Activation Energy in Career Pursuits

How activation energy powers professional aspirations

In 2023, I kicked off the year by diving into my venture, Levri, and concluded it as part of the Passionfroot team. This essay is my first of 2024, where I aim to explore the lessons obtained from my entrepreneurial pursuits and their relevance to my current professional role - encapsulated in a singular concept: Activation Energy.

The Founder's Tale

In a previous reflection, I shared that I didn't achieve the success I wanted as a business owner, attributing it to two primary reasons:

1. Not Working Hard Enough:

   Progress was impeded by a bad judgment of what matters. A failure to differentiate crucial tasks from trivial ones.

2. Not Working Long Enough:

   Building a company is a time-intensive endeavor, an aspect we underestimated. Long-term commitment is non-negotiable.

Balancing energy and time emerged as a focal point. My entrepreneurial journey necessitated optimizing these elements - investing the right amount of energy over an extended period. We failed to reach PMF - the expected outcome of our work, indicating a deficit in the energy that we provided.

The Essence of Activation Energy

The synergy of energy, time, and outcomes mirrors the concept of activation energy.

Picture the chemical reactions in our physical world. They demand a specific activation energy to initiate. Consider fire, a mere combination of carbon and oxygen, requiring a minimal amount of energy to combust.

Much like a chemical reaction demands a critical activation energy level to “combust”, achieving PMF mandates sustained effort over time, energy, to be activated and reach the expected outcome.

Different Paths, Different Energies

Transitioning from a founder to an employee, the goals shifted. The anticipated outcome in the “corporate arena” centers around career progression. A fundamental distinction emerged - operating at the edge of value as a founder versus navigating the nuances of showcasing value as an employee.

The founder's paradigm is straightforward - identify, execute, and capture value through work. As an employee, however, the equation becomes different. The reactant isn’t merely the work that you do; it's also the narrative presented to peers and managers. You not only must invest energy in your work, but also in showing your efforts, to achieve the necessary activation energy level and attain the anticipated outcome. The visibility of contributions matters, as perception often shapes reality. One of the lessons from my manager Filip in Berlin resonated:

"Be predictably productive."

Predictable productivity entails not only delivering quality work but also transparently illustrating how your time is allocated. Nurturing an environment where efforts are not only impactful but also evident.

The Variability of Activation Energy

Diverse career goals demand varying activation energies accumulated over time.

Many embark on entrepreneurial journeys without achieving PMF, many embark on a new company without getting a promotion, suggesting then a failure in achieving the activation energy to transform the reactants - your work, into an outcome.

Be aware of the amount of energy that your career pursuits require. Although defining the right task can be challenging, sustaining the energy to do it is essential depending on what you want to achieve - gradually, then suddenly.