#10 Writemas: Uncovering High Agency Talent
I’ve met many people in my adult life who are so much more intelligent than I am.
But most of them have ended up in well-paid corporate roles.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with doing a 9 to 5. These corporate companies are needed, but whenever I walk away from conversations with these people, I always imagine what these people could achieve if they had the conviction to bet on their ideas.
I’m gearing up to hire at Bloomstory and mentioned to my girlfriend last night that I thought the world has a lot of talented people, but what it lacks is high agency talent.
She asked me what I meant by high agency, so I’m writing this in an attempt to define it.
A person who has the high agency trait essentially has a “Fuck it. I’m going to figure it out” attitude.
High-agency people question everything, take control of their destiny and bend reality to their will.
George Mack wrote a fantastic Twitter/X thread explaining the different examples of high-agency people and how to identify them.
My favourite example is this one:
Jeff Bezos has a framework for identifying high-agency friends/romantic partners.
Answer this question:
“If you were stuck in a third-world prison and had to call one person to try and bust you out of there – who would you call?”
The first person who comes to my mind is my mum.
While we have a contentious relationship, she is a formidable woman and the first person people call when shit is going down.
She was able to have life the way she wanted it. By Naval Ravikant’s metric, that is true intelligence.
“The only true test of intelligence is if you get what you wanted out of life.” — Naval Ravikant
Speak to you tomorrow,
Jason.