Being Big!

A post i have written for Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group.

My attempts at intentionally transferring some of my learnings from a workshop to workplace.

http://blog.kjcg.com/?p=273

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Sourav

So! What Exactly Is Different?

What is different? You have been here for sometime. How do you experience this place differently?

These are questions i have been frequently asked over last few months. 

At times I have wondered ´things maybe different but why is that important´.

When I had come in here I was clear that what´s I experience differently would just be classified as something that is different. 

I joined here with a mindset ´What´s different would be classified as something that´s just different. I won´t put a ´like´ or ´dislike´ tag against it´.  

Have I been successful in living up to my initial thoughts?  Well, Yes and No! It has not been a trouble free journey. But overall I do think I have been comfortable with non-judgmental hat I have chosen to worn.

But then experience has been different in parts.   What have these perceived ´differences´ been?

Initially, obvious ´visible´ differences struck me - Dress people wear to work, absence of formal work timings, preference for emails over phones, focus on punctuality (meetings starting/stopping on time- well, not always!), usage of quite succinct and sometimes unique terms (program manager, rhythm, decks, etc), prevalence of ´lunch meetings´, etc. 

Over last few months, I´ve had deeper realizations and insights. Am I done yet? I am not sure whether I can be ever done. I feel I am peeling off layers of an onion. I´ve peeled off a few layers. It has taken me sometime to do so. I´ve seen some visuals but then I realize those visuals itself might change tomorrow. There are a number of layers yet to be peeled.

Here are some visuals/realizations/insights I have had till now:

• Quarter Focus - I do perceive urgency in meetings and at work to meet metrics for current quarter.  This  quarter focus seems to be a double edged sword. It  does seem to keep everyone on their toes but most of focus of work is current quarter.  What in our work are we doing today for the long term (even the next quarter)? Balancing my daily work around areas that have immediate impact and areas that have slightly longer term impact does seem to be a ´tension´ I have to manage. Do I see everyone around me focusing on or being able to manage the same? Well! Yes and No!

• Metrics, Scorecards – I do perceive a focus on meeting scorecards (mostly quantitative). This focus is prevalent in HR areas too, including ones traditionally considered ´soft´ and not amenable to quantitative measurement. The principle ´what gets measured gets done´ certainly does hold true here. But there are times I observe a seeming neglect on what might be important but is not a part of the scorecard (probably because it is too behavioral/soft to be quantitatively scored).  I have perceived this organization as one that runs on scorecards.  I see challenge as ´Can we make these scorecards more encompassing? Can important qualitative metrics, that measure subtle and soft HR areas be included in scorecards too?´ I do sense we have distance to travel in this area.

• Listening and Expressing-  I sometimes observe an impatience to express oneself.  But when everyone wants to express, who listens?  I smile to myself when I hear the oft made statement ´I´ve heard you but…´.  I am tempted to ask in return ´What have you heard…?´ J.  I wonder whether the ´quarter focus´ leads to this phenomenon.  I like listening and I express in my own way.

• Disagreements and Feedback – Sometimes I realize that someone is disagreeing with me but is not saying so in so many words. The first few times I experienced something like this, I was left feeling confused. Over a period of time I have started sensing when someone is possibly disagreeing with me, even if s/he was not expressing so. I wonder whether our focus on being Respectful to each other gets probably misperceived by some as not expressing disagreements with each other. I also see this manifested in some groups where there is an aversion to having ´crucial conversations´, disagreeing, and providing critical feedback. Does it mean that individuals are not provided feedback? Sooner or later they are given feedback. Are they taken by surprise in such cases? Yes!  Do they like such a surprise? No! What has my response been? Well, when I have disagreed I have put my point forth. But I have tried to be respectful to the other person too. We can be respectful while disagreeing too.

• Confidence – I sense there is importance attached with projecting ´confidence´.  I find pockets where employees are mature to understand the implication of such a focus. I find other pockets where employees seem to misunderstand focus. In these pockets projecting confidence seems to be equated to not being perceived wrong and need to have immediate answers/solution to any situation. I remember something I had heard a long time back ´The 3 most difficult things to say in an organization are I don´t know, I am sorry, and I need help´.

• Channels of Communication – I initially perceived that it this was an email driven organization.  But then over a period of time I have observed subtle nuances too. I quite often hear ´I´ve heard about you …´. There are times when people come back and say ´Give me a call if you want to talk … ´So emails do work but I also perceive the need for ´high-contextual´ means of communication.  I sometimes wonder ´what is comfort of some of our employees with low contextual means of communication?´ This does seem to be an area of focus. Additionally I do perceive unsaid rules about who gets talked to and for what.  So yes, need for both ´high context´ and ´low context´ means of communication seems to co-exist here.

• Rhythm – I have talked about this before too.  I like the delineation of what´s in rhythm of business and what´s not. It provides a relevant yardstick to remind us whether we are working enough in taking the business to next level.  But are we fully understanding and utilizing this delineation? I think we could do more.

• Multiple Cultures/Group Norms – Is there a common overarching culture here? I perceive various sub-cultures across different businesses even within same geography.  Meeting norms (when do meetings get called and for what,  what gets discussed in meetings, what´s pre-work expected before meetings), email norms (what kind of emails with larger group get exchanged,  what gets responded to, speed of response), inter-personal norms (how frequently do people talk to each other and for what, what gets acknowledged/recognized, etc) seems to vary a bit across teams.  I am reminded of onions again. There are different onions. In many ways they are same but in some ways (maybe taste, smell, or looks) they are a bit different from each other.

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Sourav