People Matter

I thought it would be best to start this chapter with an analogy about people. Many of my friends and family are familiar with the fact that I'm a big fan of military books and movies. My favorites are the ones that are based on a true story. Part of my interest has to do with how military personnel are able to survive in some of the most extreme circumstances in the worst of conditions. I am amazed at what some of these individuals have endured in order to protect the freedom that we have each and every day.

One of my favorite movies is "Black Hawk Down". The storyline is fairly sad when you reflect on it. What was supposed to be a simple capture of a military leader in Somalia turns into a disaster after a series of unfortunate events. However, what I find most interesting throughout the movie is the dedication that each member of the armed forces has to other members. Whether it be a close friend in their own squad, or even a member from another squad they don't know, there is dedication to helping each other in some pretty dire circumstances. No matter how dangerous things got, each member of the military wanted to go back out to make sure that everyone got back to the military base safely. Unfortunately, many men didn't make it. However, there were some really remarkable events and feats of heroism throughout the movie. One of my favorite characters in the movie is a character named "Hoot". He is completely fearless, dedicated to his job, and has a very subdued attitude about death (i.e. sh*t happens). Anyway, near the end of the movie, he's getting ready to go back out to save more men when he runs into someone else while eating quickly. His line goes somewhat like this: "When I go back home and people asks me 'Hoot, why do you do it? Are you some kind of war junkie?' I ain't gonna say a god damn thing. They won't understand. They won't understand that it's about the man beside you, and that's all it is..." He then leaves to go back out and find more men. This hits me every time I watch the movie because it's a pretty simple equation. I think people in a startup in the early days are in the same situation. You're all working to achieve something, but at the beginning, all you have is each other. Each and every day you get up and go to work at the startup, it's about the goals of the company, and the people working beside you, and that's all it is.

This leads to the first non-historical topic of this blog that I think is important to cover. It has to do with people. There are a lot of challenges finding the right people when you're in a startup, and when you do find them, setting appropriate expectations. Startups are not easy, and not everyone is cut out to be part of a startup. Some people seek jobs at a startup thinking that they are ready for the freedom and challenge, when in reality, it's just not the case. Also, a hiring mistake at a startup can be catastrophic if there's not a good fit, especially in the early days of the startup where each new person you add brings something important to the table. When I reflect back on our hiring at DecisionPoint, there were definitely a couple of different lessons learned.

My first lesson had to do with mistakes that I made in my expectations of myself and others that came into the organization. Being the founder of the company, I was often the most passionate person about what we were trying to accomplished. I worked many long hours at it because I enjoyed it, and I was passionate at what we were doing. For my entire career, I was a driven individual able to accomplish some pretty amazing feats regardless of the odds. I was an adrenaline junkie. The more stressful and exciting the situation, the harder I would work to deal with it. As stated earlier in the blog/book, I won some pretty fantastic awards as a result of the drive and energy. However, there was a down side to all of this. I had several instances where I ended up in the emergency room for lack of sleep, general fatigue, chest pains, and a body on the verge of physical collapse induced by high levels of stress. I would say that I am far more balanced today, but like any addiction, I always have to be careful about over doing it. If I'm not careful, the next stop at the emergency room is right around the corner.

Probably more importantly was that I carried my expectations of myself, and attempted to measure other people that joined the organization according to the standards and expectations I had of myself. This was a key mistake on my part. As seen above, I could barely keep up with my own expectations. How could I possibly expect others to live up to those same expectations? The bottom line is that those expectations were unreasonable not only for me, but also for the people I worked with. Those expectations did cause a lot of chaos and conflict when I was working with other individuals within the organization. People who had a more balanced approach to work didn't have the drive or stamina that I had, and it was frustrating to me when they were unable to step up when needed. I think everyone in a startup has times when they need to step up and push through a large challenge. However, expecting people to be able to do this all the time is not a very reasonable position to take.

My lesson here is balance, both with myself and with others...

I was such an adrenaline junkie that I honestly believe that some people that joined the organization thought I was truly nuts. The other part of that was that the highs were really high and the lows were really low. I willingly let myself ride the roller coaster of every success and failure, which there were many of both. For me, trying to get off the roller coaster and get more balanced felt like getting off to get on one of the kiddie rides at an amusement park. Just not something I was interested in. Only now, with the chance to reflect on things can I honestly see how destructive this was on my own physical and emotional health. Even today, I suffer bouts of severe depression when a series of negative events happen, yet also experience bouts of mania when things are going well. As I continue to work at taking a more balanced approach to work, it's a daily struggle that I wrestle with much like an addiction to drugs.

When it comes to other people, I still struggle with my expectations of people I work with. Especially in a larger organization where things move a lot slower than they did when we were a startup. I haven't found the right answer to what is appropriate to expect of others. In a startup, you have to make it very clear that the person joining the organization is probably going to have to work harder than they ever have at any other job. And while that is the case, that doesn't mean that you can expect them to just keep going and going for long periods of time. Part of it has to do with setting proper expectations with individuals up front about what they need to do. The other part of it has to do with ongoing expectation setting and communication so that if something changes with the individual or the company, appropriate adjustments can be made.

We had many instances at DecisionPoint where we missed when setting expectations with people joining the organization. As a result, some left only after a couple of months while others stayed on board and remained miserable for the time they were with the company. Neither is a healthy situation. With some better communication and expectation setting, we probably would have done a better job in this area. We had situations where it was an individual's first attempt at working at a startup. The individual was very good at what they did, but just didn't have the stamina required to succeed in a startup. They were used to larger organizations where projects and plans had reasonable goals and expectations. They weren't ready for an environment where projects and plans had to be done much faster and required more persistence and endurance at work.

As I look back at what we could have done differently when it came to interviewing and assessing candidates to join the organization, a couple of things come to mind.

First, I think it's a good idea to get a perspective on the projects that a person has worked on in the past. If the projects were fairly aggressive and of critical importance to the organization they were working for, then the person was probably ready for the startup. If the projects were fairly conservative with many delays and "re-plans" the person was probably not ready for the startup. In a startup, delays can be disasterous, and you need people who are not used to working on projects where delays are the norm. They need to have worked on projects where the deadlines don't move, and you have to push yourself at times to meet the deadline.

Second, has to do with a person's expectations regarding salary and rewards. If the person is used to getting good pay and consistent raises along with bonuses upon successful completion of projects, they're probably not a good fit. In a startup, you get paid a salary (in most cases), but the concept of raises and bonuses is foreign. Generally speaking, the only bonus you can get are stock options. However, unless the company goes public or gets sold, the stock options are about as useful as a piece of toilet paper. It can take years before the stock options are worth anything, and in far too many cases, the stock options end up being worthless. People that work well in a startup are those where they get a base salary and bonuses are a "nice surprise" to them.

Third, is a much more controversial topic because there are a lot of legal repercussions associated with this information. As much as you're not supposed to do it, it definitely helps if you can get an assessment of an individual's personal situation. If a person has a new home, kids in college, or anything else that has a consistent financial obligation to it, they're probably not a good candidate for a startup. There is always a chance that the startup runs out of money and misses payroll. Individuals with significant financial obligations can be put under severe stress when these events are looming, even if they never happen. Imagine how much stress a person might go through if they don't get paid once or twice and they fall behind on their financial obligations. Obviously, this is a situation that almost anyone can face. The difference is in how well prepared the person is to handle the situation should it happen.

The last part of this blog entry centers more around ongoing expectation setting rather than trying to hire someone. Many people have worked for larger companies where the expectation of their role in the organization is well known and understood. In a startup, things are constantly changing, which causes roles and responsibilities of individuals within the organization to change on a regular basis. It's important that regular communication happen so that people always know where they stand, and what's expected of them.

There may be situations where you feel an individual is not meeting your expectations. In those cases, it's best to ask yourself "have I clearly communicated my expectations, along with any adjustments in those expectations I make?" In many cases, you'll find the individual isn't meeting your expectations because you failed to communicate the expectations to them effectively. I have had many situations where I've done this well, and many where I have not done it so well. Where I have not done it so well, it was usually the case that the individual would have been more successful if I had communicated my expectations more clearly. It's sad when you lose someone who could have been very good if they had just better understood what was expected of them. However, you also need to be realistic that some people can't handle regular change in expectations no matter how well it's communicated, so there will always be those cases. For those individuals, a startup is probably not a good choice.

One last point on effective communication of expectations. It's vital that you have regular voice to voice communications with people to make sure they know where they stand. The communication should not be electronic, such as email or text messages. Too many misunderstandings happen with that type of communication. It needs to be voice to voice where questions can be addressed and confusion cleared up. This is especially true in today's world where teenagers and young adults are used to using their cell phone more often for text messages than for voice to voice calls.