Open letter
I've been feeling a little off this week. It's been difficult to say what the problem is but last thursday I had a moment of clarity. I managed to put in words the mess of thoughts and emotions that had been plaguing me all week. Actually, I believe they were there much earlier, just suppressed. I believe it stems from a lack of feedback and guidance. I don't know if I'm on the right track or not...if what I'm working on is important or useful for anybody.
Nick made a good point in our latest discussion. Coming from Singapore, I grew up in a result-oriented environment. We had all those milestones laid out by parents, teachers and employers which were the benchmarks of our achievements. I'm a little lost without all that now. My Swedish employer doesn't tell me I have to do this, that or the other. I'm responsible for shaping my role. What flexibility! What freedom! I should be contented but I'm having a hard time being that.The vagueness of my role and responsibilities coupled with the constant re-organization of a company that is growing almost too quickly is generating a lot of frustration. But there is a larger, more inherent problem.
There is a lack of clearly define processes and routines for how things are done. If there is a routine, it is seldom documented or communicated to the rest of the organization. There are a lot of overlaps in the processes since there doesn't appear to be one central source. Various departments have to come up with their own ad-hoc procedures that might not complement that of other departments. A lot of time is wasted due to the lack of central co-ordination.
I'm not asking for a miracle. I know these things do not happen over-night. But I can't help but see similarities between our organization and that of a badly-managed disaster scenario. Who is in charge? Do those who are in charge know what they are supposed to be doing? Are the responsibilities being delegated to the the rest of the management structure? Are there overlaps or unaccounted gaps? Who is using the pps-model or the bdp-model? Why are given tools but not shown how to use them?
I'm no business-model expert, or a disaster-management specialist... what I have is common-sense. It's telling me that we have a problem. I'm a problem-solver but I can't do this alone. It has to be a co-ordinated effort. This is not an uncommon problem and in no way unique to me, my collegues or my company. I'm not asking for anything revolutionary. Just clear leadership and good old-fashioned co-operation.
So when can we start?
Nick made a good point in our latest discussion. Coming from Singapore, I grew up in a result-oriented environment. We had all those milestones laid out by parents, teachers and employers which were the benchmarks of our achievements. I'm a little lost without all that now. My Swedish employer doesn't tell me I have to do this, that or the other. I'm responsible for shaping my role. What flexibility! What freedom! I should be contented but I'm having a hard time being that.The vagueness of my role and responsibilities coupled with the constant re-organization of a company that is growing almost too quickly is generating a lot of frustration. But there is a larger, more inherent problem.
There is a lack of clearly define processes and routines for how things are done. If there is a routine, it is seldom documented or communicated to the rest of the organization. There are a lot of overlaps in the processes since there doesn't appear to be one central source. Various departments have to come up with their own ad-hoc procedures that might not complement that of other departments. A lot of time is wasted due to the lack of central co-ordination.
I'm not asking for a miracle. I know these things do not happen over-night. But I can't help but see similarities between our organization and that of a badly-managed disaster scenario. Who is in charge? Do those who are in charge know what they are supposed to be doing? Are the responsibilities being delegated to the the rest of the management structure? Are there overlaps or unaccounted gaps? Who is using the pps-model or the bdp-model? Why are given tools but not shown how to use them?
I'm no business-model expert, or a disaster-management specialist... what I have is common-sense. It's telling me that we have a problem. I'm a problem-solver but I can't do this alone. It has to be a co-ordinated effort. This is not an uncommon problem and in no way unique to me, my collegues or my company. I'm not asking for anything revolutionary. Just clear leadership and good old-fashioned co-operation.
So when can we start?