A Change in Perspective — Reflections from Week One.
Our first week is in the books, and it was a blast! True to the national motto of Indonesia, “Unity in Diversity” (Bhinneka Tunggal Ika), we have quickly become a great team despite (or because of!) our diverse backgrounds. Workshops, intense discussions and long days, paired with team meetings, joint dinners, and fun activities have created many heart-warming moments and laughter. And what’s better than to bond over eating, laughing (and sometimes also suffering) together!
Rumah Energi is becoming a modern organization.
We have started working with our client organization and I am truly impressed by their spirit and vision to create resilient communities in energy & food. Known and valued for its great work in the Indonesia Domestic Biogas Program (IDBP), Yayasan Rumah Energi (YRE) has expanded its portfolio of projects significantly in recent years (I mentioned some of them in my previous story). This expansion naturally has also brought new challenges for them. Just like SAP, they are in the middle of a transformation, learning how to operate in this new setting. Structures and processes are not necessarily clearly defined and much is done in free-flow. At the same time, many of their projects as a NGO depend on their donors, which creates additional complexity (i.e. dependency). They need to strike the balance between flexibility and efficiency.
One of their biggest assets to tackle these challenges is their great culture. From day one we felt the amazing atmosphere in the office. They are like a family and welcomed us with open arms. Everyone at Rumah Energi is proud to work there — and rightfully so! They are very motivated and committed to the cause, and it has been a real pleasure to work with them this first week.
A change in perspective.
Perspective matters — and it helps to change it from time to time. Only then we can understand others’ and also reflect on our own. For me personally, I gained many new perspectives this week. Let me share a few:
Big vs. Small. I work at a company with 100.000+ employees globally. Most of my internships were with large corporations too. I am used to established processes (which is not always a good thing), a certain level of job security and a fairly granular division of tasks. But in a relatively small organization such as YRE, most of this simply doesn’t exist. I came to appreciate both sides, the fluidity and quickness of the ‘small’ (we had decisions here taken within minutes which required ‘management approval’), as well as the stability and structure of the ‘big’.
Enterprise vs. NGO/NPO. This is an obvious one, right? Well, yes. And no. Of course, these types of organizations operate differently and have different targets. What I came to realize this week however was the complexity of planning in an NGO/NPO setting. When you run projects which depend on a donor, the funds are fixed in terms of budget, time & purpose. This creates stability during the project, but how to strategically plan beyond single projects given this dependency? At SAP, we disclose a ‘share of more predictable revenue’ of >80%, which offers a solid basis to plan ahead. But for NGOs and NPOs, it’s a different (i.e. much harder) playing field.
You vs. Me not getting it. This one is dedicated to my amazing team I work with every day. We are a wild mix, and I mean this in a positive way! We are three colleagues from HR, Development and Presales. We come from Canada, Israel and Germany. We have different ways of looking at problems and how to approach them. And we discuss a lot.
Don’t get me wrong, we have an amazing chemistry, laugh with each other and work very well together. Probably my favorite moment this first week was when we talked with one of YRE’s colleagues on how they see themselves as a family, and he mentioned that he saw the three of us interacting the same way — even though we only met in person for the first time a few days before (we are a big family at SAP after all)!
It is more that our brains are wired differently. We look at the same issue from different perspectives. We even perceive the same input differently. Let me give you an example: One of us is thinking in presentations and executive summaries (guess who ;)), the other needs to write down findings in order to synthesize. Another time one team member is still trying to better understand the problem, whereas the other is already bubbling over with ideas on how to solve it. And sometimes we come out of a discussion with YRE where each of us thinks ‘okay, now it’s clear’, just to find out in our debrief that we all understood something different :D.
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. — Abraham Maslow
It reminded me of this quote. We all tend to solve problems with tools and patterns we are used to. Of course, it’s efficient, and often we can build on experience, utilizing what we already know. But sometimes we also need to step back and give other ideas more space. I really learned (and still am learning) to challenge my own way of thinking more often and give others more room in my thought process. Afterall, it is blessing that we all have our own ways of thinking. This stimulates ideas and fosters creativity. I could have never thought of all the great ideas we as a team have come up with on my own.
Given all that I learned and experienced this week, I am even more grateful for what I was given, and for the opportunity to be here. Speaking of ‘here’ — I will take some time in another story to share more about Indonesia & Jakarta, but nevertheless want to provide a few pictures for you already today — enjoy!
Terima Kasih 🙏
Stay curious! It’s too boring to stick to what you already know ;)
