(The Reflection Field Notes Issue 11) The Line Ep.159

I think when we have goals and we aspire to build something, when we're working hard and going after it, it's easy to focus on almost entirely what's next.

The next project, the next client, the next opportunity, the next revenue goal.

How do I get to the next level? Sometimes if we're not careful along the way.

And I mean, we have to really be aware of this.

Along the way, we can become more and more focused on where we're going.

And we become the people and the organizations we never intended to be.

I didn't understand.

I remember when my organization was smaller and I would look at larger companies and get frustrated with the way that they do things, the way that they operate.

I couldn't understand why some things had to be so complicated.

Why couldn't they just make a decision? Why couldn't they keep things moving? Why did they treat people differently? Sometimes it almost seemed mechanical.

And why couldn't they operate the way that our organization did? Why couldn't they pivot the way that we did? Why did their processes have to be the way that they were? Over the years as we've grown, I experienced what it was to have a few employees and then a few more and then a few more.

And at each stage, it was like learning to operate a new company.

What I realized was I simply didn't understand certain things about some of the bigger organizations because I hadn't experienced what they had experienced.

Some things become more complicated as an organization grows.

There are responsibilities and pressures that you can't fully understand until you're experiencing them yourself, carrying them yourself.

And that's something that I can acknowledge now, but I've also learned something else.

There are things that creep in with growth that have absolutely nothing to do with necessity.

They have absolutely nothing to do with, oh, this is how we want to do this, or this is who we are.

Here's some flags to those things.

If you hear yourself start to say things like, well, that's just how it's done.

That's what happens when you grow and you get to this size.

That's how it has to be.

This is the way that we have to operate if we want to be at this level.

Maybe those things are true.

Or maybe we just stopped asking whether it's who we want to be.

I think when we have goals and we aspire to build something, when we're working hard and going after it, it's easy to focus on almost entirely what's next.

The next project, the next client, the next opportunity, the next revenue goal.

How do I get to the next level? Sometimes if we're not careful along the way.

And I mean, we have to really be aware of this.

Along the way, we can become more and more focused on where we're going.

And we become the people and the organizations we never intended to be.

I didn't understand.

I remember when my organization was smaller and I would look at larger companies and get frustrated with the way that they do things, the way that they operate.

I couldn't understand why some things had to be so complicated.

Why couldn't they just make a decision? Why couldn't they keep things moving? Why did they treat people differently? Sometimes it almost seemed mechanical.

And why couldn't they operate the way that our organization did? Why couldn't they pivot the way that we did? Why did their processes have to be the way that they were? Over the years as we've grown, I experienced what it was to have a few employees and then a few more and then a few more.

And at each stage, it was like learning to operate a new company.

What I realized was I simply didn't understand certain things about some of the bigger organizations because I hadn't experienced what they had experienced.

Some things become more complicated as an organization grows.

There are responsibilities and pressures that you can't fully understand until you're experiencing them yourself, carrying them yourself.

And that's something that I can acknowledge now, but I've also learned something else.

There are things that creep in with growth that have absolutely nothing to do with necessity.

They have absolutely nothing to do with, oh, this is how we want to do this, or this is who we are.

Here's some flags to those things.

If you hear yourself start to say things like, well, that's just how it's done.

That's what happens when you grow and you get to this size.

That's how it has to be.

This is the way that we have to operate if we want to be at this level.

Maybe those things are true.

Or maybe we just stopped asking whether it's who we want to be.