As we all know, being in a work environment that fits us is critically important to satisfaction (and happiness) and therefore being successful. But amazingly, it’s really hard to quantify what “fits us” really means. We could have a long, philosophical conversation about corporate culture – on which Ive converted from a complete skeptic to a staunch believer in the underlying value. However, many people smarter than I (with a lot more time, energy, and pages to fill) have written on that topic extensively.
I’m a believer that there is something much more basic to evaluate in an organization that can give you a good indication of how you will fit and it relates directly to how you like to work. Some of us like to jump around from issue to issue, solving them “well enough” for now and then moving on only circling back if a similar issue arises in the future. We’ll call you “70% solution people” for this discussion. Others of us see an issue and want to dive in and solve the problem all the way at it’s core, solving every potential permutation of the problem before it exists. You are our “100% solution people” in this context. Neither approach is right or wrong, it often comes down to situation, preference, and resources.
I hope each of you are taking a minute to really think about how you prefer to operate (not how you actually operate in your role today) if everything else was equal. This insight can be critical to making sure you focus your energy on companies and roles that are aligned with your preferred style.
Ill wait.
Still waiting.
Now that you have reflected and chosen, let me explain how it will help you. From my generalized perspective, there are largely 2 types of organizational situations and I ask that you try and ignore any bias you have about the specific words as they are meant by their definition not their connotation: Necessity and Privilege. Often, we can tell the situation just based on public information or with one or two simple questions in an interview.
Organizations in the Necessity situation have some obvious characteristics. These are your scrappy underdogs. Typically they have a pronounced scarcity of cash, resources (human, tech, etc.), and/or time. Think of a startup (or struggling company) in any competitive industry – even with seed capital, they will be tight on cash which means they will cut corners on anything they can (people, tech, infrastructure) and likely will be under pressure to get to market since the industry could could catch up. They likely will not have the human infrastructure to do some key functions that aren’t focused directly on their products/services. What does this mean for you? Well, if you prefer an environment where a 70% solution is good enough for the time being and you’ll be asked/required to do things well beyond your scope or knowledge, you’ll likely enjoy the type of work you’ll be doing. Odds are that unless the problem isn’t completely foundational to the organizations products/services not only will 70% be good enough, but doing more will be frowned upon as you are taking resources from other problems that need resolved just as urgently.
Organizations in the Privilege situation will have obvious characteristics in contrast with Necessity orgs. These organizations are more of the established blue-blood businesses. While there are always demands for production, they have plenty of resources or access to resources. Think of a Fortune 100 company – they have access to just about every resource they could desire, they have human and technical infrastructure with areas of focus that are often minute compared to their scrappier counterparts, they are typically far more generous employers, and they have time on their side because they can use their scale to overcome not being a first mover in the market. What does this mean for you? Well, if you prefer an environment where a nearly perfect solution can be researched, tested, and implemented and you’ll be asked/required to deep dive down into the smallest of details in the day to day operation, you’ll likely enjoy the type of work you’ll be doing. Odds are that the area that you work or lead will require a high degree of domain expertise and increasing specialization leading to a more perfect (100% even) solution.
That’s a lot of words to say that if you like to be a generalist look for companies that are in a situation of Necessity but if you like being a specialist focus on Privileged companies. Will this one thing alone assure you have a great cultural, career, and life fit? Heck no! But if you intentionally match your personal desired work style with an org and a role that is looking for that specific style along with all the other more obvious factors you’d typically consider, you are much more likely to enjoy the day to day life you’ve chosen.
View from the Middle 