Originally published on Linkedin 24/08/2022
Over the last 18 months here at H&am;M Group, my focus has been building and embedding a high quality digital design organization into our digital product organisation.
Now that is up and running, the focus of my role is naturally changing and the starting point for me in any role transition is to re-read the book "First 90 Days" by Michael D Watkins.
I was reflecting on what is the one thing I have learned and that lead me to think about what is the one thing I have learned from each previous job:
Pind Marketing - "Things that affect you, are often not about you". As a a fresh graduate I quickly realised how many factors and small things goes into running a business and some times that impact you or your role without it having anything to do with how you perform that role.
Spix Web Solutions - "Doing the right thing is not enough. You have to do the right thing at the right time". Starting a web business in 90s in Denmark was too ambitions too early.
London Web Communication - "If you love something, apply it to a project... whether asked for or not. Often it is what is needed". By chance I got connected to the WaSP (Web Standards Project) and accessibility. Adding what I learned about accessibility to projects proved valuable to customers that didn't even know what it was.
Fortune Cookie - "Working in a high performing company can stifle you". Fortune Cookie was a fine-tuned, high delivery, high quality agency. But one day I realised we had a pretty solid formula nailed and was doing the same over and over because it worked. I wanted to learn about all this new things in the early 2000s such as email marketing, PPC and SEO marketing etc all the things the brought customers to a website.
Vivid Lime - "High quality leadership can make or break a company". Back in the days, I didn't think managers really did anything, but when the boss of Vivid Lime resigned to move to Australia, the impact of her absence was palatable. I still consider Kirsti Williams one of the best bosses I've ever had.
Communicator - "If you are not right for the role, that's ok". I think both the company and I thought it was a perfect match, but shortly into my role I realised they needed a Technical Director, not an Digital Design Director. That's fine, I helped write up what they needed and moved on.
Redhouse Lane - "Sometimes a step down in your career is what your personal life need". Redhouse Lane was the right place because the job was less stressing and fast paced; because both managers and colleagues were genuinely nice people and because I had the freedom to be at the hospital when my then partner needed me to be there for her.
Capgemini - "Do look the price horse in the mouth". I interviewed for a Creative Director role at the same time as interviewing for a consultant role at Capgemini. The title as "Creative Director" at a known agency was the price horse looking at it from the outside, but I felt Capgemini were much clearer on what I was going to do and I was right: My first day at Capgemini was my first day at Burberry where I lead the design of an industry-defining program.
IBM - "If it is not right, it is not right no matter how successful you are". Working for IBM GBS gave me an opportunity to work on some really big strategic projects defining customer journeys and running workshops. But the culture didn't align with my values and I found the behaviours it drove counter-productive to me. So eventhough I was quite successful, I resigned as I felt stay would have turned me into somebody I am not.
Salesforce - "Nothing wrong with going all in if you love it regardless of what people say!". Drinking the firehose is an understatement of what it is like working at Salesforce. It is relentlessly full-on and I appreciate it is not for everybody. But if you love it, don't hold yourself back with rational thoughts like "I only work 8 hours a day" and "flying to San Fransisco for one meeting is crazy". If you love it, go for it! You only get one shot at life regardless of what logic and friends say.
Sage - "As a senior leader, your value is not the time you put in, but what results you drive". Having stepped out of crazy working hours and flying almost every week at Salesforce, life at Sage felt slow to me. I had a great manager, Klaus Kaasgaard at Sage and he said: "At the end of the day, in your senior role, I don't pay you for how many hours you spend, but what output and success you deliver".
H&M Group (First 2 years) - "Check whether barriers in front of you are real or just in your mind". I wrote a full article on this, but I came into H&M Group expecting some of the traditional blockers for establishing a design organisation. A conversation with a coach one day opened my minds to the fact that the blockers I was preparing to meet was in my mind based on my previous experiences, not on any real blockers... and suddenly we had the accelerator floored! and I can't wait to see where we go next with a mindset without a ceiling.
