Slack and the Courage to Begin Again
A chapter about how a failed game created the path to Slack when the team recognized that the real value lived in an internal tool and found the courage to close the original dream
Separating goals from paths: preserving the core value, stopping what no longer works and changing direction instead of continuing only because too much has already been invested
Slack was born inside a game called Glitch
Slack was not born as a communication platform. It emerged while Stewart Butterfield and his team were building the online game Glitch, a project that consumed years of time, money and belief.
The team chose not to save everything
Glitch could not attract enough players to become a sustainable business. Instead of adding features, changing campaigns or extending one final chance, the team chose another path.
The small internal tool revealed the value worth keeping
During development, they had built an internal chat tool for coordination. What seemed like a supporting utility solved a problem shared by millions of teams.
Focus can sometimes mean stopping
They stopped Glitch and preserved the most meaningful tool. In this case, focus did not mean continuing; it meant stopping to observe, listen and recognize that the goal remained valid while the path had to change.
The trap of having already invested too much
Many people continue a job, project or goal because they have already invested too much. They fear quitting means failure, yet the greater danger is staying on the wrong path to avoid admitting it is wrong.
Failure did not get to decide the future
Slack succeeded not because the team never failed, but because they did not let failure determine the future. They kept what mattered and released the rest.
Look again at what you are still clinging to
Ask whether you are continuing because the path still fits or only because of past investment, which core value is hidden and which direction must change to serve the larger goal.
Focus means returning to the core and changing the path
Focus is not clinging to the first choice. It is repeatedly returning to the core and being willing to change the path in service of a larger goal.
The next step is Netflix disrupting its own success
The next chapter tells the story of Netflix and a harder form of focus: disrupting a successful model before someone else does it.