The Benefits of Being the New Person
Embracing your “newness” as an opportunity for growth
Not a news flash: Ecommerce is a rapidly developing, continuously evolving, dynamic ecosystem. The low barrier to entry and massive reach makes for fierce competition, which creates the need for continuous and creative delivery. The industry capitalizes on surprising, non-conventional means of customer engagement. Even Yeezy is feeling the vibe!
All of this has clear implications for how work is delivered in this day and age. But I’m not here to discuss that — it’s been done. This also means that, because of the rapid pace and changing direction, you as an individual will have to seriously grind — to embrace the suck—in order to stay ahead. Also spoken for.
What I want to share with you is the value of being New in such situations/organizations.
“Hi, I’m Corey.”
There are few moments more intimidating to introverted me than the start of a new job. Rocket Code was especially scary for me because the workspace is cozy, intimate, and very transparent — far from the sterile, larger, opaque office spaces I was accustomed to.
Here was I, the new guy, being thrust in front of a few dozen hard-working, amicable folk for the very first time. New humans — what with their unique quirks — to meet, learn about and learn from. Most of the time this is a scary situation. That’s okay.
Overload vs. absorption
If a company has a gentle onboarding program where they roll out the details of the what, why, and how of your new job before you step foot into reality, then great. I’ve never seen this. Even so, we all figure out what our job entails mostly by getting into live situations where the work is actually happening. The blueprints for how to do your job either don’t exist or aren’t very useful. Fine — blueprints are boring anyway.
Call it “drinking from the firehose.” Save the fact that drinking from the firehose is impossible, the gist is that you are being tasked with learning a hell of a lot at once. The dread of feeling overwhelmed and generally incompetent is a tempting disposition — the deficit you face and the catch-up required is real.
This is where it’s absolutely necessary to embrace the deficit as an opportunity to learn: Do some research, bug your team, ask the “dumb” questions, unapologetically let your teammates know that you are going to eavesdrop on their conversations.
Status quo vs. contribution
A common expectation the New Person deals with is the notion of proving oneself. And while there is a legitimate need to demonstrate that you can do the damn thing, there is also a temptation to prove that you can do the damn thing faster and better than everyone else.
The underlying assumption is that the status quo is the One Correct Way, and that you need to grade an A+ in said status quo.
In reality, though, most organizations welcome your perspective as an opportunity for improvement. Ecommerce involves the convergence of design, engineering, psychology, economics, and entrepreneurship. No stone is unturned, even (especially) hospitality. So chances are that the idea you are sitting on is welcomed, needed, or—at the very least — worth debating. Who doesn’t love a good debate?
Face it: You were hired to increase revenue for your company. In smaller companies, the decision to hire is an especially weighty one. One Smart Guy illustrated this Catch 22 precisely:
There are only two ways to get more work done: increase the quality of our time (get more efficient), or increase the allotment of time we have available (hire more people). Without a handle on the efficiency of our time, I don’t know whether I should expect my team to get more efficient (i.e., we all make more money, our costs don’t go up, our clients are happier, the business is more successful, we’re more profitable, we can compensate our team more with salaries, bonuses, perks, incentives, etc.). And, when you hire someone, you’re invariably injecting a certain amount of chaos into a system. I suggest that the system be pretty buttoned up in an effort to minimize said chaos.
It’s highly probable that a lot of consideration went into having you come aboard. And the chief reason you were brought aboard was that you were needed in order to satisfy demand. But this isn’t a farm system — there are developers, designers, analysts in droves — and really good ones, too — waiting to get up to bat. You were sought out not just to be a production-line “resource” (ugh!) but for the unique personality, skills, and experiences you bring to the table.
So don’t be shy — your thoughtful questions, anecdotal examples, and critical suggestions may be the reason you were brought aboard!
Now enough with the mixed metaphors.
Evolution
When I started at Rocket Code last month, I was fairly clean-shaven.* This is not normal for me. It was both practical and symbolic. I’d been wanting to shave for some time, but my reluctance was in large part due to not wanting to field the obvious responses: “You shaved!”, “Did you shave?”, “What happened?!” Going into a new workplace where I knew no one, those responses were impossible. It was an opportunity for a fresh start.
Along with the aforementioned value of your previous experiences, you’ve also picked up some misconceptions and/or bad habits along the way. And there are ways that you did things elsewhere that just don’t fit how you should be doing things now. That’s okay. If you find yourself mindlessly uttering an opinion in the tone of an absolute — “Functional requirements must always be written in X format”—take this opportunity to challenge that idea among your new teammates.
Also — reconsider your comfort zone. It’s amazing how much our physical space shapes our routine. Did your previous cubicle/pod/table/phone booth dictate how you did your job? Are you open to a new approach? Stand up, bounce, walk around. At Rocket Code, we have designated personal spaces, but they lack the sacredness that I’ve seen elsewhere. Some like it more than others, but we are encouraged to move around to various shared spaces, whether for collaboration or just for a change of scenery, to keep some freshness throughout the grind.
The bottom line is this: Take this newness as an opportunity for self-examination, to challenge your own suppositions and assumptions. Maybe you’ll debunk some falsehoods or reaffirm some truths. Just don’t miss the opportunity for refinement.
What I’ve realized is that whether you are the New Person or the company hiring the New Person, the mindset of the ideal New Person — something that is not necessarily attainable but always worth striving for — should be the air you breathe. Even the most seasoned veteran should continually seek new knowledge, look for new ways to contribute, and challenge and shed brittle assumptions.
Gold is refined and purified by fire. Holla!
*The beard is back.
