Since childhood, I’ve had a weakness for beautiful books. I might not even read them, but I’ll buy them just for their beauty (although lately, I’ve been buying more electronic ones).
That’s how Garik Korogodsky’s book first caught my attention — because of its design. I had no idea who this Korogodsky was, but the book sitting on my friends’ shelf simply demanded that I reach for it. And once I read the subtitle “and other stories of a Jewish boy,” its fate was sealed (I guess I have a genetic affinity for stories about Jewish boys). Interestingly, the book came to my friends from the previous owners of their apartments, and my friends hadn’t read it themselves.
First, a few words about the author. Garik Korogodsky, born Grigory Davidovich Korogodsky, has always been called Garik within his family. However, in the USSR, they didn’t want to put such a name on his birth certificate (I had a similar situation with my mom). Garik is a Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist, a dollar millionaire.
The Belarusian band Naviband is preparing to release a new album, and in the meantime, they continue to release singles. About a month ago, they released a new song called “Mama”. It’s a very melodic, gentle, and somewhat unconventional lullaby (at least that’s how it seems to me). It immediately grabs your attention. I highly recommend giving it a listen:
Naviband — Mama
Yesterday, I suggested that the song feels so familiar because I can clearly hear musical interweavings with the song “Kalykhanka” (which is Belarusian for “lullaby”). This song was used as the theme music for the show of the same name from my childhood (the Belarusian equivalent of the Soviet “Good Night, Little Ones”). It’s not plagiarism, but there is definitely a connection, whether intentional or not.
Since my school years, I’ve wanted to start some kind of business. I tried myself in various roles while simultaneously working as an ordinary developer. Although I spent more than half of my 30 years in IT in GameDev, over these years, I also had the opportunity to work in other interesting fields: educational apps, enterprise software, the semiconductor industry, and a bit in banking and telecommunications.
At some point, I realized that not everything I did turned out great.
Initially, I was upset, realizing that I wasn’t as strong in creativity or in coming up with crazy ideas and inspiring people with them. This is precisely what a leader of the inspirational type excels at (Adizes, in his framework, refers to such people as entrepreneurs).
But then I reflected on what I had done well over these years and what truly resonated with me. And I realized that my strength lay elsewhere. So, I began to develop in that direction. Over time, the list became clearer: I am good at production, evaluating and building effective teams, working with people, negotiations, operations, and administrative tasks. In other words, I am a very good “right-hand man” to a CEO, who is usually the one generating ideas and acting as the driving force. I, on the other hand, am more inclined toward the pragmatic work of “making it all happen.” This role in many companies is often gathered under the COO title or split between the CPO and COO.
And when I understood this, my career and self-esteem took off. Yes, I’m not much of an idea generator. But without people like me, even the best ideas might never be realized.
It’s impossible to be the best at everything; you need to find your strengths, the ones that interest and energize you, and develop them. The key is not to get complacent, not to stop at what you’ve achieved, and to keep learning, always asking yourself, “Am I doing everything right, and could it be done better?” Of course, here you need to guard against two well-known pitfalls. The first is perfectionism (because things can always be improved, but sometimes you need to stop and release a good product rather than chase an unattainable ideal). The second is self-doubt (when you start thinking that you haven’t done enough and that someone else could have done it better. Maybe so, but that person isn’t here, and you’re the one leading the project).
So don’t be discouraged if something doesn’t work out. Find what drives you, what you’re valued for. It’s better to become strong in that than to try to excel at everything. Even Gaius Julius Caesar, who according to legend could multitask like no other, didn’t end up too well. 😉
Smart people say that in today’s world, it’s crucial to verify all facts (there are even special fact-checking projects for this). The ongoing Olympics in Paris has already shown how important this advice is, as a huge number of stories have spread across social networks, leading to both condemnation and praise. But if you dig deeper, things are not quite as they seem. To illustrate this, I decided to break down three well-known “fakes,” as we’ll call them.
The first of these was so convincing that even I, succumbing to the general hysteria, immediately jumped to condemnation without checking whether what was being said was true. For that, I apologize—I was wrong.
