Open Loops #120

👋 Welcome to the 120th issue of Open Loops, a weekly newsletter to help you think, grow, and build momentum.

My name is Reza, and every week, I sift through over 100 pieces of content —newsletters, articles, podcasts, books, and (way too many) tweets—to pull out the most interesting, actionable ideas.

The myth of mastery is killing your career.

I keep meeting incredibly successful people who aren't the best at anything.

A developer who writes better emails than code. Now she runs a 100-person engineering team.

A marketer who understands psychology better than marketing. His consulting waitlist is six months long.

A decent designer who gets business strategy. She just sold her agency.

None of them are world-class at their core skill. But their combinations are rare. Valuable. Different.

We're taught to be specialists. To focus. To master.

But the most interesting careers aren't built on expertise alone.

They're built on intersections.

We spend years trying to be the best within our lane.

But what if the real growth comes from reading outside our field?

From connecting dots that others don't even see exist.

Your career isn't a straight line. It's a heat map of possibilities.

Forget being the best. Be the only.

Now, let's dive into this week's ideas.

When teams at work have rituals, their members tend to find more meaning in their work. How to start or end meetings, regular weekly lunches or drinks after work — rituals like these can help random co-workers become more connected.

When approached with a difficult decision, we can use the “deathbed test” to help us determine which action to take. It consists of three questions: “On my deathbed, will I be mad I did it? Will I be sad I didn’t do it? Will it even matter?” The vast majority of our decisions never pass muster of mattering.

It took me almost 40 years to learn it, because my instinct is to think more hours mean more productivity as long as you’re really trying to be productive -- that’s just multiplication, right?

No. The reality is that grinding, even if it temporarily increases output, kills creativity and big picture thinking.

Burnout is the ultimate agency-killer.

1/ You don’t know if what you’re seeing is their actual experience

2/ Their tactics are specific to their customers and channels

3/ You miss the context and learning that led to their current solution

1/ Research how others have solved similar challenges

2/ Talk to people who’ve faced the same issues

3/ Look for existing patterns and frameworks

4/ Hire advisors to accelerate learning

When someone asks you a question, there's the surface question—but there is often a deeper layer. It's usually something the other person is trying to uncover. It could be a deeper worry, concern, or curiosity.

Probe for more information that will help you help them: "Great question. If you could share a bit of context on what's top of mind for you, it'll help me figure out what to share that’s most relevant for you.

This newsletter is my creative outlet. When I’m not writing it, or working out, I help founders and their early teams bring clarity and structure to the chaos of building early-stage brands. If you’re a founder navigating GTM, you can lean more here.