Theme.
Founders often find themselves agonising whether to change or to stick on course. How do we know when to stick or twist?
Seen.
Smash and grab
Some organisations have done brilliantly well in the past year. We've worked with some like this.
A number of teams have recently started to question some of the processes the founders have put in place: Planned 90 day sprints, weekly and daily meetings. "We're smashing it, so do we really need to keep doing all those things?"
It can be especially hard to know whether to stick or twist when things are good. After all, if it ain't broke...?
It would be easy to respond with assumption.
If these processes are part of what created the success isn't it madness to abandon them? Even more reason to do so, surely?
Equally, if these processes have done their job it's surely better to put full focus on getting on with it?
The best way we saw this handled was to turn it into a conversation engaging the whole team. What was it about these processes that are causing them to question? If they're not adding value, what needs to change?
Read.
Baby steps
We love James Clear's newsletter and this one,
"The most reliable way to change your life is not by changing your entire life. If you try to change everything all at once, you'll quickly find yourself pulled back into the same patterns as before.
"If you merely focus on changing one specific habit and work on it until it becomes part of your normal day, you will find your life changes naturally as a side effect. Improving the whole thing, by mastering one thing."
Although applied individually, we know so many founders who want to change everything all at the same time.
And sometimes a revolution is needed. But this requires big investment of your team's change tolerance. Few businesses can sustain performance in perpetual revolution.
Evolution is generally lower risk, more reliable and more likely to work long term.
So maybe the learn is to evolve always: make it your business as usual. Revolt rarely, and only if you must.
Learned.
Phone tag
This week's learn stems from a business in conflict.
Younger team members, especially during the pandemic, communicated constantly through online chat.
Older team members, preferred speaking person to person.
The older team members (in strategic roles) felt chat systems removed context and texture from conversations. How could a relationship grow through text alone?
The younger team members (in task based roles) felt the constant desire to talk to each was inefficient and poor use of time. A chat message can be ignored and dealt with when you choose. A phone call demands immediate attention.
The older team members were more senior roles and were at the point of simply insisting that the younger team members start working in their way - using the phone more and chat less.
They debated long and hard about whether they should do this. Was this a competence question? Were the older team member simply not competent at using technology to communicate?
Equally were the younger team members missing out learning how to communicate in this way.
In the outcome was a company constitution, put together by selected representatives of each team.
They decided that older team members would learn to use chat tools for task based communication. Younger team members would put in a phone call if there was conflict or a decision to be made. This worked for them.
It reminded us: it can be super important to make time to communicate about communication.
And finally.
We do like a quote, so we'd thought we'd end with one from American writer Washington Irving,
"There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse.
I have found in travelling in a stage coach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in a new place." Good luck with your stick and twist decision!
Don’t forget to check out the accompanying podcast version of #founderhacks for a tantalising live experience of team atomex!
