Changing What Already Exists is Risky But It’s Worth It
When I decided to join a start-up company (not in the tech industry but in manufacturing) I knew things will be much disorganized compared to previous companies I worked for. There are no rules in place, no standard procedures or anything like that. It was basically starting from scratch. To most people I know that’s not a company you’d want to work for — it’s unstable. To me, it was a golden opportunity to create something new and fail and learn and improve. I really liked it. But what I didn’t like was my lack of control over the product’s design.
85% of my career experience revolves around Product Design. I figured I can use that experience to give me the authority to make changes in the product’s design but in most cases I can’t. Why? I don’t know the product well enough. Changing something means the product has a chance to either work better or fail. Since it’s a start-up, expenses are limited. Therefore we try to minimize the number of failures as much as possible.
But things went terribly wrong from previous projects (before my time). They’ve had a lot of unnecessary expenses. They blamed the person I replaced. I was eager to make changes as I understood why things failed. But I was stuck with the pre-existing procedures and designs. Why? Our sales person (who was also the previous owner of the product) believes that the pre-existing procedures and designs are fine the way they are — so why change it? And so, if there was someone to blame for the failures, it wouldn’t be the design of the product or the company’s current procedures — it would be the person applying those procedures.
I listened to a podcast with Seth Godin and he said something about doing things that could get you fired. No I’m not talking about taking a dump on your boss’s desk because that is just plainly wrong and disgusting. I’m talking about doing something innovative that COULD get you in trouble (due to the rules/procedures you will violate). And that’s what I did — I changed the design without asking for permission.
I was scared as shit during production because I wasn’t sure how things will turn out. I was ready to use the “Sorry I’m New Card” to justify my errors and mistakes. But I was so glad that things turned out well. Our sales person even complimented me with the change I’ve made in the product’s design. That risky action I took just gave me another ticket to make more changes — to do something different that may violate existing rules but may also improve what already exists.
I wanted to make more of these changes, changes that I wasn’t able to do when I was constrained by standard procedures — changes that matter. In most cases, we complain about the current system because we know a more efficient way of doing things. Problem is, none of our superiors listen. And that’s frustrating. That’s the challenge you need to overcome to stand out of the herd:
Are you going to leave things the way they are?
Are you going to keep finding ways to make the change you desire?
Are you going to quit instead and move to a company that better suits your preference?
Either or works. Your choice.
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