Sunny Sunday Afternoon

It's a wonderfully warm and sunny Sunday in Southern California. 

I've decided it's a good use of time to sit on the patio and write. About what? I haven't decided so let's see where these ramblings wander off to. 

First, I've been at my job 2 months now. Amazing to feel the differences in myself and see the differences in my team. We're starting to gel and people are getting used to my "hair on fire" way of doing things. It was uncomfortable for everyone at first but we're all starting to adapt. When I look back over the last several weeks, it's astounding the amount of accomplishments that we've gotten under our belt. And still a bit daunting when I look at all the work that still lays ahead of us. 

All in all, I'm adjusting very quickly to living in the sun and at a start up. The work load is less than I was used to at Costco but there are no systems so that makes everything take so much longer. We have to build it all as we go. Ten years ago, it was the same in my old job so I have no fear that this too will smooth out as we build the systems and processes needed to manage things more efficiently. 

Mostly what I love about this new opportunity is that there are no rules, no systems, nothing in the way of being innovative and efficient. We're just running at top speed and trying things along the way. Nobody has all the answers and to most questions we're facing, there aren't any. You can't judge it as good or bad, just a lot to be done. 

Once those systems are procedures are built, then I can get down to the next task at hand which is building a social structure. I'm evolving so quickly into the next version of myself, I wouldn't fit anywhere right now anyway. It's a good time to be me because I have my whole future in front of me. How many times in life do you get to do that? I've had more than my share, that much I know. 

Alicia Keyes has a great song called "like the last time" or something like that. A love song, she's singing that every moment should be treated like the last time because you never know what tomorrow will bring. That's how I'm living right now. Like everything I do is for the last time. This could be my last "starting over" even though I doubt it. That's not who I am. The new product we're launching could be the last one or the new customer could be the last one so each has to be chased and approached fully in the moment, fully engaged and pursued with everything we have just in case. You don't want to waste the opportunity just because you think another might come right behind it. That's a big departure from a very large, global corporation. Here... you take nothing for granted. It's all effort and if you don't do it and do it well, it won't get done right and may not get done at all. There is no calvary coming behind you to finish the tasks you don't want to . There's no back up team or person to pass it along to so you can go on the trip, or vacation or take some time off over the weekend. 

In this small biz world, the calendar becomes irrelevant. The only difference between Saturday and Wednesday is on Saturday you work from home in your shorts or the patio at Starbucks vs Wednesday when you do it from the office. Even that is becoming less relevant. With all the digital tools at our disposal, I can pretty much work any time from any where - and do. I use the weekdays for being there in person for team building purposes and in person meetings in the office.  Anything that I don't have to do in the office gets done when the team has gone home or I do it from my couch at night while catching up on my Daily Show episodes. It's what works for me. The team knows they can have all my time and attention during the weekdays. About 4 pm, I start to focus on all my own to-do's as the others wind down to head home. My most productive hours are between 4 and 6 pm when I'm basically alone in the office. Or after that on my couch if need be. 

Well, this post is really without a point. Just a bunch of iced latte induced ramblings while my right arm gets fried in the 80F sunshine. Next week is KY and IN. The following week I head to Seattle as a visitor for the first time in over 15 years. June is going to finish out quite nicely - and very interestingly.