Posted by Ellie Mirman on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 09:23 AM
While reading a recent article by our CEO Brian Halligan on HubSpot's startup culture, it struck me how important transparency is to the success of an organization. Frequently transparency is touted as a key component to a great company culture. But perhaps just as importantly, transparency is a great means of professional development.
HubSpot has not been particularly formal when it comes to professional development. Not because we don't value professional development, but because we have some pretty big fish to fry and other - less formal - means of frying them (or learning better frying methods?). When I started, I spent the first half of my first day reading The New Rules of Marketing & PR while I waited for my computer. There was no formal training, just throwing me into the ring. These days we've got the HubSpot Fellows program which is a great professional development initiative, albeit sadly short and not as in depth as I'm sure us crazy-type-A-hungry-learners would like.
The greatest professional development we've had is our transparency.
Before HubSpot, I definitely underrated transparency. It's certainly cool to know what the CEO is thinking about or what the engineering team is working on. But it's even more valuable to have the kind of understanding about the problems the CEO is trying to solve or how the engineering team develops a product. (A subtle but important difference.)
At a typical job, you might have a particular project or two that you work on. You are focused on your one project and don't have much exposure to what others are working on or thinking about. At HubSpot we have more than enough work on each of our plates, but that doesn't stop us from commenting on what Brian is writing on the wiki or going to an engineering team sprint planning meeting and asking questions about the development of an application. Transparency allows employees to participate in many more projects and learn about much more of the business. It's the best professional development program there is - and a much more practical approach to learning new business skills.
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Wed, Jul 07, 2010 @ 08:30 AM
I recently read Seth Godin's newest book, Linchpin, and not only loved the book but also found that it so shockingly well described my office. So much so that I've started recommending it to recent grads interested in marketing, alongside Inbound Marketing and The New Rules of Marketing & PR, of course.
Below is a combination of summary and favorite tidbits from the book.
Linchpin is Purple Cow for people. In short, be remarkable.
The premise of the book is that the lizard brain, one of the most primitive parts of our brain, is in charge of survival instincts and keeping us out of danger. When translated into our complex world, though, this means that we confine ourselves to our self-made boxes and do not innovate. A linchpin is someone who acknolwedges the fear of the lizard brain but continues to create art to share with the world. It is ever more important, in the new age of the internet, to become a linchpin rather than a cog in the wheel of a factory.
We've been taught to be cogs in a wheel, workers in a factory. But we can choose to break from that mold to create art.
Instead what we should teach in schools is to (1) solve interesting problems (answer the question "What should I do next?" - a question that Google cannot answer) and (2) lead. The new American Dream is (or should be): Be remarkable. Be generous. Create art. Make judgment calls. Connect people and ideas. "If you can be human at work (not a machine), you'll discover a passion for work you didn't know you had. When work becomes personal, your customers and coworkers are more connected and happier. And that creates even more value."
Act like a cog in a machine and you will be treated as such. Linchpins acknolwedge fear and create art anyway. Linchpins have a passion for creating and spreading art.
Linchpins create art that draw people to them and make people (customers, employees, employers) loyal to them. They create great art that makes people cross the street to get to them. Fear is what holds us back. And it's not that linchpins do not have fear. Rather, they feel the fear, acknowledge it, and proceed.
A cog in a machine is always waiting to get instructions. Even if you have a job that is typically like a cog in a machine, you still don't have to treat it that way. "If he waits for a job to be good enough to deserve his best shot, it's unlikely that he'll ever have that job." Linchpins create art, give gifts not because they have to, because if they did, it wouldn't be a gift, it would be a job.
"Passion isn't project-specific. It's people-specific. Some people are hooked on passion, deriving their sense of self from the act of being passionate... People with passion look for ways to make things happen."
Linchpins get things done.
The resistance (the lizard brain) keeps us from actually shipping a product. One case is in the form of thrashing when it's time to ship - surfacing all sorts of objections at the end of a project that delays us and keeps us from actually finishing anything. Instead, thrashing should be done at the beginning of a project when it's a lot cheaper, and should limit the number of people thrashing as much as possible. Some common manifestations of the resistance are: playing "devil's advocate," relying on deadlines to get things done, always juggling multiple projects, compliance disguised as humility. Seth calls out the sprint/scrum process as a great way to battle the resistance and GSD. "Successful people are successful for one simple reason: they think about failure differently." You become a winner by getting good at losing.
Being a linchpin requires good judgment and passion.
Seth calls out the importance of passion multiple times, explaining a two-way relationship between art and passion - passionate people create art, the freedom to create art inspires passion. Note that it's a lot easier to bring passion to your job than to find a job that matches your passion.
The Seven Abilities of the Linchpin
Linchpins do 2 things: (1) exert emotional labor (2) make a map. Linchpins have 7 key abilities:
- Provide unique interface between members of the organization
- Deliver unique creativity (requires domain knowledge, position of trust, generosity to contribute)
- Manage a complex situation or org (requires map-making and clear judgment)
- Lead customers
- Inspire staff
- Provide deep domain knowledge
- Possess a unique talent
Still having trouble being allowed to be a linchpin?
- Note the difference between the right answer and the answer you can sell. Ideas might be shot down not because they're bad but because the wrong person tried to sell it. If you have a controversial idea, you can trigger the resistance in other people.
- Focus on making changes that work down (customers & employees), not up (management). Use that to earn the trust and respect of those above you.
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Tue, Apr 06, 2010 @ 08:30 AM
Last week I had the fun opportunity to fill in for the oh-so-provocative Karen Rubin by co-hosting HubSpot TV. It was a pretty perfect week in marketing for me, with lots of news on Facebook and email marketing! Check out the full episode below or on the HubSpot blog.
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Mon, Jan 18, 2010 @ 07:03 AM
The New York Times had a great article a few days ago with an interview with SunGard CEO on their flat organizational structure. A lot of the points really resonated with and reflected life at HubSpot. Though I may have not thought about this when looking for a job, I realize that the organizational structure - and seeking out a flat organization - can really impact my happiness level and personal growth. Some favorite snippits from the interview:
"Top-down organizations got started because the bosses either knew more or they had access to more information. None of that applies now. Everybody has access to identical amounts of information."
This typically gets reformulated at HubSpot in relation to the changing nature of learning and purchasing in the business world due to the Internet. Of course, the Internet puts information at everyone's fingertips. On top of that, it's the employees who are in the muck of things that really can understand the challenges of the business and their users and can come up with great solutions.
Conde discusses Yammer as their collaboration tool of choice, allowing them to distribute valuable information across the organization straight from users to every single employee.
At HubSpot, I see our wiki allowing for incredible conversations and a flattening of the organization. How better to participate in a conversation with our CEO or VP Engineering or Partner Program Manager if you work in Sales or Engineering or Customer Support? Our challenge now is getting all the new employees to embrace the wiki and feel comfortable enough to jump into these conversations.
"If you start micromanaging people, then the very best ones leave. If the very best people leave, then the people you’ve got left actually require more micromanagement."
Micromanagement stifles your top performers, and top performers will go where they can truly achieve. At HubSpot we talk about being cathedral builders - where everyone is contributing to this greater vision that is common to all of us. Not only does this make us excited and driven to achieve this goal, but also - in the absence of strict managers - we are all aligned towards the same, business-changing end goal. You open yourself up to creative solutions and new ideas to tackle your goals.
"My advice to young people is always, along the way, have a sales job."
I cringe at this at first, because I would hate to be in Sales. But I get the point here. At least in my interpretation, this is about being responsible for driving real business results and being able to articulate the value of what you're selling - whether it's a product or yourself - to a skeptic. Obviously the CEO of SunGard is likely to be a smart cookie, but he really does point out a lot of the truly important things to an organization - the people and their qualities that lead to success. Focusing on their intellectual curiosity and reasoning processes and writing ability, for example, shows that it's about getting the right ingredients as opposed to trying to reformulate a pre-packaged meal. It's very cool to see this coming out of such a huge organization from which you might expect something a little more traditional and up tight.
Read the full interview with SunGard CEO Cristobal Conde here.
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Mon, Dec 28, 2009 @ 09:01 AM
Whenever I get into a conversation about the meaning of life, I immediately roll my eyes. I honestly can't stand that conversation because it seems so irrelevant to me. In my opinion, there is no singular meaning of life and it's not worth our time and energy to discuss it.
Instead, focus on what you can do with your life.
Funny enough, this thought was sparked by a book I just finished, Brazen Careerist. It's a book by blogger/writer/advisor Penelope Trunk on the topic of career advancement. The book and her blog are interesting reads.
One part that really stood out to me was a study she mentioned by Princeton professor of economics Alan Krueger. The study showed that "when it comes to workplace success, it doesn't matter if your get into an Ivy League school, it matters if you apply. Those who applied and those who got in had the same amount of success beyond those who did not apply." The takeaway? "What matters is ambition and self-image, not getting the best grades or having the best test scores."
What I love about this study - and generally what is shown in the book - is that what matters in life are your goals and your ambition to achieve those goals. It's not about WHY you're here, but WHAT you do while you're here.
The book has lots of similar thought-provoking bits. It's nothing so revolutionary that you'll fall out of your chair, but it certainly kept me engaged and kept me thinking. It's a quick and easy read and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in "career development books".
Photo credit: miss blackbutterfly
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Fri, Nov 27, 2009 @ 12:13 PM
I came across the Rules of Productivity presentation on one of my favorite blogs about happiness in the workplace, The Chief Happiness Officer. In it are some interesting takeaways (often pulling from data, my favorite) on how to maximize the productivity of a team.
Rule 1: Working more than 40 hours leads to decreased productivity. You can get a short-term boost by working more hours, but the team will require a recovery period that counteracts the seeming short-term productivity boost.
Rule 2: Every crunch has a cost. This refers to the necessary recovery time. In addition, the recovery period can often outlast the period of increased productivity. Instead of having forced bursts of overtime, try giving flexible work hours like a 4-day week of 10-hour days.
Rule 3: Productivity of "knowledge workers" (vs. factory workers) declines after 35 hours (not 40 hours). When creative workers are forced to work longer hours and get less sleep, the quality of their output goes down dramatically.
Rule 4: Teams that work overtime think they are doing more but actually accomplish less. During crunch times, perceived productivity remains much higher than actual productivity. I found this note particularly interesting:
One of the more fascinating side effects is the perception of both teams with management. Since Team A has more ‘butts in seats’, they are often given more resources, promoted more and generally considered to be better workers. Unfortunately, due to the burden that overtime places on workers, this is not a self fullfilling prophecy. It is quite common that managers put all their eggs in the basket that ends up self destructing. The solution is better metrics so that managers can gain a more objective understanding of how projects are doing.
Rule 5: Teams of 4-8 people have higher productivity. As your team grows, it's best to plan how to split the team into these smaller groups that can then interact with each other as needed.
Rule 6: Seating the team together in a shared room increases productivity. This makes sense, since these are the people you communicate with the most. Having them in a separate room also helps in minimizing external distractions (but what if most of the distractions come from within your own team, I wonder?). Other important notes: give at least 50 sq ft per person and set up side rooms for private conversations.
Rule 7: Cross-functional teams also increase creativity and productivity. Having a team consisting of people with different perspectives also helps reduce groupthink and helps increase breakthrough solutions. Note that having members of these teams part time rather than full time results in a 15% drop in efficiency.
Rule 8: Schedule your team at 80% to allow space for creative thinking and side projects. Of course, always have a backlog of projects you can pull from as needed, but leaving time for side projects can increase happiness and increase creative problem solving for all projects.
Overall some interesting food for thought for bringing back to your own team.
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Fri, Sep 25, 2009 @ 07:31 AM
Last night I finally made it out to my first DartBoston Pokin' Holes event and I was on a panel of three critiquing Launch Into Boston.
Overall, it was a great experience - met some great people and got to talk about a really interesting business. Full video is below, but here are the basics:
DartBoston: DartBoston is a community of young entrepreneurs and professionals in the Boston area.
Pokin' Holes: DartBoston holds a live weekly video podcast and event called "Pokin' Holes" that evaluates and provides feedback to young entrepreneurs starting new ventures.
Launch Into Boston: This week we evaluated Launch Into Boston, a service for recent college graduates and young professionals to transition into life in Boston.
Panelists: Jason Evanish, Neha Patadia, and myself, and moderated by DartBoston's Cort Johnson
Big thanks to Cort and DartBoston for inviting me to join the panel. It was a great time and I'm sure I'll be back!
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 @ 07:23 AM
This weekend marks the start of the year 5770. Tonight we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year - also my favorite holiday.
I've never been really into New Year's (January 1), either because of when it falls (smack dab in the middle of the school year) or because of my lack of New Year's traditions. It's Rosh Hashanah that's full of traditions for me. Same situation with a lot of "American" holidays that, for me, have Jewish counterparts:
- Thanksgiving - Passover
- Halloween - Purim
- Valentine's Day - really?
It's this time of year that I really do stop and think about my life, the past year, and the new year ahead. It's a celebratory and reflective time and one of the (unfortunately) few times that really get me back to my Jewish roots.
This week also marks my two-year anniversary (or, the start of my third year!) at HubSpot. It's easy to lose track of time - in general, and especially at HubSpot - and forget where I am. What's great about the mark of a new year is that it gives you an opportunity to recognize how far you've come and think about where you want to go from here. A nice checkpoint to ground yourself.
Rosh Hashanah also gives me an excuse to eat delicious, sweet food, see family and friends, and generally be happy about life (cheesey, I know, but I'm a cheesey person from time to time). With all that said...
Shanah tovah u'metukah (a sweet and happy new year) to all!
Photo by chany14
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Wed, Aug 05, 2009 @ 01:55 PM
Recently, Netflix published their internal "freedom & responsibility culture" document on slideshare (which was subsequently picked up by TechCrunch). One of the really interesting points I drew from the 128-page document was the importance of Context -- or, the Why -- of your job.
Why is "The Why" Important?
- "High performance people will do better work if they understand the context." Context gives people a purpose for doing their work. People feel they have an impact on the business and aren't just working for the weekend.
- Context aligns people to reach the right result. This reminds me of one of the lessons taught in Made to Stick about identifying your company's core principle, which helps multiple people coordinate to achieve a common goal.
- Outlining context - as opposed to a process - leaves room for creativity, innovation, and new efficiencies. It is only by trying out new things that we can find new ways to solve problems.
It's a pretty cool document to check out if you have some time.
You can also check out this video/slide presentation Dharmesh Shah did recently for us over at HubSpot.
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Wed, Feb 25, 2009 @ 12:59 PM
Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe came by our offices to talk to Brian Halligan, HubSpot CEO, to talk about how people can find a job (in or out of a recession, really).
In short: use blogs and social media to build your personal brand and expertise online so that companies find you and know who you are before you even send in a resume.
Watch the video: