Silicon Valley tech set gush over new 'high agency' label... but what exactly does it mean?

There's a new buzz phrase taking over Silicon Valley that is thought to have become a major aspirational character trait among those working in the global center for technology and innovation. Long gone are the terms 'self starters' and 'disruptors,' it's now all about being 'high agency' - and employers in the tech industry apparently cannot get enough of it. High agency is a trait mostly assigned to people who start their own companies, seize opportunities that others miss, and never take 'no' for an answer.

It's also been claimed that high agency people are rich, successful, or on their way to being both - with Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk being used as a prime example. The term 'high agency' was coined by US investor and financial executive Eric Weinstein back in 2016 when he referenced it during an appearance on self-help guru Tim Ferriss' podcast. 'When you're told that something is impossible, is that the end of the conversation, or does that start a second dialogue in your mind, how to get around whoever it is that's just told you that you can't do something?' Weinstein explained.

'So, "how am I going to get past this bouncer who told me that I can't come into this nightclub? How am I going to start a business when my credit is terrible and I have no experience?"'. High agency is basically about actively going after what you want without waiting for the circumstances to be perfect. Over the past year, high agency has become the aspirational character trait of Silicon Valley (stock image).

Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation (stock image). According to Business Insider, high agency people can 'overcome adverse conditions by taking bold actions to change their reality,' whereas a low agency person accepts reality as it is. The publication adds that high agency people 'come to terms with the hand they're dealt and focus on what they can control: their actions.'.

At the beginning of 2024, analytics site Brandwatch found there was a 500 percent jump in mentions of the phrase 'high agency' across X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and other social media sites. And it is now said to be a key quality that employers are looking for when hiring new staff. 'High agency is someone who can take control of their own destiny,' Mike Basso, the CEO of a recruiting firm told Business Insider.

'You're looking for whether they take ownership or blame others for the project's failure.'. However, Weinstein did acknowledge during his appearance on Ferriss' podcast that being high agency has pros as well as cons - but he noted that the risks are definitely worth the rewards. 'These are my people, and they're tough to deal with, and I don't always enjoy them,' he explained. It's been claimed that high agency people are rich, successful, or on their way to being both (stock image).

'But I do think that without them, it's not much of a football team. I think one of the things that the US still has over, let's say, a competitor like China is that we tolerate the middle finger.'. Americus Reed, a marketing professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, pointed out that such phrases are nothing new though. Previous examples include terms such as 'girlboss' and 'type A' and such words have served as 'a common language people can rally around.'.