Stop Doing Your Job

Today, August 11th 2016, marks my 2 year anniversary at my current company — a tech start up in London. 2 years, I've been told, is a long time at one company in an era where young guns are constantly changing environments. The reason for my so called longevity is mainly down to the amount I am learning — I almost see my time here as a paid MBA.

But what have I learnt about the start up community? As I list the reasons in my head during my Thameslink commute, all the points come down to one thing — being a CHAMELEON.

YOUR JOB TITLE ISN’T YOUR JOB

During my time here, I have had 3 job titles. All 3 of them are a loose representation of what I actually do day to day. I started off in a sales position, but this in reality was sales, marketing, customer service with the traditional start up pinch of firefighting. The ability to adapt to a new process is at first daunting, but that’s exactly what a chameleon does — they adapt to their surroundings and give it their best shot of fitting in.

DON’T EXPECT THE EXPECTED

The rumours of start up life are surrounded with coffee, creative meetings and table tennis. This is bullpoop. Working in a start up brings with it more bi-polar feelings than you can imagine. One day you’ve achieved the impossible, the next day everything has fudged up. Like any jobs, it does come with perks: wearing casual clothes, having more responsibility and even bagels on Tuesdays. But working in a start up is incredibly tough and hard work — like the chameleon, when times get hard, you must adapt and sit in.

DON’T DO YOUR JOB

As my first point suggests, just because you think you know your role, it doesn’t mean you do it every day. If you see an opportunity to try something that could potentially help the company, do it. If it’s not within your capability, tell (or ask) someone of capability to do it. The worst thing a new start up employee can do is limit themselves to just their daily activities. You may as well be working for the Magic Circle as another cog in the corporate wheel. Challenge yourself everyday and like the chameleon does, change your colour every now and then — implement diverse strategies and techniques. If you’re in product design, listen to how your sales team speak and maybe use their language in your design. If you’re selling the product, why not speak to marketing and try to implement the products “voice” in your pitch.

So there we have it. These aren’t “Alex’s 3 Points to a Successful Start Up Career”. But these are just observations from my personal viewpoint. Others may have had completely different experiences. If you have, then why not let me know about it by HITTING THE HEART AND SHARING YOUR VIEWS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.