576: Scott Belsky - Adding Texture to Time, Feeling Unrushed, Pushing Yourself Physically, Narrating the Journey, Becoming an Excellent Writer, and Why You Should Never Outsource Your Story

Mar 31, 2024

Guest Scott Belsky discusses adding texture to time through challenges, feeling unrushed, and raising kids. He emphasizes persona-led growth, authenticity in communication, and embracing the messy middle of creative journeys. Topics also include the importance of creating lasting memories and instilling resilience in children.

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INSIGHT

Texture Adds Meaning to Time

Time gains texture through challenge, adversity, and new experiences.
Such textured time feels longer and more memorable compared to indistinguishable moments.

ADVICE

Push Yourself To Build Resilience

Physical challenges build reflexes to push through mental and leadership difficulties.
Developing this through running or other passions creates transferable resilience for leadership.

ADVICE

Manufacture Hardship for Kids

Model hard work to your children by identifying and naming it explicitly.
Don’t shield kids from hardship; let them regulate emotions and learn resilience by facing challenges.

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My guest: Scott Belsky co-founded Behance in 2006 and served as its CEO for six years. Behance was acquired by Adobe in 2012. Since then he has had a variety of roles with the company and is currently Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer, and EVP of Design & Emerging Products. He’s also the author of two best-selling books, The Messy Middle and Making Ideas Happen. Scott holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Hiking > Beach - You're only able to recollect experiences with enough friction to add texture to time as it passes. time spent doing the unexpected and/or being challenged is time with texture. Ultimately, in our dying breath, the more experiences in our lives with texture, the more of our lives we will actually remember and the longer we will feel we have lived.
- What adds texture to time? A challenge.
Feeling unrushed - Feeling unrushed (so simple, yet so hard) is indeed such a luxury; one I still fail to achieve.
Persona-Led Growth - People are more likely to share what people say than what companies say. Modern “PR strategy” should amplify the voice of actual builders, embrace personality rather than dull it out, and aspire for more real-time updates vs. major moments.
How to raise kids to become great adults?
- "model hard work"
- Say, "This is the hard work." Manufacture hardship.
- Regulate emotions. Big feelings, little bodies.
Why Scott enjoys working at Adobe... He's a mission-driven entrepreneur. Progress begets progress.
Prototype = Show, not tell.
- A prototype is worth a hundred meetings, and almost all meetings that aren’t grounded with a prototype are a waste of time (or worse). A prototype immediately surfaces gaps in logic or business concerns. It is the fastest way to drive alignment.
- "A prototype prompts decisiveness"
- "It's a hot knife through the butter of bureaucracy."
Why Scott writes a Substack newsletter:
- "I want to be part of the creator platform."
- Writing clarifies thinking
- It's important to stay close to the action. Writing works as a forcing function to do that.
Scott has benefited greatly from running every day. It's important to push yourself mentally and physically. "There's no option to stop."
What's the most important element of leadership? "Empathy. It's a shortcut for overcoming challenges."
“You’re either part of the living or part of the dying.” Scott's aunt Arlis Aron. Fought stage 4 cancer for 15 years. She always focused on living, her garden, breakfast, and traveling. “Decide if you want to live less or live more.”
- "Every day is a standalone canvas."