I didn’t recognize it at the time.

We were making steady progress developing Viibrant and gathering experts to make courses, but things weren’t going as well as they could have been.

Our creativity seemed somewhat limited. We weren’t clicking with each other as much as I would have liked. Something was wrong, but I didn’t know what it was.

The Epiphany

It was at this inflection point in Viibrant’s development that I had what the authors of Tribal Leadership call “the epiphany.”

It all started when I read the Valve Employee Handbook.

Valve is an enormously successful gaming company that has produced hits such as Halflife, Portal and Team Fortress 2.

The remarkable thing about Valve is that they don’t have any organizational structure. None. No one reports to anyone else – there is no hierarchy whatsoever.

If you want to get something done at Valve, all you have to do is convince enough people that your project is the most valuable use of their time. There’s no red tape, and once you’ve attracted enough support your coworkers can simply roll their desks over (every desk is mounted on wheels) and get started.

This intoxicating image burned itself into my mind – and made me quietly question my conception of “leadership.”

The Machine that Builds the Product

The founder of Valve can’t hope to drive the company’s success simply by working really, really hard. He fuels progress by building an organization of exceptionally talented people, helping them form relationships and giving the freedom to be creative and use their judgment.

Valve understands that inspiring things are accomplished by great groups, not lone ‘star performers.’

This realization led me to propose implementing the Valve model at Viibrant. My team members and I voted, and the motion passed (surprise!).

Since that fateful day, I have seen each of us become significantly more productive and creative. The results have been nothing short of extraordinary.

 Self-Analysis

How do you get stuff done? Is your business a one-man or one-woman show even though you’re technically part of a team?

How do you accomplish big projects? Do you push yourself harder or build a powerful team? Who is responsible for the successes you’ve experienced: you, or the team?

Nothing you can accomplish yourself will make history.

Great teams can change the world.


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Filed Under: Business

About Grant Hensel

Follow @GrantHensel

Grant Hensel is the CEO of Viibrant, a website that allows experts in any field to make money and establish their influence by creating online courses. Experts and high profile thought-leaders are encouraged to contact Grant about creating a course. Requests will be handled first come, first served.

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{ 6 Responses }

  1. Lewis LaLanne says:
    I love this concept of joining forces with other minds in order to maximize the opportunity at hand. One of favorite quotes relative to doing this is as follows . . . "It is indisputably evident that a great part of every man's life must be employed in collecting materials for the exercise of genius. Invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory; nothing can come of nothing; he who has laid up no materials can produce no combinations. The more extensive, therefore, your acquaintance is with the works of those who have excelled, the more extensive will be your powers of invention, and, what may appear still more like a paradox, the more original will be your conceptions." Sir Joshua Reynolds I would never be able to run my business effectively without the help of my partner, nor without the silent partners/mentors/guides I've had who have infused my mind with the actions to take that lead to success. Thank you Grant for reminding me to be grateful for the fact that I don't have to do this alone and for shining light on the idea that no one else does either. :)
  2. Ann says:
    Hi Grant, This is terrific. I do a fair amount of volunteering. Over the last couple of years, my 'job' has become huge. And, like you, I spent hours and hours trying to get the job done. Then last year I decided to let my entire team (87 people) in on everything that was passed down to me. I was so amazed at all the talent that started popping out all over. It was our most successful year and we all really had a great time. It is very difficult to do at first, but the sharing really pays off in a big way.
    • Grant says:
      That's awesome Ann, thanks for sharing! It's always great to hear success stories, particularly in the non-profit world where you're working to directly improve society. If you're interested in more team / organizational-leadership ideas I'd recommend checking out Tribal Leadership. I read it earlier this year and was blown away :)
      • Ann says:
        Hi Grant, Thanks for that tip. I'll look it over. Anything you can do to improve your surroundings always seems to improve yourself!
  3. Zap says:
    Cool article, although I think a great deal of success is a little more complex than your own personal drive. There are factors, such as education, uprbringing, and even your location. If someone has nothing but time to work on websites and people willing to invest in him, wonderful. But most people have neither and are not educated to the point where starting a million dollar website is remotely achievable. There are over 200 million websites out there, but by the way blogging sites present evidence, you would think half of them are making money hand over fist. Maybe 100k or 200k are doing well, maybe even a few more (although I doubt it) but the majority are doing awful. This is the hard truth no "making money" site will actually admit to. That even with unlimitted drive and thirst for success you can still fall flat on your face.
  4. Ryan Biddulph says:
    Tie your goals to something larger than you. Rely on teamwork. Reach out, connect, promote others, help others, provide value to others, to better the whole. Success is helping others, and as this number increases, you gain more success and help other people become successful too. Intend to serve. You find more people to serve, make more money and help others find more people to serve, and make more money. The idea is simple and powerful. Whatever you want, learn to give, to receive it. You become a rousing success by helping, assisting, connecting and providing immense value wherever you show up. Make a powerful impact. Become successful as you help, inspire and educate others. Thanks for sharing the powerful insight Grant! RB

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