I always had this big ache in my chest when I see someone struggling - #1 instinct has always been to help them get through the struggle. One moment I vividly remember, I helped my fellow colleague solve an excel issue that seemed like a series of complexities and to him, impossible. For what would take days to complete, we worked together and, within 30 minutes, created a one-step formula they had never used before to solve his problem. The relief on his face, I reminded myself that this is why I do what I do - To pull struggling teams from the trenches, solve the root problems instead of the symptoms, to build solutions that works specifically for the people behind the systems. 

I have seen leaders chasing symptoms mistaken for problems, continuously building new systems as temporary fixes leading to a bigger mess and then wondering why it’s not working. The worst systems I have came across are where they are completely fragmented with additional steps & quick fixes, it seemed almost impossible to trace the source & what’s credible. In situations like these, I take this approach: Taking a few minutes to analyze the big picture. Not only what is the problem they are trying to solve but also, how did they end up in that problem. Understanding the background and history allows an effortless solution, that not only solves the problem at it’s roots, but also takes past experience into account to avoid future challenges and usually leads to a cheaper and faster solution. 

Now, this was only technique listed in this overview, but I am becoming an open book in the conference where I am spilling about my best techniques to build sustainable solutions, what efficiency really is in an organization, my worst experiences and what I learned from it, how I look at a problem to see if it’s a real issue or just a “symptom”, what small companies are fundamentally getting wrong about systems and data that I wish they knew sooner, talk about AI & how our leadership chases shiny solution. I promise, you will get the whole tea.

Even as you grow, plan your systems for the next stage and that’s what exactly I’ll teach you in my session. 

Once a helper, always a helper!