Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke is encouraging employees to say no to meetings in 2023 as he seeks to create an environment where almost everyone feels ‘uncomfortable’.
On January 3rd of this year, Shopify introduced a series of internal changes.
The platform is giving employees a “no judgment zone” to subtract, reject meetings, and focus on what is most valuable.
As part of the change, leadership will be encouraged to say no to meetings and all recurring meetings with more than two people are being binned.
“Everyone loves feeling comfortable,” says Lütke.
“But it’s actually completely useless. It’s during that period of discomfort where intense learning and growth happen”.
“So what I’m trying to create is an environment where almost everyone around me feels uncomfortable all the time, because I’m dragging them into the next box.”
“The best thing founders can do is subtraction. It’s much easier to add things than to remove things. If you say yes to a thing, you actually say no to every other thing you could have done with that period of time. As people add things, the set of things that can be done becomes smaller. Then, you end up with more and more people just maintaining the status quo.”
