In the world of startups the hierarchy that plagues the traditional corporate America is far less an obstacle when it comes to opinions reaching the top. As a result, people are constantly lobbying for what they believe to be best. Whether it refers to product, marketing, or where we should go to team lunch everyone has an opinion.
The constant lobbying can result in a culture where everyone is quick to point out problems…especially when they result from a teammate’s decision. Obviously this is detrimental to a team’s cohesiveness, but I think the counter productivity stretches much farther. These situations do more than hurt the cohesiveness necessary to execute; they cause a teams’ focus to stray from how to solve problems.
In startups I think a core motto every team should adopt is don’t bring up a problem unless you know how to solve it. Everyone with a pulse on the business realizes its there. The focus needs to be on how to surmount it instead of asserting its recognized and then traced back to a teammate also engaged in the struggle to be heard.
It’s easy to point a finger…its much harder to get your hands dirty and figure out how to overcome the obstacles that prevent us from being successful. Don’t be the one pointing the finger.
