Markus Nenning on leadership and 10 years of Sclable

It’s been a little over 10 years since @Markus Nenning helped found Sclable. Since then, he’s effectively steered us along our journey to becoming a trusted digital innovation studio for visionary companies. Read on as he reflects on a decade of design, data, code and leadership.

Describe the start of Sclable.

There were four of us who founded the company based on the idea that creating customized, user-friendly business software should be easier than it was. We wanted to solve this by bringing together ambitious software engineers and businesspeople. We had clients from day one, but always managed to integrate our own product development into the actual project services we provided.

Early on, one of the products we developed in-house was pitched to some businesses. Once we learned what their actual requirements were, we had to do a substantial pivot of our own. In my opinion, that early bump in the road trained us to be adaptable. I’m glad it happened, because adaptability is essential if you want to be at the forefront of today’s tech industry.

What gap in the market was Sclable satisfying? How about now?

“User-centric” has turned into a bit of a buzzword, but from the very start Sclable was deeply engaged with building digital solutions in ways that support how users actually work. The majority of our clients’ employees were dealing with inadequate user interfaces and standardized processes, which offered little room for custom ways of working. To overcome that, we provided tailored solutions to our clients, enabled by visual- and tool-based functional prototypes.

Now we have an even better understanding of what it takes to achieve the best possible user-centric solutions, because we’ve integrated more competencies into the studio over the years, like Data Science and Service Design.

Let’s switch gears: What’s your leadership style?

I suppose some people would call my approach “progressive” because I stand back from telling the experts we’ve hired how to do their job. Also, I won’t position myself as the “face” of Sclable. I believe the team should be front and centre.

It’s central to the maturity of a company that we allow them to take on, and even exceed some of the responsibilities and creative powers of the founders. It gives the business energy. Also, the real value I bring to Sclable is understanding the market landscape and what clients need. If I’m micromanaging, I certainly don’t have time to do this, so I find people who can self-direct and ensure they have the tools and freedom to do their job. Operating at this “macro” level, I can guide our business in the right direction, and determine who we need to succeed.

How does Sclable recruit and retain its team?

I believe that productivity and client success rely on having long-term and engaged employees. Our clients require custom solutions, so we actively look for people who are willing to engage very intensively with them and empathize with their users.

We also have a lot of competencies in house, and their interaction generates added value for our clients. To have successful interaction of different experts from different fields, each team member needs the hungry-to-try-new-things DNA. They need to be okay dealing with different kinds of projects and have the ambition to collaborate in spaces that aren’t so familiar to them.

Describe Sclable’s culture. Is it what you imagined when you started the company?

Sclable is a place where diverse experts from different fields are eager to work together and inspired by each other. Through each person’s unique contributions, the value of the collaboration becomes more than the sum of its parts.

I think it’d be presumptuous to claim that us founders had any idea what Sclable’s culture should be. The “company culture” evolved over time, but I do feel it is based on a mutual agreement that respect, appreciation and patience are non-negotiable. Also, an inclusive value attitude and supportive feedback environment are vital.

If you could say anything to your team right now, what would it be? How about your clients?

To the team I’d say “Thank you!” and tell them I’m proud of them. Proud of their ambition and willingness to do better. Not just for their own benefit, but for the team as well. I’d advise them to never stop sharing their knowledge.

To our clients, I’d also say thank you for trusting Sclable enough to include us in rethinking and optimizing your business for your future. This trust allows us to do our best work.

This article was written for Sclable’s blog on Medium. Follow us on LinkedIn to get notified of new posts or check out our website to see the work we do!

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