There is a real beauty in things that can’t scale. A project or task that is for one person and not many. A while back, I tried reaching out to people more via iMessage than something like twitter. It’s still digital communication but it’s one to one and not a mass broadcast. I certainly don’t write the same way in those contexts.

My work talks a lot about scaling (SaaS amirite). It’s important for us to consider how this will look if 10, 100, 1000 times as many people start using it.

But I am not a SaaS. I don’t have to “scale” and serve so many people.

I remember Michael Hyatt saying that he tries to do for a few what he wishes he could do for everyone (that was his take on leaving comments on blogs and responding personally to social media messages). I’d much rather take that approach if I every found my job scaled up unexpectedly. But maybe it’s better to stay small, stay nimble, and stay free.

In the book Drive, Dan Pink highlighted three factors that lead to motivation

  • Autonomy
  • Mastery
  • Purpose I can certainly see how pursuing the path of growth can lead to these factors, but equally eschewing it can too. That was what Derek Sivers learnt from CD baby. After a certain size, it stopped being fun anymore.

I didn’t intend to write something about microblog (I really hate things which are always about the thing), this was merely a reflection on reading “Keep Going” but it seems to have happened anyway. Microblog is a great place to stay small. To not worry about having over 10,000 podcast subscribers, but having 10, all of whom you can name and respond to every episode.

It’s an online village instead of a bustling city. I look forward to seeing what you’ve been up to at the next village fete or shoot the breeze down the pub.