Dasco @ Here for you

Manager readme for Head of Software Applications and Development @ nibTravel

Hi!

First and foremost, if you’re reading this it’s likely that you’ve made it into our team @ nib Travel. Welcome! It’s great that you’re here and if you’ve made it through the door and sitting in our offices, my assumption is that you must be great. I’ve written this document to be upfront and clearly highlight to you (and everyone I work with) my expectations, what I value, how I like to operate and how I tend to see things. Its the quickest way to know me from the outset, but I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to know each other in your time here. Use this as a key insight towards me helping me help you, keeping me accountable to my commitments and to form that awesome working relationship we should both be striving towards.

Disclaimer: This only applies to me — don’t expect the same from other leaders/managers within our org.

My name

First thing’s first — everyone — and by everyone, even my parents, calls me by my last name — Dasco. My actual first name is Mark — but there’s too many of those and my brain has been wired since primary school to listen out for “Dasco”. So call me Dasco, otherwise you might get a blank stare.

My Role

I head up Software Applications and Development here @ nib travel. It’s my job to ensure that the bespoke IT systems that we build are great and that the people that are working with and building them are happy. So basically, the following things can keep me up at night:

1. Do we have clear context and organisational clarity in the things we do?
2. Are our systems up to scratch and best of breed?
3. Can we attract the best talent? And once here — are we, productive, engaged and proud of the work we are producing?

That’s pretty much it. Simple — Right? Can’t be that hard :-). In all cases I know we may not be in an ideal state for the above, but a lot of what drives me is continuously improving and learning towards a target state. It’s my job to work with you on how and when we’re going to get there.

Feedback for me

If I’m failing at the above , you need to tell me ASAP, and better yet — directly. I’m a big boy with big boy pants, I like feedback to be straight up, brutal and honest. If I do something that negatively impacts our ability to keep you engaged or I’m directing instead of setting context, you need to tell me. The sooner the better. It’s important from the outset to know that I serve you, not the other way around, without the team I achieve nothing — it’s in my best interest to help you succeed otherwise I pretty much fail.

Your Role and my expectations

My assumption is that you are good at what you do and that is why you’re in that role. For the most part, it should be me ensuring you have context on what we want to achieve and you telling me what we need to do. Of course, I will validate that against mental models I’ve drawn for myself and I would not be doing my job if I didn’t challenge you. Whilst I do come from a very technical background, and love geeking out over hard problems, I try to stay out of how we implement solutions and the finer details. If we’ve come up with the wrong solution it’s primarily because I haven’t given enough context to the problem.

I may at times challenge you to provide options and solutions to problems you’re highlighting, this is because I want to encourage you to develop the skills to find the solutions for yourself and frankly it’s very rare that I will have all the answers. In these interactions, let’s be clear: we don’t have to agree to be unified. Ideas don’t get better or worse just because I agree with them or not. Often I can disagree with you but I can still be prepared to commit to your recommendation. I have zero problems being constantly proven wrong if the right outcomes are met. If you need guidance, try to ask for it as explicitly and as directly as possible. If I’m not comfortable — you’ll notice I’ll ask more questions. If you feel very strongly about something, you do NOT need to gain my agreement or approval — just do it! I’ll find a way to back you up when it matters. Don’t mistake this for a blank cheque, I still demand and expect the application of sound reasoning and good judgement behind your convictions.

Work/Life Harmony and Autonomy

I’m a big proponent of work/life harmony, it’s not a trade off for me — work is a big part of my life. Provided I have internet connectivity I am ALWAYS available — slack me and I will get back to you. Unless it’s an emergency, in which case I’ll likely call, I certainly do not expect you to respond to emails or slack outside of core hours. As long as it’s not getting in the way of team dynamics and team goals, from my perspective you are free to work in areas/locations and the times most suitable to you.

Principles and Values I hold dear

1. Commitment and Hard work — once committed I’m pretty much all in. I may have an inferiority complex in that I don’t think I’m particularly more intelligent than the average person, but with time and effort I believe I can excel at anything I apply myself to. I am a firm believer in the “growth mindset” and for me it is enabled primarily through failure and effort.
2. Good Judgement — I want to make the right calls more often than the wrong ones. I do tend towards action and you’ll typically hear me ask “what’s the worst thing that can happen?” My actions are typically guided by facts, criteria and logical reasoning.
3. Teams and the collective systems — If I’m not doing it for the team, then I’m doing it wrong. My logical starting point is at the team and systems level — less so on individuals, this doesn’t mean I don’t care about you — it just means I care about the team more. I like to think of how our teams, groups and systems fit and work together cohesively. Please work with me to eliminate areas of friction.
4. Open book — What you see is what you get, I endeavor to be as candid and as frank about things as possible. I do not play politics, I do not have any hidden agendas beyond getting through our commitments as a team, and challenging ourselves to continuously improve. A straight question will often be met with a straight answer.
5. Fun — If we’re not having fun, we’re not doing it right.

Some Quirks

I’m actually quite introverted: Impromptu conversations or large gatherings don’t come all that naturally to me. My default is to get my point across and I typically don’t have the fluff around the stuff. Sometimes, I just may not have much to say or I may struggle to express or communicate an idea or a concept in a different way. When I say aaaanyways or you catch me humming, it means I’ve run out of things to say on that particular topic and I want to move on or I have something more pressing on my mind. A non-response (often preceded with a hmmmm, or ‘that’s interesting’) from me usually means I need to think about it deeper or what I call the ‘meta-level’.

A dollar saved is a dollar earned: When it comes to financials and approvals, I tend to treat $$$ frugally and attempt to act in the best financial interests of the company. You need to tell me ASAP if this is getting in the way of the right outcomes.

When stressed (and it will happen): I can tend to be short and sharp, I’ll lean towards having a plan and work diligently against it. This may not work for you, it may hurt your feelings, try to bear with me, it’s not personal. If it’s really not working for you, call me out and I will fix it.

Gotta be obsessed with something: I’ll always have ‘a thing’ going on that I may seem obsessed or overly focused on — whether it’s personal or work related. Some of these are just fads — but the ones that are important to me you’ll see me forcing and creating new habits around.

My HBDI profile is below — it should give you good insight as to how I prefer to think.

Dasco HBDI

Operational Matters

Often my calendar gets full quite quickly as I get pulled into meetings left right and center, I can get really busy — but I try as much as possible to be effective. If something is urgent just come see me or ping me on slack. If you report directly into me we will have 1 on 1s on at least a bi-weekly basis for at least an hour. This is your time, whilst we will cover what you or your team is up to and potentially some key metrics, the vast majority of the time should be spent on what you’d like to talk about and what I need to do for you. I like to do this over drinks or coffee outside of the office as it gets us both thinking in a more social environment.

Outside of Work

• I’m a family man with a wonderful wife and 2 rowdy boys (8yo and 3yo)
• I love badminton, I play and I coach kids and teens so they can be way better than me.
• Coffee — long black, one equal — nothing fancy.
• My best work is done after core working hours — in the zone deep into the night. I can operate on minimal sleep.

Just as I am a work in progress, so is this document. It will change and adapt — I will let you know if it changes and the version control is there for all to see.