

Ask HN: Are Effective People Usually Impatient? - ekianjo

Just a question based on my limited observation. Recently I met up with a coder who has achieved a lot in the past year, and he mentioned to me: &quot;actually I dont have much patience&quot;. It kind of triggered the question in me - are effective people usually impatient ? Of course you can find examples in the tech industry easily: Bezos, Jobs, and many more come to mind - so, is it a general trait, or just perception bias ? What is your take on that ?
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hkarthik
I really hate when people justify being impatient and demaning by using
examples like Bezos or Jobs.

Nobody gets to the level of success as Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs without
learning some level of patience. Amazing technologies like the iPhone and the
Kindle wouldn't happen under the duress that I've witnessed at startups where
a micro-managing founder is barking orders at people and expecting everything
to be done yesterday.

People (and the press) tend to focus and sensationalize an individual's
spectacular moments of impatience much more than their more regular day to day
patience.

So the bottom line is, learn to be patient and expect to spend 80-90% of your
time being patient. Impatience and being demanding can be a powerful weapon in
helping get things done, but they should be used sparingly and in short
bursts.

And expect that people will remember that one time you lost it in a meeting
for a lot longer than the 100 meetings where you were attentive, supportive,
and helped get things done without losing your cool.

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trustfundbaby
I think its a trait that you can find in successful people, but I've met tons
of effective people who were very very patient.

In my experience impatience doesn't scale, unless you have the kind of pull
that people like Bezos or Jobs did, and they could only accomplish that
because they're founders, not just founders, but brilliant founders at that.
If you work in an organization of any sort of size, you will quickly run into
problems with people because of your "attitude", if you adopt this tack, even
if you're brilliant (thought you'll get much further before running into
trouble).

What I think you'll find is that being firm and constant but pleasant will get
you far. Something is due next week? check in the week before, then check in 3
days before, then check in the day before. When you check in, ask about their
day, ask about their kid's recital, ask about their sick dog. Its might feel
weird, but it works.

Want something done? keep tabs on all the moving pieces and make sure you're
doing everything in your power to make sure people you need to accomplish your
goal have what they need to finish what they're doing.

I went into an organization thinking I could pull the Steve Jobs act and "get
shit done", I almost got fired. I found that asking about someone's day and
listening attentively for a few minutes is more likely to get them to help you
accomplish big things, than telling people their ideas are "shit" and that
they should listen to your brilliant idea :)

Just my 2c. PS: Read Dale Carnegie's 'How to win friends and influence
people", its a bit corny now, but the central ideas still hold very true

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gesman
Making a statement does not necessarily means speaking the truth, more likely
just to make an impression.

Impatience (unless it's only for a short moment) comes from emotional
imbalance and that, in turn, will be detrimental to continuous success.

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rprospero
I'd say it's perception bias. If the Google founders had been less patient,
they would have sold out to Microsoft for five million, instead of waiting a
decade. Similarly, Zuckerberg had the option for a much earlier payout, but he
decided to wait. Amazon would have been more profitable earlier if Bezos had
put the revenue into profit, instead of expanding, but he decided to wait.
Even Jobs could have launched most of his products much earlier, but he had
the patience to wait for them to be done.

One of the most successful indicators of success later in life is the ability
to defer gratification.

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FindingPassion
What you mean by "Effective"?

