Learnings from my first year at Intuit
“Intuit thrives by constantly disrupting itself.”
It’s been a whole year since I first heard that phrase. Since my first day of orientation, I’ve learned a ton and wanted to share out my journey.
Embracing fear
I’ve observed a common three-word response when anyone wanted to improve how we do things: “What’s stopping you?”
And that made me really pause and think. The only real thing that was stopping me, was me — and my fear of failure. Fear that my suggestion wouldn’t work. Fear of being told I was wrong. Fear of confirming my imposter syndrome.
To overcome that, I had to define what disruption really meant and how I could change the way that I thought about… well, change.
Small steps, big wins
For me, disruption means being constructively dissatisfied enough to not only challenge existing practices, but to also instigate and lead change.
Change can sound scary, but it doesn’t always mean large, sweeping process adjustments.
Try to think in small, iterative approaches — treat your company like a product.
If you can get small, quick wins, you’ll find they eventually ripple into larger more impactful results.
Eventually, big proposals don’t seem as daunting because you’ve established a track record of consistent improvements.
😴 Tired: My team just doesn’t have the time to keep our documentation updated, sorry.
🤩 Wired: How can I automate or open-source documentation to free up my team to do the work they want to do while still supporting our community?
The art of saying “no (thanks)”
You can’t change everything, and that means saying no to some projects (I’m still working on this one!). Focus on the improvements that you can control , and take pride in your work.
Lessons learned:
- Make a list of every project you’re working on with your role and level of commitment (are you only needed at the beginning? full-time resource?)
- Document every product-changing decision your team lands on — leverage internal release notes if you can
- Don’t go to every meeting you’re invited to if you only need to be informed — rely on meeting notes
- Have an exit strategy when you’re on too many projects
Saying no doesn’t mean you don’t care. Again, it goes back to how can you make the biggest impact. Your time is valuable and how you invest it says a lot about your priorities.
Before: I have to say yes, because I’ll look lazy
After: I have to say no, otherwise my current project will suffer
By confronting my previous fear of looking lazy, I felt more empowered to turn down projects that would have a negative impact on the work I had already committed to.
Pro-tip: This also helps with scope creep and sprint negotiation!
Know your audience
When crafting a presentation or proposal, it’s easy to fall into the trap of talking to your audience like you would your own team or yourself. There’s a certain sense of security when expressing your thoughts using terms you use on a daily basis.
However, you gain more impact when you share your message with people outside of your team.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Their perspective and connections are invaluable for furthering the progress of your initiative. That being said, it’s a good idea to do some homework first.
Ask yourself why they should care by addressing:
- What problems are they trying to solve?
- How can they help or be involved?
- What’s the biggest benefit for them?
By framing the solution around your audience, you’re bringing them with you on the journey instead of having a one-sided conversation. Empathy goes a long way when telling a story, so make the audience your focus rather than yourself.
Before: “I think we should use this tool because it’s the easiest to use.”
After: “Based on feedback from our designers and developers, we should use this tool because they said it would be twice as fast to implement.”
Bonus points for metrics!
Using the voice of your internal and external customers to sell an idea is more impactful because now it’s less of a hypothesis, and more of a reinforcement. By removing yourself out of the equation, it also helps remove bias and emphasizes your commitment to being a leader who serves their community.
Find what sparks joy
When you’re passionate about the work your company’s doing, it’s easy to get caught up in everything. However, there are only so many initiatives you can invest your time in before you’re spread too thin.
So how do you decide what to spend your energy on?
This is a great opportunity to ask for SBI-framed feedback from your peers by asking them what you are doing well and how you could improve.
Hopefully you’ll start to see a trend and can use this as a discussion point in your 1:1’s with your manager. By being explicit and communicating the kind of work you enjoy and excel at, it makes it easier to find opportunities that align with your career growth.
Make sure that you are choosing projects that not only bring you joy, but ones that also have the most potential for disruption.
Pro-tip: save positive feedback for times when you need a pick-me-up (and for your year-end review!). I actually print out Slack messages and leave them on my desk when I’m feeling overwhelmed.
Remember to provide feedback as well! Try to be as specific as possible to avoid making generalizations. For example…
S: During her Overwatch presentation *,
B: Kelly did a great job articulating how her game sense relates to how she works,
I: which makes me feel like she could effectively manage a team of six.
*This is only an example. No one has asked me to give a talk about Overwatch (yet)!
Going forward
Pairing delight along with disruption ensures that we’re constantly self-improving. By training yourself to view both as necessities for innovation and success, you can give yourself permission to be bold.
Look for opportunities to:
- Confront your fears
- Say no
- Celebrate small wins
- Form meaningful partnerships
- Define what’s important to you
Here’s to celebrating more years of powering prosperity around the world! 🥂
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