Hi Everyone! As promised, here’s Topic 1 of 10 in my series aimed as supporting young Africans look to the future for inspiration and prepare themselves today! My idea to write this series really stemmed from an idea I had to talk about my journey in learning how to survive and thrive within a complex organisation, so I thought it fitting to kick off with this topic. Early last year, I joined a Silicon Valley tech start-up and I didn’t know it at the time, but I had just entered one of the most fast paced, innovative, energised and complex companies I’ve ever worked for.

In my first few weeks, overwhelmed doesn’t seem to fully describe how I felt. I was so excited and so ready to hit the ground running but I soon realised a lot of the tools I had in my toolbox weren’t fit for this new adventure I was on. I had to take a step back and understand the organisation itself, my skillset and my approach to ensuring my success. As organisations of this nature become more globally dispersed, more accessible to us as young Africans, and as we ourselves begin to build more complex organsiations, this skillset of managing complexity will become increasingly mandatory for success. Therefore, learning some of these skill today will be key!

Defining a complex organisation

Often times, people confuse and conflate the terms complicated and complex. Complicated problems are problems that can be difficult to solve, but with systems, processes and procedures, are indeed solvable. Complex problems, however, often cannot be resolved with the same approaches as those used to resolve complicated problems. Complex problems usually involve a multitude of unknown and interrelated factors whose root causes and possible solutions are usually also very interwoven. In complex systems, structures (in this case teams) will have multiple functions and be interrelated in a number of different ways, leading to a number of unknown variables being able to influence your work at any given moment. Simply put, complex systems (organisations) are extremely dynamic and unpredictable and require a high level of adaptability and open-mindedness.

Not sure if you work in a complex org.? Below is a list of other characteristics you can look out for:

1. Extremely flat org. structures, with a number of interwoven teams.
2. The flat org. structure also sometimes means that project owners can be difficult to identify (or there could be multiple owners). Final decisions can be made more challenging to make and you might experience ‘too many cook’s in the kitchen’.
3. Lots on the go — and I mean lots! Hundreds of products on the go at any given moment which can also leave you feeling like you’re not too sure which priority to focus on.
4. Extremely fast paced environment — Feeling like you’re in a constant state of sprints!
5. Lot’s of changes, so teams need to be highly adaptable!
6. It can be difficult to predict the outcome of your decisions and inputs.

When entering my new role, I was often overwhelmed with the amount of information coming from all parts of the business. As a result of the global nature of the company, this information was flooding in at all times of the day and night. For the first time in my life, I was equally accountable to more than one team lead, with all leads sometimes having conflicting priorities and asks of me. For the first time, I also didn’t fully own a process, project or system from beginning to end (which is difficult for someone who was used to operating in a context where this often was the case!). Instead, There were a number of different teams who owned different components of what I needed to be able to do, which meant I needed to understand who they were, where they were based and what they were focused on in order to better understand how I fit into the bigger picture. I was always in a constant state of awe, excitement, confusion (and slight fear, lol) and always trying my best to keep up. I was always amazed at the new projects we were working on and incredibly inspired at just how big all my colleagues were dreaming!

I quickly realised I needed to learn a few new skills, and sharpen up some old ones, in order to to win! Here are a few things I did to finally find my feet and get in the flow of my new role

1. Speak Up: I suffered some confidence issues, wondering if I was even good enough to be here but I had to remember that my years of hard work and expertise got me into the room and my point of view is valid and necessary!
2. Make it your business to understand as much about your business as you can! Set up coffee’s, ask questions, read up online, listen in meetings, join optional meetings, go to those work dinners, make those connections and build on your understanding. It’s crucial that you’re able to spot opportunities when they come and the only way you can do that is by getting very familiar with your subject matter.
3. Understand the way your team/manager works, how best they’d like to receive information and what success looks like for you. 3/4 of the job is learning how to position your work to your manager and ensuring they’re recognising all the hard work you’re putting in.
4. Build relationships and learning the skill of influence: As women, we sometimes underestimate the importance of this skillset and yet in a complex system with lots of new things constantly coming up, your relationships will more often than not be what you can rely on to get the help you need to understand the change. Building relationships across functions, geographies and levels of seniorities (Sponsors!) matter! Find areas of common interest and building authentic relationships to be truly successful in this.
5. Learn how to collaborate! I mean it…learn how to own a portion of a project and deliver it to your best ability and support others to do the same. Shout out your teammates when they’re doing well and give honest and timely feedback where changes could be made. Get into the habit of reviewing projects once they’re done against KPIs you’d set the start and get comfortable with receiving feedback!
6. Disagree and commit: I really love this one! With lots on the go and a number of different reasons behind why we’re doing something, you won’t always get your way when it comes to how things get done. Sometimes you’ll need to learn how to disagree with a direction but commit to it and give it your best to ensure it’s as successful as possible!
7. Assume (and have) best intentions: Sometimes, you get left out of an email chain or don’t get invited to a meeting you thought you should be in. It’s important to assume everyone is well intentioned so you’re able to keep it moving in a positive direction.

In closing, when I joined the company, my colleagues from all over the world told me it would take me about 6 months to get a decent picture of the business, and they were right! So my last lesson, which will always apply to all things, is don’t be too hard on yourself (overachievers, this one’s for you!). Continue to dream bigger for yourself, trust the process and enjoy the ride!