I once served as Lead Architect on a very large project where I had to produce process and data flow diagrams that included several application areas with which I was not familiar. Not surprisingly, they went through many, many iterations. After we had successfully delivered the project, the Domain Architect from one of those several application areas approached me and said, “I knew when you were starting to understand [his domain area] because your drawings got less wrong.”
I took it as the huge compliment he intended.
When you’re leading a project, especially in a technical capacity, it’s easy to feel like you have to know everything. After all, you’re the one that everyone looks to for answers, and you don’t want to let on that maybe your boss should have picked someone who actually does know everything about everything to lead the project. This is exactly backward thinking. Besides, it would unreasonable for anyone to expect you to know everything about everything. Quite the opposite:
Don’t be afraid to be wrong.
Embrace your ignorance. Be up front about it.
When you share an early deliverable with your team, introduce it as incorrect and ask them to, “please help make it less wrong.” Of course, nobody enjoys being corrected or having their errors highlighted. I understand that this isn’t easy. At first. But not only does it get easier the more you do it, you’ll find it to be very liberating. Plus, this approach has three huge benefits to both you and your project.
First, you open the door to candid feedback.
Many years ago, a mentor mentioned to me that some of the more junior team members were hesitant to meet with me because they thought I was intimidating. I had no idea. I didn’t yell at people or offhandedly dismiss their ideas or anything like that. If I were to make a list of adjectives to describe myself, intimidating would not come close to making the cut. But sometimes it can be difficult for others to approach you simply because of your position within the organization or your role on the project. Even after twenty-five years my heart would still pound on my way to a meeting with a company executive.
But as a leader it’s not enough to avoid actively repelling others. It’s imperative that you encourage and openly accept feedback from everyone on the team. Acknowledging that what you’re asking your team to review is far from final form is one way to do that. It disarms them. It invites their participation. It signals that you really do value their thoughts, that you take them seriously, that you’re not going to be insulted by being corrected, and that you’re not going to chastise them for giving the “wrong answer.” Perhaps paradoxically, you will likely find that you will be held in higher regard by the team for doing that. Team morale will improve, and the product you all collectively produce will be much better.
One quick note before continuing. As leader, it is up to you to make the final decision about the changes that get made and those that don’t. Deliberation cannot continue indefinitely. You cannot always incorporate everyone’s feedback, but you can always give it appropriate consideration.
Second, you encourage fresh perspectives.
Everything is clearer in your own head. It’s like the game where you tap a well-known children’s song into the palm of someone else’s hand and they try to name that tune. Something like Baa Baa Black Sheep, or Happy Birthday, or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. More often than not they won’t be able to guess it. You can hear the song perfectly in your own mind’s ear and they are receiving the information you are sending, but they don’t have the benefit of the context that you have.
In this case, you can make that disconnect work in your favor.
Those reviewing your work products don’t have your background or context. You, on the other hand, are contaminated with experience. Encourage your team to ask clarifying questions until they understand completely. Similarly, when you’re leading a project that’s not in your area of expertise, rely on your SMEs and use your lack of familiarity as the perfect excuse for asking the “dumb” questions. Others are probably wondering the same thing.
Don’t fool yourself into believing that something will make more sense later or that you’ll figure it out later. Chances are that those with the expertise (perhaps you) have made assumptions that might not be shared by others on the project, or have glossed over potentially significant details. You can discover that now or later. I choose now.
A corollary to this point is that it is much easier to be EITHER lead OR subject matter expert on a project, but not both at the same time.
Third, you get to a better answer faster.
No matter how many times you proofread, a typo always seems to sneak through. Obviously, you didn’t leave it there on purpose because if you had noticed it, you would have corrected it. Maybe just one more time through it and I’ll catch everything. Probably not. And eventually you reach a point of diminishing returns.
Once your work product is past the dumpster heap of verbiage or spaghetti diagram stage, it’s best to get others looking at it as quickly as possible. Just assume that it’s not going to be production-ready at first.
If you’ve opened the door to candid feedback and are encouraging fresh perspectives, the team will be comfortable sharing their thoughts with you and with each other. The faster you get something out, the faster you collect feedback, the more iterations you can cycle through, and the better the final product. And the more the team learns along the way.
Somebody finds something that needs fixed?
Great! Correct it.
Now, it’s more right.
Repeat.
2 Comments
Carrie Stewart · March 18, 2024 at 5:16 pm
Hello would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a
tough time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your design seems different
then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique.
P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!
Mark · March 24, 2024 at 8:28 pm
WordPress. Thanks for checking it out,
Mark.
Comments are closed.