Don’t focus on Impact: Be impactful instead
Focussing on impact is the single biggest mantra for success at Facebook. I want to present a tangential approach to impact, based on my own learnings.
All impact must be quantifiable — this is a commonly accepted truth in corporate appraisals. Well sure, the outcomes of specific projects should be quantifiable/measurable, however there is a difference between creating impact and being impactful. The 10 behaviors listed below should help you be impactful, which in turn would lead you to create impact.The advice is nothing new, but out of all the self-development tips available, these have worked for me the best.
- Solve the whole problem, not just your problem
When solving any problem, think about all stakeholders who might be involved in the problem you are tackling. Lay out the process end-to-end — trace back upstream and trace forward downstream. Then think about a complete solution and bring all stakeholders on the table to discuss and implement. With this approach, I often find myself working on big, impactful projects with multiple cross-functional stakeholders.
2. Spend more time with people who will hold to your a higher standard
You are the average of the 5 people you spend most time with. If you want to feel challenged and break your own ceilings, find people who are better than you in your area of interest and spend time with them. Here’s a nice article I read on this topic.
3. Show initiative
A typical conversation I have observed:
X: “I saw this issue, and its a problem. We need to solve it.”
Manager: “Thanks for bringing this to my attention. What do you think we should do?”
X: “Oh… ummm, I don’t know, I’ll think about it. But we definitely need to solve it.”
It’s nice to surface problems and most high performers do that, but that’s not enough. Try to bring a solution. It may not be a great solution, heck it may be a terrible solution, but have-a-solution. Its a great way to build trust. Check out the helpfulness index below. Also, refer the first point again for developing solutions.
4. Take ownership
Have you noticed a problem? Well, congratulations! Now it’s your problem. Show ownership by making sure the issue gets resolved. If there is dependency on someone else, be relentless in your follow ups till the problem is solved. Doesn’t matter who is “supposed” to solve it, doesn’t matter if its “not your job”. Fix it or get it fixed.
5. Meet your commitments
Never be on the receiving end of this statement — “hey remember that thing that you were supposed to do by this date, well that date already passed and we are all still waiting”. NEVER EVER be that person if you want to build your credibility. An ok performer who consistently delivers on commitment is 10x better than an awesome performer who leaves people hanging.
6. Convince stakeholders by building proofs of concept
This is a recent learning for me, but building a proof of concept (PoC) or minimum viable product (MVP) goes a really long way in drafting stakeholders to your cause. If you have the skills, build a small prototype; if not, build some wireframes/mockups. Text doesn’t work, powerpoint doesn’t work. The person you are trying to convince, needs to be able to visualize the future you are proposing.
7. Sharpen the saw
Its quite easy to become complacent and comfortable in your area of work. Therefore, it is extremely important to make extra effort to continuously stay updated on the latest in your field — meet the right people, read the right books, attend the right meetings, take the right courses, join online forums — figure out what you need and keep building your skills.
8. Manage your time
This is a huge topic, with tons of books and online material if you need help, but I will keep it short. Someone once asked Mark about his top tips for managing time and prioritization, and he had this to say — my job is to run the company and not let the company run me. This applies to everyone — be the master of your schedule, not the victim of it.
My personal favorite — I use my calendar to schedule time for all big and small tasks (not just meetings), I review and tweak it frequently but I mostly stick to that schedule. I aim to get to a point where if something is not on my calendar, it doesn’t exist for me.
9. Know the business
I am not sure whether everyone will agree, but I like to stay abreast of the latest on the product and business side of Facebook —even though those are not directly related to my area of work. Its always good to follow the latest news and information about the business of your company. I feel this just helps me put things in perspective and expands my thinking beyond my immediate responsibilities. Sometimes this approach also throws up interesting collaboration opportunities.
10. Also, know your business
Have a 360 view of what is happening in your area of work. Ask your manager, ask your peers, access online repositories — whatever it takes. There is no excuse for not knowing. Know who is working on projects that might impact you, talk to those people if possible, know what is the status of progress and exactly how is it going to affect your work. There is immense opportunity to collaborate at the early stages.
So those are my 10 tips to be impactful! I have tried to include things that you can start implementing right now. I hope you found some of it useful.
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If you have any feedback on content, writing style or relevance, please do share. If you tried something from the list above, I would love to know how it went!
Thank you for reading!
