Altitude shifting
Successful founders shift between 30,000-foot strategy and ground-level execution. Most people are good at one -- the best do both.
Erik Torenberg has a concept that he calls altitude shifting:
"Underrated skill for founders: Altitude shifting. People are often either good at high-level strategy or atomic-level execution, but rarely both. In other words, successful founders are able to see the big picture and the details at the same time. They can shift their perspective from 30,000 feet to ground level and back again."
They can see the forest from the trees. It's challenging because high-level strategy and atomic-level execution require different skill sets. High-level thinking is about being able to hold multiple concepts in your mind at one time. Atomic-level thinking is about focus and execution; blocking out the multiple concepts that could be on your mind and focusing on the most important thing you can do right now.
The ability to shift from high-level strategy to atomic-level execution is a valuable skill for any founder, but also for any startup team member. Being able to see both the big picture and the details is a rare combination.
Will Ahmed, the founder and CEO of WHOOP, is especially good at this. He speaks about the origins of WHOOP. He says: "I was someone who used to overtrain, where you get fitter and fitter, and then you sort of fall off a cliff. It's the ultimate betrayal in sports..."
Ahmed zoomed in on the details by reading research papers. He developed a deep understanding of how to measure strain and recovery in the body.
At the same time, he zoomed out on the wearables industry and figured out how his learnings could be morphed into a product that sits on your wrist. He was holding multiple concepts in his head and trying to synthesise them into one convincing offering. WHOOP -- most recently valued at $3.6 billion -- was born.