The Friday Recap: Making new Patterns

When I was contemplating how to end this week I realized that instead of diving into another technical topic I personally would get more benefit by looking back over the week.  It's always important to move down the road when you are working on goals, but if you do not stop to look behind you how can you appreciate where you have been?  For that reason, I plan to use Friday as a moment to reflect on where we came from.

This last week was a week of change.  It was the first week I started blogging.  It was the first week I was truly serious about changing the direction I will go professionally.  This week I decided it was time to truly forge a path and lead.  It is time to make new patterns in how I think and act and hopefully in how I inspire all of you.

Just like some of the topics this week circled around making decisions about what tools to use or even on what overall data strategy to pick, everything starts with creating a new pattern.  But new patterns are scary (especially for those who love a safe routine).  So what do we do?  We cannot just sit down and expect someone to do this for us.  Here are a few suggestions.

Be Realistic

Are we really going to scale Mount Everest this week?  Does that mean you should not make it a goal to get to the top?  Absolutely not, but we have to realize our limitations.  Maybe your organization is not agile enough to implement your overall data strategy in a quarter or even a year so what can you do?  

  • Make a master list: Every strategy has steps so make a list.  If you are focusing on building out a data fabric do you have the project management under control so that you can see how your individual business units are progressing toward that goal?  Do you have the right catalog tool to gather, track, and update business and technical metadata?  Figure out the steps you will need to get to your summit and write them down.
  • Prioritize, Prioritize, and then Prioritize again:  This step will absolutely drive you mad.  You will think you have considered all the right people, business processes, and current staff skill levels, and someone or something will turn that all upside-down.  Do not let this step freeze you in your tracks.  Go in knowing that this will change and build that expectation within yourself and your team.  As long as we are taking action we are moving forward so lets go!
  • Make a decision:  This cannot be emphasized enough. Changing or creating new patterns requires you to make a decision and start taking action.  Pick that vendor that fits as well as possible.  Get that software that fills most of your needs.  Depend on that team to want to get you to your goal.  Lead the charge in a way that they can see by making the hard choices and moving forward.  Inspire them to follow you by demonstrating that you can push through the fog of indecision and put the group on a path.
  • Advertise, Advertise, Advertise:  This is the most important step.  How can you hold yourself accountable to make the change if you do not let people know what the change is?  And not just your senior management team.  Once you have your list prioritized and you know what steps you are going to take get the team involved.  Show them the master list and then let them see what part they play in the individual tasks that follow.  Keep them informed on the progress.  Let them see what their contribution is adding to the whole.  Inspire them to move one step closer to the final strategy together with you.

Track your pattern with the end game in view

We know where we want to go and we know the steps it is going to take to get there.  We are set, right?  Problem solved no more worries?  If that was a true statement this world would be a much different place.  The fact is we have to monitor our progress to see if we are getting closer to the end goal.  So what should we be looking for?

  • Will we fail?:  The short answer is yes.  In some way, we will fail something on our list of tasks.  Did we hit our expected date, maybe not.  Did a technical issue cause us to have to change or even scrap a task?  It will happen.  The important thing is to focus on the end game.  Did these "failures" make it impossible to get to that target?  Probably not.  There are always workarounds.  That is true in business and in life.  You have to change your definition of failure not try to avoid failure.  Instead of viewing failure as a cliff view it as a detour.  An opportunity to take in more scenery as you find a different way to get to your goal.  Yes it is true that it will take you longer to get to where you want to go but that does not mean you are not going to get there. Change your definition of failure, change how your team views failure, and you will inspire your team to be agile and the momentum will not stop.
  • Celebrate success:  Expect failure and elevate the wins.  It sounds like a ton of management 101 nonsense.  A no brainer statement but unfortunately when we have the wrong idea of failure our attention and energy is usually spent where there are problems.  Yes there will be issues but you as a leader have to spend as much time if not more acknowledging how your team navigated around them.  This is the second part of showing trust in your team.  Yes you let them figure out how to get over the issue to check off something on the list, but did you truly let the team know how they moved you closer to the summit?  I am not talking about sending out an email, though that would be a nice extra touch.  You need to do something for them on a personal level.  Maybe bring in a lunch every quarter to bring them together and review the wins.  How about bringing in small groups of your team who worked on parts of your strategy and personally acknowledged what they did.  Use details about their tasks and their individual roles to show that you care about them personally.  When they know that you consider them as a person you will be shocked at the lengths they will go in the next crisis.     
At the end of the day new is always scary.  After you have decided to make a new pattern in your life the follow through can be difficult.  If you are doing this inside a business there are even more ramifications to consider.  That should not stop you.  These new patterns, habits, or business processes can bring great benefits so do not hesitate to make that decision.  Turn your team in the direction needed to get there and go.  Take the detours as they come and enjoy the wins you will have along the way.  Before you realize it you will need new goals as you stand on the summit you were trying scale.

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