Shipulski On Design

I’ve built engineering teams that developed the world’s most successful products in their space.

At the start of the team’s migration to greatness, they don’t believe in themselves. And that’s why you, as their leader, have to believe in them.  Every day, you must tell them why you believe in them.  Every day, you must give them examples of their behaviors that justify your belief in them.  At the start of the journey, they don’t know how to do their work differently.  And that’s why you, as their leader, must show them how.  You can’t simply tell them how to do the new work because they won’t believe you.  And that’s why you must show them.  There are no half measures here.  You’ve got to be all in.

As their leader, you must set exceptionally challenging goals.  They cannot be impossible goals, but they can be almost impossible.  And when the team pushes back on your almost impossible request, you must explain HOW you will help them do the almost impossible.

None of this is free.  You must create the tools, training, and time for the exceptional performance to emerge.  You must give them the new tools, the training, and you must give them the time to learn the tools and use them appropriately.

Pro Tip: If you don’t give the team the tools, training, and time to use them, you’ll get what you got last time.

At the earliest sign of the new behaviors, you must praise them publicly.  “This is what I’m talking about!  This is great!  I like how you used the new tools.  Thank you.”  Tell everyone what they did.  Tell their spouse or partner.  Tell their kids.  Be proud.

And as the new behaviors build on each other (and they will), continue to show them your happiness.  Turn up your excitement for their remarkable work.  Tell them what they did because they won’t know.  Tell them why it was so good.  And push them for more.  Tell them you know they can do more.  And now they’ll believe you because they’ve seen what’s possible.  And they’ll believe in themselves. And once they believe in themselves, it’s off to the races.

The products will work better, will sell more, will cost less, and won’t break.  They will be easy to build, easy to test, and easy to troubleshoot.  And they will be profitable as hell.  But that’s not the real value.  The real value is that you helped build a team that believes they can do it better next time.

I have helped engineering teams do work they could not imagine.  I have helped technicians elevate their performance and outperform engineers. I have helped Ph.Ds. learn from customers.  And I have helped engineers grow into Principal Engineers, Engineering Directors, GMs, and CEOs.

This has been the most rewarding work of my life.

Image credit — Mikhail Esteves – Piggy Back

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