Many startups are driven by two co-creators, working in unison with joined-up thinking and ambition. It’s great to see how they spark and bounce off each other, with complimentary skills and personalities, providing a balanced perspective on the entrepreneurial opportunity.
Most of us are familiar with ‘dynamic duos’- Batman & Robin, Lennon & McCartney, Laurel & Hardy – and in the business world, Hewlett & Packard, Brin & Page, Jobs & Wozniak. The individual characteristics, the chemistry and rapport behind these collaborations ensured that their talents fused to create something remarkable.
Having experienced a number of founder double acts in the startups I’ve worked with, I’m intrigued as to how often one founder is full of beans, spontaneous and vocal, whilst the other is more cautious, more focused on risk, and more thoughtful – the extrovert-introvert combination is common.
The terms introvert and extrovert are consistently, by popular consensus, painted as two polarised pictures of the extremely shy and the extremely confident. The Myers-Briggs personality test marks you as an ‘E’ or ‘I’, categorising you as either an introvert or an extrovert, designed to explain motivational and behavioural drivers.
First categorised by Carl Jung in the 1920s, an introvert is most commonly defined as someone who gets their energy from time spent alone rather than socialising. Unlike their extrovert counterparts (who get energy from other people), introverts are typically introspective, quiet (but not necessarily shy), and observant. Almost everyone can be squeezed into one of two boxes, but it turns out that many of us are essentially ambiverts.
The contrast is often quite stark, and I now have a model – as seen in AA Milne’s Winning the Pooh – Tiggers and Eeyores. Now whilst this insight won’t get me onto the academic staff at Harvard, I think it works to highlight one aspect of entrepreneurial culture that delivers success – Tiggers and Eeyores are opposites on the ‘act or think first?’ spectrum.
In 100-Acre Wood, the fictional land inhabited by Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the series of children’s stories by author A. A. Milne, they are the contrasting positive and negative thinking personalities, but behind the high energy of Tigger and the gloominess of Eeyore, there are subtle nuances we can take into a startup context.
Eeyore is the loveable, downbeat and somewhat gloomy donkey, his glass is always half-empty. He spots the dark cloud rather than the silver lining for sure. Eeyore doesn’t expect too much of himself or too many exciting things to happen, therefore remains quiet and subdued most of the time. That in no ways means he isn’t an intelligent animal, he is actually knowledgeable, but keeps himself to himself.
By stark contrast, Tigger – That’s T – I – Double Guh – Er! – is the alter-ego, a bouncy, hyperactive, exuberant personality. He acts on impulse and will dash rather than walk, but that impulsive leap and rush more often than not see him jumping around without taking measure of his surroundings. This at times leads to mishaps and causes utter mayhem – not least to himself.
We all know many entrepreneurs who are Tiggers – energisers, positive thinkers who love a constant challenge. They get bored easily and often half-complete stuff as their interest is distracted by a new idea. Sometimes their enthusiasm is over powering and irritates Eeyores, so much so that they’ll probably hold more stubbornly to their opinions, and may become even more gloomy to counter-balance Tiggers’ positivity.
By contrast, Eeyores want to be more grounded and ‘realistic’, but Tiggers may find this over cautious approach negative, because they fear the downbeat emotions are catching and they dread being sucked into pessimism. Tiggers often act Tiggerish because they’re trying to keep that Tigger flame alive against the Eeyore calm.
As Tiggers fear being dragged down by the Eeyores, Eeyores feel resentful and irritated by the Tiggers’ constant chirpiness. For both Tiggers and Eeyores, a good strategy is not to try to make conversions. These efforts are depleting, frustrating and polarising.
A Tigger could be a great entrepreneur because he doesn’t mind trying new things, and doesn’t fear failure. If it doesn’t work out, he will simply bounce onto the next new idea, undaunted. Balancing this, whilst Eeyore can be seen as negative, but he’s actually cautious and not gullible – he won’t fall for a ‘too good to be true’ opportunity – so a good foil for a Tigger in a founder duo.
As an example of the Tigger and Eeyore combination, look at the example of Apple, which we’ve come to associate with the big personality and very vocal Steve Jobs – co-founder Steve Wozniak, a sworn champion of the creative value of working alone, was just as indispensable in building the iconic company. The two contrasted and complemented one another.
The norm is that introverted people are generally more comfortable with solitude, but perhaps Susan Cain changed opinions with her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Indeed introverts have emerged as leaders in every arena – one-quarter of all US Presidents – including Jefferson, Lincoln, and Barack Obama – were identified introverts of varying degree.
In the business world, some of the most successful founders, inventors and technologists are introverts, including the likes of Edison, Gates, Musk and Zuckerberg, and the research into the business impact of introverts is revealing.
A Harvard study found that, while extroverts excelled at leading passive teams (employees who simply follow commands), they were far less effective in leading ‘proactive’ teams, where everyone contributes ideas. Introverts are more effective than extroverts in leading proactive teams because they don’t feel threatened by collaborative input, are more receptive to suggestions, and listen more carefully.
Researchers analysed 57 managers and 374 employees at 130 branches of a major pizza chain and found that franchises led by introverts were 20% more profitable than franchises led by extroverts. In another study, researchers broke 163 students into 56 groups – some led by an introvert, and others by an extrovert – and had the teams fold as many t-shirts as they could in ten minutes. They concluded that teams led by the introverts were up to 28% more productive.
Back to the founder duo combination, the two contrasting personalities like Jobs and Woznicak, working collaboratively epitomise the old saying ‘two heads are better than one’. So what are the principles we should all look for in Eeyores and Tiggers to reflect upon the introvert-extrovert difference, and get the best from their two contrasting perspectives when working alongside one or both personalities in a startup?
1. Emotional intelligence, not emotional mastery
The better you’re able to communicate with others and form strong connections, the better you’ll navigate a startup. Successful entrepreneurs aren’t unusually cool-headed people who can contain their emotions and avoid reacting irrationally. Rather, they’ve built strong relationships with their staff, suppliers, and customers, and it’s those interpersonal networks that do the emotional heavy lifting when times get tough. The emotional intelligence that it takes to sustain these bonds can prove decisive, be it the energy and passion of an extrovert, or the quiet, thoughtful style that builds respect and trust by introverts.
2. Self-reliance
If the idea of starting from scratch with a partner and having to rely on yourself frightens you, coping with the ups and downs of the startup experience might be difficult. No matter how their personalities differ, successful entrepreneurs know how to keep going despite the inevitable discomfort of uncertainty and going outside their comfort zones.
This doesn’t mean extroverts win through with their boundless self-confidence though. We tend to romanticise extroverted founders who show outsize confidence, but many in reality grapple with self-doubt internally all the time. The real key is about being able to function well in spite of feeling uncertain.
Successful entrepreneurs have a greater fear of being stuck in their comfort zones and not reaching their potential. It isn’t that facing ongoing uncertainty is a thrilling or threatening experience, or that every successful entrepreneur has unshakable confidence in spades. It’s that no matter what challenges come their way, they believe it’s in their own power to determine their future. That instinct for self-reliance is key – so both extroverts and introverts need to develop self-esteem and believe in themselves, whatever their external personnas.
3. Willingness to be wrong
This is tough for both personality types. All successful startup founders are curious people, constantly on the lookout for better, more efficient, innovative ways of doing things. Less conspicuous is an underlying trait of the willingness to scrap their assumptions and test a totally different idea.
Some extroverted entrepreneurs may carry an air of certainty and self-assurance, but chances are they’re more willing to admit to being wrong than you might imagine. For an introvert, quiet, internal assessment and analysis enables them to come to their own conclusions, albeit from a different perspective.
4. Trust in their intuition
Successful founders see and act on opportunities even when they don’t see the complete picture. To fill in the blanks and blind spots just enough in order to be able to act, they need to have a high level of trust in their own intuition.
It’s easy to misinterpret an introvert’s internal processing and quiet demeanour as disinterest. But in reality, most introverts are just methodical thinkers. For an extrovert, what appears to be a cavalier approach is just behaviour based on self-belief that they can get there.
Both personality types assess potential, risk and outcomes from their own perspectives, one may then share that with the enthusiasm of a Tigger, one more cautiously as in Eeyore’s style, but both are trusting their own judgement and assessment.
5. Be radically open-minded
The biggest barriers to good decision-making are your blind spots and self doubt. Together, they make it difficult for you to objectively see what is true about you and your circumstances and to make the best possible decisions.
For both extroverts and introverts, practice open-mindedness. If you can recognise that you have blind spots, consider the possibility that others might see something better than you, don’t be stubborn. A fresh pair of eyes can add value to your thinking and unpack a possible different forward path you hadn’t spotted. Being open-minded can be energising and unblock your thinking, and help you deal better with ‘not knowing’.
This avoids either bluffing (the extrovert response) or doubting yourself and doing nothing – the introvert response. Triangulate your view with believable people who are willing to help inform and shape your opinions.
So, if you’re startup stumbles, with panic on the streets of Carlisle, Dublin, Dundee, Humberside, don’t simply ignore the signals on the one hand and rush on like Tigger, or spiral down and convince yourself you’re doomed as Eeyore would have you believe. Don’t drink from a glass half-full of rash, unbridled optimism as feted by Tigger, or sit morosely like Eeyore with a hang-donkey expression, moping around in the corner, add a bit of balance.
We must look for the opportunity in every difficulty like Tigger, instead of being paralysed at the thought of the difficulty in every opportunity like Eeyore, but whilst fortune favours the brave and audacious, don’t be foolhardy, leaping without looking isn’t a strategy. Nobody told Dick Fosbury the first time he leapt backwards, but he knew the height of the bar.
