Put customers first. The company, team, and self (in a work context) are there to help customers.
Company, Team, Self
11–20 of 64 posts
Re: Company, Team, Self
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been in situations as a dev where I've figuratively screamed from the rafters "X is happening - we need to do ABC". It's almost universally ignored because "well, devs just like to do ABC! not happening this year... etc". No... I hate doing ABC. What's in my immediate interest is to quietly paper over problems, and pass them along to someone else. What's also in my interest longer term is the organization to fix…
This is a really common dynamic and I think it's an opportunity. Let's assume you are right, you are seeing some real threat and have a solution in mind. If others were "ready" to see it, they'd already see it on their own and you'd have nothing additional to offer. The reason your perspective is valuable is because you are seeing something others aren't, but it also by definition implies that they aren't ready to se…
This is something I really struggle with. I think this difference of perspective is one of my greatest strengths, but in the last few places I've been I ended up burning out trying to get others to see the same things.
Have you got any tips or advice for getting better at "persuasive education" or inspiring others to see the same things?
Re: Company, Team, Self
#13meta, metamates, me
Re: Company, Team, Self
#14It's always about incentive misalignment. As an employee thinking Company first will improve the bottom line for the company. As an executive thinking company first may well eliminate me as an employee. Why should an employee put the company interests above their own with that incentive alignment? The company should work to make the company's interests serve the individual interests of the employees
Yes. And may I suggest a simple method: have employees vote for executives Incentives align naturally when there is two way feedback
I suspect this would result in a lot of companies being run into the ground, as executives would focus on keeping employees happy at the cost of the business. "Vote for me, and everyone gets a raise and a bonus!"
When the interests of employees are put ahead of the success of the company, in the long run the employees end up losing because the company will fail, or at least need to lay people off.
Also, most employees simply aren't capable of understanding or judging executives more than a few levels above them. I'd hate to work somewhere where the junior devs get to pick the engineering directors, for example.
Re: Company, Team, Self
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a really common dynamic and I think it's an opportunity. Let's assume you are right, you are seeing some real threat and have a solution in mind. If others were "ready" to see it, they'd already see it on their own and you'd have nothing additional to offer. The reason your perspective is valuable is because you are seeing something others aren't, but it also by definition implies that they aren't ready to se…
This is something I really struggle with. I think this difference of perspective is one of my greatest strengths, but in the last few places I've been I ended up burning out trying to get others to see the same things. Have you got any tips or advice for getting better at "persuasive education" or inspiring others to see the same things?
It's not just you who struggles with this - it's a very hard thing to do even for those who do it a lot. The number one barrier is just recognizing that it's a thing and you can work on it and do consciously (and sounds like you did that, so that's already huge!)
In fact, what distinguishes executives is their experience, ability and willingness to get others to see and rally around a problem or goal - which is why I positioned this to the person I was responding to as an opportunity. If you can figure this out, your career (and life) unlocks to the next level.
Now to answer your question, some practical advice:
1. Most often, people conflate problems and solutions and just say "we should do X" without making the person first understand and agree that there's a problem to which X is a solution. So when you get pushback on X, is it because the other person doesn't think it's a good solution, or did you not even help them understand that there's a problem to begin with?
2. People often fail to evaluate whether problems are relevant, and to communicate that relevance. EG, have a solid answer to "who gives a fuck?" Like "this system is not well designed and I want to refactor it" - "who cares?". "This system is hard to work on, and we work on it all the time, so our feature delivery velocity is only half of what it could be" - now I am listening.
3. If you lost people, troubleshoot where you lost them. "You don't agree with my proposal to refactor the system, so I just wanted to double check if I had explained the problem well. To remind, do you agree that our feature velocity is slow? (yes/no) If yes, do you agree with me that the root cause of the slowness is the complexity/messiness of the underlying system? (yes/no) Do you agree that my proposal to refactor it will address it (yes/no) Do you just think now is not the time we can afford that investment (yes/no)." etc. Walk them slowly through the conversation, and if you ever get a "no" you didn't expect - dig into that. Is it because you didn't explain something, or because the person knows something you don't? It's not THAT different that debugging code, by trying to find the place where it disconnected from what you expect. But it takes time and confidence to stick with this process.
4. Write it down and have someone read it and tell you if you actually got the point across clearly. Writing things down helps me establish the logic to my intuition which is what enables me to do #3 better.
5. Realize this will never feel easy because it's hard, as long as you're trying and learning from the experience you're doing all you can be doing.
6. Take a class or read a book on negotiations (negotiations is just a process of understanding the other side's position as well as your own and talking through it in a way that finds a solution that works for both).
Good luck. Happy to answer anything else.
Re: Company, Team, Self
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the idea in the article is something like - by thinking company-first you can arrive at better outcomes for yourself in the long run. It's not about self sacrifice. Certainly all the good gains in my career happened as a consequence of achieving big things for the company, which I wouldn't have landed with me-first thinking.
Interesting. I think I have come out about the same but being rather self-serving, or at least not company first.. Doing something big for the company reflects well on me, improves my standing, and I can tout those achievements to others for other career growth. But I do make a point of working for companies where I think my own interests align with the role in the company
Me too. I've generally only worked in companies where I feel good about doing right for the company eventually finding its way back to my comp and role. If you don't work in a company like that (or don't feel like you do) then probably the approach recommended here doesn't make sense.
Re: Company, Team, Self
#17It's always about incentive misalignment. As an employee thinking Company first will improve the bottom line for the company. As an executive thinking company first may well eliminate me as an employee. Why should an employee put the company interests above their own with that incentive alignment? The company should work to make the company's interests serve the individual interests of the employees
Not sure I follow or just have contradicting experiences. Executive's personal bottom lines are usually tied to the Company's.
The company's goals are usually a derivative of customer goals. Why are Customers not considered?
Any ways, I like being individual focused, but we all work for this Company for a reason (interest?) and so we should probably just say something like; the company goals should be such that they can be reasonably accomplished with <100% of available resources, time and efforts. Leaving time for some independent individual development. Something like what Google theoretically did with their 80/20 policy. It's up to you to figure out what the right X/Y mix is.
Re: Company, Team, Self
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. And may I suggest a simple method: have employees vote for executives Incentives align naturally when there is two way feedback
I suspect this would result in a lot of companies being run into the ground, as executives would focus on keeping employees happy at the cost of the business. "Vote for me, and everyone gets a raise and a bonus!" When the interests of employees are put ahead of the success of the company, in the long run the employees end up losing because the company will fail, or at least need to lay people off. Also, most employee…
And that's the argument put forward in 1700s and 1800s for not extending the vote beyond those with land.
Maybe employees will make intelligent informed decisions about who is actually capable as an executive. Maybe they will make more effective decisions themselves if they have a greater say and commitment to the company.
Maybe not. Maybe we shall fall into totalitarian dystopias and the dream of universal suffrage will enter myth.
maybe
Re: Company, Team, Self
#19If it will put a penny in my pocket, I will burn a billion of my employer's dollars.
Re: Company, Team, Self
#20Problem is who gets to decide what is best for the company?
In many organisations most people may not have enough information to really know what is best for the whole organisation, even if they do have good ideas about their part.
And top executives often can't be trusted to act in the best interest of the company (rather than that of the shareholders, the stock market or themselves...). Short term vs longterm is also very imporant, the best way to make a quick buck today is often at odds with what is needed to remain relevant in 5 or 10 years.