Brain pickings: reflecting with our CEO about this 2020
It’s gone, it’s the end of 2020. Only the final hours remain of what felt as one of the fastest paced yet longest years I can recall. This year has been one that we will all remember, I have no doubt about it. It has been the living expression of a VUCA environment: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. It’s also been a catalyst for change, catapulting things towards what has now become “the new normal”. It’s been a lot.
And in the midst of it all, the idea of a project we had been flirting with and dreaming of for over a year kept growing and growing. Arion became reality.
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity”
— Albert Einstein
As the year closes we’ve been reflecting about this crazy journey. I’ve shared 3 key mantras we stand by in a previous article , practices we think will be key to welcoming 2021 reloaded and tackling challenges and opportunities effectively with our teams.
So what is this article all about? Truth be told, I couldn’t let the year come to an end without picking our CEO’s brain, and tormenting him a little bit with some questions. I’ve asked him to share with all of us some of his personal reflections on this particular year. A year of new beginnings for us, the birth of Arion and the building of new teams. Below are some key takeaways from the exchange I had with Martin:
The catalyst
As I mentioned Arion came to life in the middle of the COVID 19 crisis, so I wanted to revive what prompted him to pursue this challenge at such a time, and also what he considers has been the biggest challenge up to date.
“Great products really improve lives”
“Well, Arion has been in the making since last year. I guess the COVID crisis itself was the main catalyst of that idea. We understood almost immediately that the world was going to demand more software. And above all, better digital products that were truthfully customer centric and better conceived so that they may deliver results fast.
So, while this crisis is awful in so many ways, it was an opportunity to combine all the business knowledge that we have accumulated over the years with the belief that great products really improve lives.”
The challenge: singing the same song harmoniously and at the right tempo
“Of course, Arion being born in the pandemic did not come without serious challenges. Probably one of the toughest was to match the tune everybody was playing. Like tuning an orchestra to play the same piece harmoniously, at the right tempo. Aligning everything, understanding companies (allies and clients) and people (our teams and our clients) in terms of speed, expectations, fears and doubts; was especially challenging in a year that felt so uncertain. During this year we all had particular needs and worries… we could be singing the same song, but in different tempos.
It’s been hard but rewarding, I have no doubt that we’ve become stronger as we’ve learned and improved upon our final composition. I trust we will become even stronger as we foster really good relationships that we hope will flourish next year.”
Learning your own strengths and weaknesses. Fail quickly and learn even faster.
I asked Martin which insights he considered key, to which he replied that “this time was important to understand our own strengths and weaknesses.”
He has stated, continuously since day one, that one of our main objectives this year was to discover where we “leaked”. I think it is an effective image, as it implies finding where our joints weren’t as clean or strong as they should be to attack the problem and fix it quickly. This was a year of failing quickly and learning even faster, so we could grow to be prepared for even bigger challenges next year. I think this applies to anyone starting a new project. Taking the time to mindfully assess your weaknesses during your first year, investing that time and emotion, will surely pay up in the future.
Listen to advice, and learn to combine it with your own background knowledge.
“At the beginning, I decided to listen and accept advice from everybody, almost forgetting where we were coming from. Not only our origins, but good practices and knowledge. Then I realized that less is sometimes better. And I think we have learned to combine always valuable advice with our expertise. We can now see the magic happening.”
Gratitude above all
We are blessed to be starting a new journey in this tough year. And we are thankful for all the effort made by all those around us and the experience we’ve gathered. Martin also shared that he is grateful “for many things, but probably having the chance to make true positive impact through technology and digital products; along with working with very smart people that I consider my friends come on the top of the list.”
“Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you! But most importantly surround yourself with people who are as passionate in the same things as you are”
— Russel Simmons
I personally couldn’t agree more. Having the chance to work with smart people, and even better, collaborating with people smarter than you side by side is simply gratifying. It is a daily dose of growth, learning and pushing boundaries. Knowledge with a driving passion, to thrive, to push, to get to where you want, will move mountains.
What did you take away from your 2020? What are you passionate about? What are you excited about doing in 2021? Share it with us!
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