The Trap of Competence and the Gift of Urgency

On building a life, a company, and a culture worth staying for

Bonus points if you can tell me who is pictured in the article photo! Hint: legendary builder.

I’ve never been more challenged, more rewarded, more certain, and less sure, of what tomorrow brings. I’ve also never been happier.

Over the past few years, I got married, moved across the country, learned the joys and pains of old home ownership, built a new community, became a dog dad, quit my job, started a company, and now, most importantly, am expecting my first child in November.

Conventional wisdom says not to do all of this at once. But as someone smarter once said: “I’m in a swimming pool, I’m not going to put on a rain jacket.” Life is busy, wild, and about to get even busier, but it’s also more fulfilling than I ever imagined.

Oddly enough, being busier than ever, I’ve never felt freer. Now that I’m building Rely, I can see and appreciate so many parts of my life that I used to take for granted. I used to wonder if I’d be happier chasing my own dream. Now that I am, the answer is unequivocally yes.

How did I stay in “comfort” for so long when it made me so uncomfortable? I recently read something in my friend David Gerber’s newsletter that stuck with me, a quote from Rick Foerster: “The trap is when I do something that I’m good at and rewarded for. Because that situation locks me in: comfortable, successful, miserable.”

That hit hard. The “Trap of Competence” is real. While you’re in it, it feels impossible to escape. But once you’re out, it’s actually very hard to imagine ever going back.

I think about this constantly when it comes to building culture at Rely. Personally, I couldn’t feel more disconnected from the “ohana” vibe at Salesforce or the culture of complacency I experienced during my first job at Workday. That style works for some but it never worked for me. On the other end of the spectrum, I have no interest in creating the “sleep in the office, grind don’t stop” culture that chews people up and is romanticized by YC. I want a team that can sprint when needed, feels fully bought in, but also lives full, happy lives outside of work.

So what kind of culture do I want to build? What’s the version that feels right to me? Who do I want around the table every day? And maybe most importantly: how do we create a culture so strong that even if I weren’t the founder, I’d still want to be here? That’s the question that guides me.

My cofounder and I talk a lot about urgency. We both feel it deeply but our job is to inspire it in others, not enforce it with fear. We want urgency to come from possibility: “We get to climb this mountain. We get to build something great.”

If urgency is one element, agency is another. We want to hire high agency individuals but encourage them to step into more and more as they prove capable. This is the key ingredient of a culture I personally would want to be a part of. Amazon uses the term “bar raiser” in hiring and Frank Slootman talks a lot about hiring for slope rather than intercept. We want to work with high agency people who raise our bar and are just getting started.

And above all, we want to work with good people. People who assume best intent. Who trust each other. Who act like owners and obsess over what’s best for the customer and the business. If that’s your default lens, you avoid most of the silly workplace politics.

As a founder, this is the part I think about more than anything. My day-to-day role changes constantly, some days I’m hiring, others I’m selling or fundraising, but one thing is always true.

My job is culture. Every day. Because culture is what shapes who we hire, how we work, how we grow, and how we win.

Reach out to george@tryrely.ai if you want to join our team! We would love to meet you.