Tag: team work

Systems

FabrizioLeave a comment

In the urgency of now, we often make the mistake of looking at systems as if they were uniform and uncomplicated.

Technology increases the chances of such a misunderstanding. We are led to believe that tools and apps magically solve incredible problems as we look at their success ex post, failing to consider the various factors that have contributed to it, or the pains they have brought about, or the multiple reiteration they had to go through.

And so, nowadays, when we have a system that does not work, or that could work better, we usually look at technology for the solution.

The problem is that by doing so we focus our attention on a manifestation of what is going.

Change rarely starts at a superficial level. The only way to make it effective is to start from the roots of the problem, moving gradually horizontally and laterally, preparing for what is about to happen and managing the different circumstances.

There is nothing magic in such a process.

Genuine help

FabrizioLeave a comment

There is a profound difference between asking “Do you need help?” and showing up with the tools, the mindset, the preparedness to roll up your sleeves and genuinely help.

It is today

FabrizioLeave a comment

When you are a founder or a co-founder at a startup, you ARE a leader.

You might be inexperienced and you might also be not so happy about it. But that is no excuse to not own your responsibilities towards the people in your team. It is no excuse to treat them poorly, to pressure them with your stress, to not be transparent, to act like a friend and like a baby in two consecutive interactions, to shout and lose your temper, to not provide vision and guidance, to be bossy and micro-managing, to pretend people’s growth and development will magically happen.

There’s plenty of help to be sought out there. Coaching, training, consulting, mentoring. Reach out to somebody and let them help you.

You might not feel like a leader today, but it is today you have to start becoming one.

Relationships over ideas

FabrizioLeave a comment

Start something new with a relationship, not with an idea.

Whether it’s a new job or a new project, a new role or a new country, a new company or a new responsibility. Identify the ones who own a stake in what you are going to do, sit with them, and listen. Gather their problems, their expectations, their motivators, their goals, their ambitions. Be friendly and genuinely interested.

With this knowledge, you can shape the work in a way that serves a real purpose. At the very least, you will have found supporters and sponsors for what will come next.

We think we know

FabrizioLeave a comment

We think we know, and we know nothing.

We think we know how other people feel, think, prioritise, decide.

We think we know the full picture of the situation we are in.

We think we know what’s important, what matters, what everyone should be focused on.

We think we know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and next week, and next month.

We think we know the consequences of our choices on ourselves and others.

We think we know the answer to the question, and the question no one is asking.

We think we know how others see us.

We think we know how we feel, think, prioritise, decide.

And we know nothing.

Accept this simple fact, and you’ll be free.