How to start

How we start, matters. We know how important it is to design endings, but how much time and attention do we pay to designing our own beginnings? Sure, your company may have an on boarding program, but have you thought about how you manage yourself in a new position?

I wrestle with these questions on a daily basis. I’m three months into starting NOBL in London, and many of our clients—from COO’s to newly formed teams—are also starting fresh. Yet when you google “what to consider when starting a new role,” most of the advice is focused on what clothes you decide to wear. Regardless of seniority or role, here are three lessons I’ve found helpful as I settle in:

Conventional wisdom: Make a good impression quickly.

Reality: Focus on getting feedback on your native work.

We’ve all read about the importance of proving our value in the first 100 days. (Yes, this is more important for presidents than it is for you and me—it helps me to remind myself I’m not a brain surgeon, and if I mess up, nobody actually dies.) In the beginning, it’s vital you spend your time doing the actual work, rather than showing your team you are doing the work. This bias towards action even over perception management is hard: your imposter syndrome may be running high while your psychological safety (the belief that it’s safe to take risks in front of the rest of the team) is low. But remember, the leaders chose you and want to trust you. Try…

• Building one strong relationship. One way you can kick start this is to have regular 1:1’s with at least one person in your team so you can build trust, get feedback, and truly understand the value you are adding.
• Seeking positive stories. As humans, our bias is towards the negative, so we need to purposefully seek out stories that contradict the unhelpful stories we’re telling ourselves. Ask yourself what advice you would give someone with your track record, network and experience.

Conventional Wisdom: Find the problems that need solving

Reality: Resist the temptation to become the “fixer”  (aka. The Mighty Mouse)

All organisations are full of broken systems, unhelpful behaviours, and peculiar norms. Yes, even those teams with shiny Instagram accounts and motivational posters. When you join a new team, you see ways to make things better everywhere you look. You want to make meetings better, try out a new CRM tool, and move offices all at once. This is actually a great thing, and likely part of the reason you were hired. Ultimately, though, everyone has limited time and energy, so it runs the risk of distracting you from your primary job. Worse, you may come off as dismissing the work that has gone before you by others who’ve tried to fix these things. You need a method to work through these messes. Try...

• Starting with one experimental change. Adopt an ownership mindset. If you don’t like something, propose a new way and try it out! Granted, this is much easier in some cultures than others, but it’s your job to find something in your reach that you can positively impact. This might be inviting the team to lunch once a month, or making sure there is a sanitary bin in the toilets.
• Honouring the past. It’s important to recognize and acknowledge what the team accomplished before you got there and started changing things. In fact, the best way to get people to revolt is by changing a bunch of things without getting to know the job first. Ask yourself, “how can I better understand and honour the existing efforts to fix these problems?”

Conventional Wisdom: Only learn the “new company” way

Reality: Find the sweet spot between how your new company does things and what you already know.

When I ask people about their new role and how they are spending their time, I often hear phrases like “learning the ropes” or “getting up to speed.” Or in other words: “I’m feeling overwhelmed by the number of new things I have to learn, understand, and have a point of view on.” This is not a mindset that will serve you well, regardless of how long you’ve been part of a team. Try:

• Playing to your strengths. Focus on what you’ve done, what you know, and what you’re best at. Then, combine this with the context of your new role. Why? In the early days, self-confidence is crucial. We can get lost in not knowing the history of every client, the detail of every process, the nuance of each product and service. I’m here to tell you it’s very likely that you know enough to start the work. And don’t worry: business-critical information will always have a way of finding you.
• Accepting you’ll never know everything. It’s ok to not know. Unfortunately, we humans aren’t good at admitting that we don’t have all the answers! The desire for information and knowledge is very strong, so we put blocks between us and the hard work we need to do. In the future, instead of thinking “I can’t write that product roadmap yet because I’ve not met X requirement or read the paper on Y,” think, “I’m going to put together a shitty first draft based on what I know and share it with others to get feedback.”

As I wrap up this phase of work and get ready to start a new year with my new team, I’m reminding myself to stay helpfully naive, continue experimenting, and be the voice that helps my team stay focused on the change we want to create in the world. What's the one thing you will remind yourself to do as the new year begins?

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