Navigating the Corporate Maze
- Sergio Visinoni from Sudo Make Me a CTO <makemeacto@substack.com>
- Hidden Recipient <hidden@emailshot.io>
Hi, 👋 Sergio here! Welcome to another free post from the Sudo Make Me a CTO newsletter. If you prefer to read this post online, just click the article title. As this is a free newsletter, I do immensely appreciate likes, shares and comments. That's what helps other readers discover it! Navigating the Corporate MazeA guide for engineering leaders in new, bureaucratic environments where change seems impossible.
You just landed a new and exciting role in a major corporation. The job description excites you the most: you'll drive strategic changes with a strong mandate. You'll play a key role in the company's journey towards becoming a more effective product and engineering organization. Soon, though, the chords of Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine start playing in a loop in your head: you're faced with resistance, defensiveness, and the inherent inertia of a big organization that has always done things in a certain way. You discover a massive rift between what your job description sounded like in theory and the reality on the ground. As you feel alone against an oversized machine with no leverage points, you start wondering if it hadn't been a big mistake to sign up. Sounds familiar? We discussed exactly this topic in one of our recent calls with the Sudo Make Me a CTO community¹, and what follows is a summary of suggested approaches and attitudes to adopt when facing similar situations. You'll find it particularly helpful if you've spent most of your career in startup environments and only recently took on a role in a bigger organization. These aren't inherently better or worse than small and nimble companies, they're just different. What worked there is not necessarily going to yield good results in this new environment. You decide whether this is a fight worth fightingBefore we get into the practical recommendations, it's key to have an honest discussion with yourself to decide whether you think it's worth putting in a lot of effort to change things, or whether it might just be more convenient to adapt and align. I don't see this as a moral dilemma as long as you're honest with yourself and the people around you. As I often repeat, your career is only one of many contributors to a larger and arguably more important sphere: your life. Your job and career should help you build and sustain the life you want, though we often fall into the trap of taking this backwards. Therefore, depending on the stage you're in your life and your current priorities, it would be perfectly normal to decide to deal with the situation in opposite way, such as:
In between those two extremes, you have plenty of nuances to choose from. The specific shade of gray you end up selecting matters less than going through the exercise and being deliberate. Make sure you reflect and agree with yourself on the posture you want to adopt. Write it down: it will serve as a reminder on the days when you'll feel hopeless, tired, or fed up. If you have decided to take the approach of taking it easy and taking advantage of the situation in different areas of your life, I bless you, and you probably can stop reading right here. If instead you've decided on one of the many options in which you're determined to invest time and energy to change things, read along as we're now getting into the practical tips space. Before we move on, I'd like to thank you for being a reader. This newsletter is constantly growing, which is a testament to the value it brings to many leaders such as you. My plan is to keep the newsletter free so that everyone can benefit from it, regardless of what they can or can't afford. To help everyone benefit from the free newsletter, I invite you to consider joining our exclusive community. Other talented leaders and I will meet with you twice a month to help you overcome the challenges you're facing in your daily job.
🗺️ Step 1: Draw Maps of the New EnvironmentThere is a great chapter in Tanya Reilly's book The Staff Engineer's Path², which is all about drawing maps of the various systems a Staff Engineer has to deal with, mainly platforms and organizations. That practice is beneficial for anyone with management or leadership responsibilities, especially when joining a new and largely unknown organization. I recommend you start there, and the reason why it's deceivingly simple: before you can change anything, you need to know it, understand it, and be familiar with the rules of the game. How do you do that?
Do not underestimate the time it'll take you to map out the whole environment, and be at peace with it. Though it might look like nothing is happening during this phase, you're paving the way for all future actions. Rush this step, and you'll jeopardise your ability to have an impact later. 🎯 Step 2: Clarify Your RoleDo not assume that those who wrote your job description have total clarity on what they expect from you. Oftentimes, they just have a vague idea, and they hope you'll help make it clear through your observations and recommendations. Consider the original job description as a starting point, rather than the destination. Some ways you can go about it include:
During this phase, it is crucial to balance patience with seeking quick wins. Make sure you document all the changes and improvements you're able to make. They'll come in handy both as a way to motivate yourself when you feel impatient and to prove your impact with the larger organization. 🤝 Step 3: Build Bridges, not WallsYou won't succeed in driving changes if you're facing a horde of enemies that see you as a threat. You need the support of a large group of people to make those changes successful. You win them over one by one by building rapport and establishing trust. Here is how you can do it:
People rarely resist change out of malice or a hidden agenda. Most often, that resistance is driven by fear, concerns, or misunderstanding. As you get to know people more and show a genuine interest in them, they'll increasingly trust you. Make sure not to betray that trust, and always operate with the company's interests in mind. ♻️ Step 4: Drive Change, One Piece at a TimeAs you've created the conditions for change to finally happen, you need to ensure you have solid plans, strong execution, and an exemplary ability to adapt as you collect feedback and observations. During this phase, a few techniques will prove beneficial:
This stage is when things happen, but not every action will lead to the expected outcome. Focus on executing well, on driving accountability, and adapting to new insights to maximise the positive impact over time. 🥵 Surviving All ThisAlong this long journey, you'll encounter plenty of opportunities to lose your sanity and motivation. There will be plenty of ups and downs, and the occasional I'm out of here days. Some tactics will help you stay sane and healthy as you go through this.
The most important part is to remind yourself about why you're doing it. Regularly reassess your motivation, as we discussed at the opening of the article. Be prepared to discover that your motivation has changed, at which point you should adjust your approach, too. Always be deliberate at any moment, but accept that the stated direction can change over time. This newsletter is free, and I intend to keep it free forever.Sharing it with others helps immensely in growing it. Engaging with my professional services is a great way to ensure I can continue dedicating many hours each week to producing what I hope to be high-quality content. Those services revolve around three legs:
If your needs fall into a different category, such as newsletter collaborations or sponsoring, please reply to this email or schedule a free call via this link. 1 This is the part in which I'll promote the community as THE PLACE where talented engineering leaders go to accelerate their career and personal growth. We're always open to welcoming new members to the community. If you want to be our next great addition, check out this page for more details. 2 Highly recommended book not only for Staff Engineers, but also for people managing them. You can find it here. I wrote my review of it about a year ago, in case you want to read it before you buy Sudo Make Me a CTO is a free newsletter edited by Sergio Visinoni. If you found this post insightful, please share it with your network using the link below. If you or your company need help with one of the topics I talk about in my newsletter, feel free to visit my website where you can schedule a free 30 minutes discovery call. I'd be delighted to investigate opportunities for collaboration! |
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