Explore Mode
Inspired by on Lenny's Podcast
Early in your career you should be in explore mode, testing hypotheses about what you like - and your toddler is running the exact same algorithm with significantly more mess.
Ada Chen Rekhi's career framework is 'explore and exploit' - borrowed from growth strategy but applied to life.
'When I think about explore and exploit for early career, it's all about exploration. You really haven't experienced that much, but you're doing it with a thesis.'
In explore mode, you test hypotheses. Try things. See what resonates. Corporate life too slow? Hypothesis tested. Like marketing? Hypothesis confirmed. Want to try being a founder? Time to run the experiment.
Now watch your toddler. They're in pure explore mode. They want to taste everything (including the dirt). Touch everything (including the outlet). Try everything (including your patience).
They're not being difficult. They're running experiments with hypotheses. Does this taste good? Is this loud? What happens when I drop this? What happens when I drop it again? What about the 47th time?
The chaos is the algorithm working. They're in explore mode.
Exploit mode - where you go deep on what works - comes later. For now, let them explore. They're gathering data.
PM Theme: Discovery over assumptions
Parenting Theme: Supporting exploration
“When I think about explore and exploit for early career, it's all about exploration. You really haven't experienced that much, but you're doing it with a thesis. You're doing it with that growth mindset where you have a hypothesis.”Ada Chen Rekhi · 00:26:29
“I had the suspicion that not only did I want to try something smaller, but I also wanted to try marketing. So I moved to this series a startup where I had to sample my desk on the first day called Mochi Media.”Ada Chen Rekhi · 00:27:19
