How teams make leaders.
Introduction. Do you know why this book? Sometimes your boss picks the wrong thing to tell you (that) you suck at.
Once upon a time, a meeting was on my calendar with my boss. And I was given some direct feedback that I could have been a better storyteller.
Every day that feedback fueled my focus on rebutting this feedback. I said nothing and was laid off six months later. I felt defeated, deflated, and a failure. This was a low point in my career. I had young children and was the only wage earner in my home. The emotional damage was gut-punch level and was more than a setback. It was a failure to convince leadership that I could add value.
One day, I met with Scott Snyder in a Starbucks. We had a few conversations about this new company called Mobiquity. I was intrigued. Still, I needed clarification on the startup. This was my 4th startup, so I questioned if I was going down a riskier path financially. My instinct was this seemed like an exciting opportunity. But I was sold once Scott explained the Wawa thing he was working on. Scott asked me what I would do if I had a chance to work on Wawa’s ‘App.’ I was clear about what I thought, and Scott smirked. You will find out later why.
I took the job because of the opportunity to pitch and work on a brand I grew up with. I worked in the stores and loved it like lots of people. Going to ‘Red Roof,’ the corporate HQ, was like a key to the kingdom tour at Disney. A little starstruck and excited, it began a 10+ year labor of love for a love brand.
Because of that, my journey to be the best storyteller could be continued or restarted. Beginning a journey like this involves fundamentally understanding the human. This understanding is crucial for creating a solid experience they face or endure.
Because of that, we needed to do the research. Fundamental research with real humans doing things and transacting. That led to learning, questioning, understanding, conversations, and endless curiosity about everything that happens in a Wawa. The whole company was fascinating. It ranged from the parking lot. The parking lot is the most dangerous place at noon any day of the week. It extended to the vendor trucks. There were also the fuel dispensers, chargers, the free air, and the interior of the store. … (and so on)
We finally had an experience that tells the Wawa story for the first time outside the store. Now, it’s in your pocket on the phone. Finally, Wawa meets the standards Wawa has and continues the brand promises Wawa has made for over 50 years.
And every day after that, my storytelling got better. Every opportunity we pitched worked as a team. Of course, winning and losing were always possible, but over-prepping and many other techniques helped hone my story craft.
Finally, I realized that lifelong learning is essential to enhancing my storytelling. I dedicated this book to that boss 11 years ago who told me I was a lousy storyteller. And to my team, Leaders don’t fall out of the sky into leadership roles. They are, in general, made by teams around them. I am forever grateful for the chance my team gave me to lead.
Notecard: Arc of Uncertainty. What is the arc of uncertainty? I have drawn it several times. I define it as that process of understanding. It starts with a level of not understanding. Through a process, it becomes a certain understanding. When working on the design of anything, there are natural patterns of uncertainty. Think of it as early knowledge subject to clarity and more information that builds on a solution. This means that when initially discovering or immersing in a subject area, you must temporarily suspend disbelief. The amount of suspended disbelief is unknown for some time. As the unknowable is known, the arc bends toward certainty. I learned through a set of projects early at Mobiquity that teams had a significant amount of uncertainty. What is interesting about the arc is its consistency. It remains consistent over various jobs to be done. The arc explores numerous opportunities and defines solutions.
What about the mission? What mission are we on? Often, you need a mission. So what is the mission? What is the why of what we are making? So early uncertain teams need a mission. Here is a link to examples of missions. Every uncertain team needs to have a mission.
- Why are we doing this? What are we tasked with accomplishing?
- Who stands to benefit, and why is that? One or two big things.
- What will this accomplish if it is successful? And if it fails, what will we learn?
A set of conversations on deliberateness, divergence, and diligence needs to be part of the mission. The immersion in the work topic needs to be complete and focused on who will suffer from what we make.
The destination is theoretically at the end of the arc. Honestly, the journey is the best part, as with many destinations. The certainty gained in the process of discovery and immersion can be the best part. Ideation and iteration also contribute to this certainty. Conceptualization along the arc solidifies it further. The final thing arrived at, or the solution created is great if it’s great. The journey to get there sets up any effort with a solid first step.
- Beginning
- Interviewing
- March Fourth
- Bad Storyteller
- Visiting HQ Boston
- Wawa the dream job
- Weather channel again dream job
- Build a design team
- Getting shit done
- the snake in the bathroom
- my door desk
- Middle
- the marathon
- the shit show tour
- the undoing of bad choices
- we got this
- you can do anything for a few years
- mentors
- double the company in three years
- a death in the family
- sharp elbows
- the story of acquisition
- End
- another death in the family
- a pandemic
- remote pitching
- remoting and emoting
- winning without
- a hex
- the end of an era
- the undoing of an integration
- the winding down of intention
- another death in the family
- the story making of a pitch
- the beginning of the end of the beginning
- Things or concepts over the years
- Box 0 – It’s where your process starts.
- 5 slide rule – the story of storytelling with simple rules of thumb
- arc of uncertainty
- silent utility
- fuckeduptioning
- get shit done
- #keepmoving
- context orientation
- poise presence posture
- macro to micro
- narrowcast v broadcast
- beginning middle and ends
- strategic benign neglect
- DFIU
- The Magic Wand question
- 5 key interview questions (fear, best/worst, title, exit magic)
- murder boards
- improvisational storytelling – the concept that over-prep lets you improv when it’s showtime
- Anxiety — uncertainty x powerelessness over intuitive emotional awareness of your humans
- How research drives insight and insight drives innovation and innovation can transform the human experience and it always has
- between stimuli and response there is a space, a place to choose a moment of growth and freedom.
- Wisdom — time + experience / failure learnings