Working at a rapidly growing company is an exciting and fortunate position to be in. When the revenue is flowing in from new clients, you find yourself unshackled from many of the restrictions of a smaller startup, and the decision tree of how to approach a particular problem rapidly expands to a dizzying array of paths, each leading to an ideal similar outcome. As you grow, expand your team, and formalize your processes, you inevitably land on a set of preferred tools and tactics on how to manage work. Comfort sets in, and you become accustomed to your preferred style – and then, change happens.
Earlier this year, my employer acquired another healthcare data vendor which had been a long-time partner of ours in arming the consumer masses with cost and quality data on healthcare providers. The relationship was truly symbiotic, and during that partnership our teams routinely collaborated on projects and kept a steady stream of bi-directional feedback in place. In my opinion, it was our best and most vital partnership across the company. However, when the acquisition was complete and we started to integrate our data teams, we were faced with a new question: what are the similarities and differences in how each organization prioritizes and manages work?
The contrast was apparent from the onset: one team uses Trello and Basecamp to manage projects, while the other uses Azure DevOps; one group uses Agile to manage development sprints, and the other uses a looser version of the Shape Up methodology; one team has several virtual stand-ups throughout the week, and the other prefers a more asynchronous approach with long-form written communication – the list goes on. To make the transition more challenging, it became quickly apparent that both approaches were working extremely well for each team. On a scale of 1 to Clayton Christensen, I wanted the transition disruption to be minimal to a department that literally doubled in size overnight.
Easier said than done.
Humans are stubborn creatures, myself included, and we tend to succumb to the gravity of comfort, even when we preach from the leadership pulpit of "keeping one foot out of our comfort zones at all times". In the buildup to the re-org announcement, I found myself instinctively plotting for how to best consolidate tools, unify our approach to managing work, and ensuring the same agendas were used for 1-on-1s. After more than a decade of spending 8+ hours a day streamlining processes, my brain is simply hard-wired for that directive, and switching it off is a muscle with a high degree of atrophy that finally needed some exercise. In a quiet moment of humility, it didn't take long to realize that consolidation – when pursued for all the wrong reasons – can quickly turn to subjugation, which is pretentious at best and toxic at worst. It was time to short-circuit the hard-wired chip.
One of the most consistent pieces of feedback I give aspiring new professionals is direct and simple: listen, learn, and build trust with your team. Such advice is easy when projecting from a leadership role to direct reports, but you quickly find out where the needle sits on your humility meter when you need to fully embrace your own advice. This change to our company is exciting and adds an amazing team of individuals to the mix, and I've had to resist the urge to go Fast and Furious on the everyone manages work *this* way quarter-mile. I've recognized that changing the style of a team's work should always come secondary to first learning why each team has embraced their particular style in the first place. Besides, there's a 100% chance that I actually need to be the one to change in at least one aspect of my own style.
Time to follow my own advice: listen, learn, and build trust.
Earlier this year, my employer acquired another healthcare data vendor which had been a long-time partner of ours in arming the consumer masses with cost and quality data on healthcare providers. The relationship was truly symbiotic, and during that partnership our teams routinely collaborated on projects and kept a steady stream of bi-directional feedback in place. In my opinion, it was our best and most vital partnership across the company. However, when the acquisition was complete and we started to integrate our data teams, we were faced with a new question: what are the similarities and differences in how each organization prioritizes and manages work?
The contrast was apparent from the onset: one team uses Trello and Basecamp to manage projects, while the other uses Azure DevOps; one group uses Agile to manage development sprints, and the other uses a looser version of the Shape Up methodology; one team has several virtual stand-ups throughout the week, and the other prefers a more asynchronous approach with long-form written communication – the list goes on. To make the transition more challenging, it became quickly apparent that both approaches were working extremely well for each team. On a scale of 1 to Clayton Christensen, I wanted the transition disruption to be minimal to a department that literally doubled in size overnight.
Easier said than done.
Humans are stubborn creatures, myself included, and we tend to succumb to the gravity of comfort, even when we preach from the leadership pulpit of "keeping one foot out of our comfort zones at all times". In the buildup to the re-org announcement, I found myself instinctively plotting for how to best consolidate tools, unify our approach to managing work, and ensuring the same agendas were used for 1-on-1s. After more than a decade of spending 8+ hours a day streamlining processes, my brain is simply hard-wired for that directive, and switching it off is a muscle with a high degree of atrophy that finally needed some exercise. In a quiet moment of humility, it didn't take long to realize that consolidation – when pursued for all the wrong reasons – can quickly turn to subjugation, which is pretentious at best and toxic at worst. It was time to short-circuit the hard-wired chip.
One of the most consistent pieces of feedback I give aspiring new professionals is direct and simple: listen, learn, and build trust with your team. Such advice is easy when projecting from a leadership role to direct reports, but you quickly find out where the needle sits on your humility meter when you need to fully embrace your own advice. This change to our company is exciting and adds an amazing team of individuals to the mix, and I've had to resist the urge to go Fast and Furious on the everyone manages work *this* way quarter-mile. I've recognized that changing the style of a team's work should always come secondary to first learning why each team has embraced their particular style in the first place. Besides, there's a 100% chance that I actually need to be the one to change in at least one aspect of my own style.
Time to follow my own advice: listen, learn, and build trust.