Published on December 10, 2012 on The Lean HR
Working at a startup is kinda like working at a circus.
One character that resonates with startup life is the juggler. You know, the juggler on the tricycle throwing bowling pins, knives, axes, and torches high up into the air with total coordination and focus.
At startups, we are all jugglers. CEO’s, managers, and leaders have a lot to balance, especially in product, people, and shipping said product into the hands of anxious customers. The true challenge being the allocation of time and resources into these areas without sacrificing product quality, your team’s sanity, and the timeliness of delivery to market.
For the Back to the Future fans out there, imagine a Flux Capacitor on a see-saw framework with each end pointing to either “Product”, “Team Sanity”, and “Ship”. Without overstating the obvious, it’s important to spend time on “Product” so you make something kick-ass but without killing your team and putting something out in a timely manner.
Of course there are going to be times when you “drop the bowling pin” and that is fine. The best jugglers shrug it off, take a deep breath, throw the freaking thing back in the air, and do it with a smile
- Thanks to Matt Brezina for the inspiration of the “Flux Capacitor” analogy.