Plate Spinning - How to accomplish your potential even when you may feel you have too many projects (2024)

Over the last 2 weeks, three distinct people mentioned "Plate Spinning" to me - an Embracian, YC, and a VC. Ok so what is "Plate Spinning"? Like Goonies and Adventures in Babysitting, (both amazing movies,) my gut is many of you don't know about Plate Spinning. So that none of us feel as old as I do right now, here is an explanatory video from the Ed Sullivan show, which predates all of us 😂

Many of us are feeling overwhelmed. I certainly do between my core responsibilities of exec recruiting, culture, strategy/product, and fundraising. Add in a personal life, an old dog, and a crazy five year old, I am stressed. Just take a look at my calendar 😉

Spinning Plates occurs when we work on many projects simultaneously. The frenetic pace of making sure all of those projects progress and at a high bar causes us to run around, fragment our daily tasks, and work less effectively.

What can we do?

First, please recognize that many of us are feeling stressed. Please practice 👁️ perspective when you are chatting with a fellow Embracian. If you pay close attention, you can feel the anxiety even through Zoom.

Second, if you feel like you are spinning too many plates and those plates are about to fall, then experiment with a few of the following suggestions:

1) Talk to Your Manager

→ Their job is to help you prioritize. Use them!

2) Define the Best Outcome for each 'plate'

→ Needless spinning most often occurs when you dont have a clear view of the desired outcome. Do you know the definition of success? If not, define it and preferably with the help of others.

3) Outline Steps and Ask for Help

→ Have you actually created a plan? Write it down. The act of writing is surprisingly illuminating because it forces you to slow down and think. For example, I write down a weekly plan every single Sunday. With a little forethought, its amazing what can be prioritized, reduced in scope, or helped by others.

→ Ask for help! You are never on an island. Everyone is busy AND everyone is willing and wants to help. They may push back... and they should to prioritize their own work. Discuss the priorities across both of your projects together.

The "Spinning Plates" phenomena will never go away. Don't pretend that it will ever stop. You may get a reprieve but the stress is actually healthy - it means you are learning and growing. Our goal as we grow and scale is to make sure each one spins longer and with less effort.

Wins

• The seal is broken - Game Circus signed and without a POC. Kudos to Drew and Tuggle!
• Incident management process improving - CS loves it, Eng loves it. Wyle!
• 2+ unity Integrations without incident - Alex
• Unity pipeline growing - SDR team is killing it
• 1st IM - Ngonzo!!
• Automated iOS builds - bigger deal than everyone thinks. Ask them about it! - Vit and Copeland