3 Ancient Jewish Rules of Success for Entrepreneurs, Innovators and Startups

James Surowiecki’s in his recent article “Thinkers and Tinkerers”, which was published in the January/February issues of Foreign Affairs magazine, takes a good look at two interesting book, which in his view compliment each other very well. One is “The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution” by Walter Isaacson and the other is “Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future” by Peter Thiel. I took some of his observations, dipped them into the infinite pool of Jewish wisdom and I am hereby presenting you with my own thoughts on the topic.

Rule#1: Find a good partner or, even better, put together a strong diverse group

Would you agree that Steve Jobs was an ultimate genius of innovation and marketing? Many would. But as James Surowiecki recently wrote, Walter Isaacson sees it quite differently. For him, “true engine of innovation is collaboration”. And it’s not just collaboration, as Isaacson specifically refers to “strong teams made up of diverse thinkers from…different disciplines”. Interestingly enough, we find similar principle in the world of Torah study and Jewish prayer. It is a known thing that in observant Jewish circles, people study Torah in what is called Khevrutah (חברותה). As a matter of fact, the best way to learn Torah is to have a company of at least 10 men, as the Sages instructed. And it is certainly the prescribed way for daily prayers that are to be conducted in the presence of a minyan, which is a quorum of 10 Jewish men. “The [understanding of] Torah is acquired in a company”, Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Brakhot, 63. And in the 8th chapter of the same tractate, a famous question: “When is an opportune time [with highest chances of prayers to be heard or accepted]? At the time of communal prayer”.

As Isaacson said in The Innovators, bright individual can come up with a brilliant concept, a group of creatives can turn that same idea into the market-ready product. Says Hillel the Elder: ”Do not separate yourself from the community” (Ethics of The Sages, 2:4). You have to live and create within the context of your community. For a number of different reasons. On one hand, people can bring you new ideas and inspiration. On the other hand, it is important that whatever you create can be useful and applicable to the rest of your community or society. Therefore, it is imperative – no matter how genius or enlightened someone is – that he stays closely connected to his community, to the real world.

Rule #2: Believe

Belief, faith or emunah in Hebrew, is a controversial concept in our world. For Isaacson, as Surowiecki continues writing, that faith that dramatic fundamental technological change was possible and that it was going to benefit the society has become a big unifying factor for the innovators he talks about. What I see him as referring to is not merely a narrow, yet often praised, belief in yourself, we often hear about in self-help books and in media. I see his point being much broader. What he has in mind is a belief in global, comprehensive, all-pervasive change in how society and people operate. To take it even further, it is an unconditional belief in yourself, in the system. And of course in the Jewish world, this would be emunah or belief in HaShem, the Creator of the world, in a unifying principle that governs our universe and makes everything possible

Rule #3: Reach for the impossible

There is a concept in the Jewish tradition that is very fundamental and central to Jewish existence. It is called Tikkun Olam. And it goes hand-in-hand in believing in the arrival of the Messiah/Mashiakh. Many writers and commentators, ancient and modern, actually cite this as an intriguing across-the-board national characteristics of the Jewish people, regardless of their level of observance – this belief, which at times looks almost naive, in the need and their ability to make the world a better place. According to the Jewish tradition, this change will happen when the Mashiakh arrives. But he can only arrive when the conditions for his arrival are in place. Which can only happen through the righteous actions of all of us. What is even more interesting , and it is directly related to our discussion, is that this change, this transformation that needs to take place in the world in order for Mashiakh to arrive and the final change that will occur after his arrival are not some small, local, minor changes. We are talking about a full and complete, fundamental change in how the world operates and how people live their lives, interact with each other, etc. This goal of bringing the Mashiakh and uplifting the world is one of the fundamentals of Judaism, as outlined by Rambam (Maimonides) in his 13 Principles of Fath (aka “Ani Ma’amin”).

Peter Thiel in his Zero to One describes what he sees as the main issue of most of today’s startups and innovators: accepting a pessimistic view of what’s possible. What Thiel in essence says is that to be a true innovator and entrepreneur you need to believe in the impossible and wish for the impossible to happen. Eliyahu Goldratt, the author of the The Goal, which is a must read in every major business program in the country (and if you have not read, do yourself a favor and order it now), said in one of his lectures that in order to truly change and come with innovative ideas a business or an individual needs to think in terms of impossible goals. If you put in front of yourself or your organization a goal that is just a bit more challenging than your previous one, you will find a solution that you will simply help you continue doing what you are doing now but a little bit better. But it will not bring about a real change that you desire. When the goal looks impossible, it forces us to realize that we cannot accomplish it by slightly improving our current process. It demands from us to forget everything we know and come with something that is really life-changing, a radical positive change.

*This article partially relies and uses quotes from the ideas spelled out by James Suroweicki in his piece published in the Foreign Affairs magazine (Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2015, p. 77)

**Pictures above are courtesy of Amazon.com

The Ultimate Son-In-Law

Parashat Yitro describes one of the most powerful family scenes in the Torah. I am specifically referring to the encounter between Moshe Rabbeynu and Yitro. Yitro that hears about the miracles that Hashem has performed for Bnei Israel, comes out of Midyan, leaving behind his place of high honor to come into the desert, the wilderness and meet Moshe. He is also bringing with him Moshe’s wife, Tsipora and his two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.

In general, I find Yitro to be an extremely fascinating personality. A high priest of Midyan, who is well versed both in the matters of the spiritual world and the material affairs. Rashi quoting the Midrash, describes him as a person who knew and tried all different types of worship and  the spiritual traditions of the world. For that he received a great amount of recognition and honor by those around him. And yet, the Torah gives him even more recognition for the fact that leaves all that behind, comes out very humbly to meet Moshe and to hear about the miracles of the Exodus and to learn divine wisdom from Moshe. His exclamation:”Blessed is Hashem, Who rescued you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh….Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods!” is its highest point.

Perhaps that only thing that is even more incredible in this whole story and something that can teach us a tremendous life lesson is how Moshe Rabbeynu treats Yitro upon his arrival at the Israeli camp. Moshe has just witnessed arguably the most miraculous and magical event the world has witnessed and who was its direct orchestrator.  When Yitro’s messenger announces his arrival, Moshe – and with him Aharon, his brother, and his sons, Nadav and Avihu – comes out towards him, bows and kisses him. Him and Yitro inquire of each other’s well-being and enter the tent together. Yitro rejoices over the goodness that Hashem has performed for Israel. After their conversation, they bring sacrifices to Hashem and partake in a celebratory meal.

It is incredible to see the humility Moshe possesses and how much honor he is showing his father-in-law, who is not even Jewish and is at that point still an idol worshiper. (Yitro goes on to later convert to Judaism and returns back to Midiyan to convert the rest of the family). There are a lot of questions surrounding their immediate moment of encounter. Rashi writes that it is not immediately clear on who bowed to whom, but eventually concludes that it is indeed Moshe who bowes to Yitro. In Mekhilta, we learn that Moshe was clearly the one who bowed and kissed his father-in-law. Based on this, it is said that a man should always be prepared to show honor to his father-in-law.

Moshe Rabbeynu’s most prominent quality for which is most known for is humility (Anava). In Judaism, this is also considered to be the most desired personality trait in a man. And perhaps this is one of the greatest moments where Moses gets to show his true nature. The commandment to honor one’s parents is well known from the Ten Sayings (Ten Commandments). But here is it taken to the next level, teaching us to show respect to our significant other’s parents as well.

I view Torah as a powerful life guide – a manual if you wish – that offers us practical principles and ideas for happy and meaningful life. This particular episode provides us with a powerful detailed formula for building good, harmonious relations with not only our parents, but also our parents-in-law. It is a powerful lesson that can serve as a basis for building happy, harmonious families: When your in-laws come for a visit, get up, greet them, give them a kiss, a hug, ask them how they are and have a nice meal them. How simple and yet how profound. This is family relationships building at its finest, something that is not always easy to implement, but something that without any doubt will will bear beautiful fruit in both the short and long terms. 

People that get stuff done – Yitro’s hiring advice to Moses

Some time ago, Peter Shankman, one of the greatest and most inspirational personalities in the world of PR, social media and customer service and a true Mensch overall, posted a short note on Facebook:

For those of you who don’t know Peter that well – he is extremely efficient. Sometimes, it makes me wonder if he is actually human (maybe that zombie theme from his latest “Zombie Loyalists” book was not a joke after all). So getting stuff done is something that he not only talks about, but implements daily.

In their recent book, “How Google Works”, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg discuss the process of hiring at length. Centrality and importance of hiring the right people is not a new idea in the world of business, but they nonetheless put (yet) another exclamation point – with a twist of their own, of course – after this statement. As a matter of fact they go as far as saying that the single most important thing a business leader does at work is hiring. Had I not known who these people are, I would think they run the world’s most amazing HR agency.

“The number one job of a leader is hiring people that get stuff done.” There we have it…Which is almost exactly the message that Yitro delivers to his son-in-law when they meet in the desert.

After observing Moshe Rabbeynu’s (Moses’s) strenuous efforts in judging people (Yitro, 18:13), Yitro gently tells him that this whole exercise is not going to end well and that he is going to wear both himself and his people out. He then gives him an absolutely brilliant hiring strategy: “And you shall see from among the entire people, [1]men of accomplishment, [2]G-d fearing people, [3]men of truth, [4] people who despise money, and you shall appoint them leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties and leaders of tens. They shall judge the people at all times…”

What we have here in essence is a hiring methodology as outlined by Yitro and as adopted by Moshe Rabbeynu. Interestingly enough the 1st quality mentioned is what can be translated as “Accomplished People”, “People of Strength” or – as Rashi eloquently points out – “Rich Men”. Given Torah is a spiritual book, we could expect “Believers in G-d”, “Lovers of Man”. That sounds a bit more appropriate. But “Wealthy” or “Accomplished Men”? Really?!

Perhaps we can explain this as follows. Judaism is a very practical, earthly tradition which continuously emphasizes and praises action. According to Kabbalah, we live in the World of Action. Finally, although studying Torah is the greatest mitzvah/commandment, the Sages always cautioned that study ultimately must lead to action, because only then can the message truly be internalized.

One of the things I have come to appreciate in Judaism is its ability to powerfully and clearly connect very spiritual, lofty ideas with the raw reality of the day-to-day world. Rather than trying to separate the spiritual and material worlds and perhaps even highlight superiority of the former over the latter, it offers a way to harmoniously connect the two.

The Jewish recipe for leadership says that a true leader must first and foremost be someone who does things, who gets things done. Being a person of action and surrounding himself with a team of capable people is where being a leader starts.