Last week was my final week at the South Australian Museum. I have recently accepted the position of Assistant Director, Content and Innovation at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and start next week.
While I take a few days to regroup and plan to (partially) relocate my life to Darwin, I thought I’d ask my Twitter and LinkedIn networks for any words of wisdom or recommended reading for a person starting in a new role. Here is a selection of the thoughtful, insightful comments that came back:
You’ll feel even more of an imposter than usual – be gentle on yourself.
Display your values even more clearly – that’s what people need to see of you
Keep a diary of ‘stuff I don’t understand’ and ‘stuff I reckon could be better’ – for later reference when you’re acclimatised.— Paul Bowers (@Paulrbowers) June 15, 2018
And, consider making one of these:https://t.co/HanQVA7xZe
— Paul Bowers (@Paulrbowers) June 15, 2018
Don’t keep saying “at my old place, we used to….”! Watch and learn the system before making big changes. Start with an attitude of enquiry, rather than judgement. You’ll knock ’em dead, Regan and start flying ???
— Katrina Nitschke (@NitschkeKatrina) June 16, 2018
It’s ok to feel like you’re drowning at the start. You’re going to rock it. Just be gentle on yourself in the early days.
— suse anderson (@shineslike) June 16, 2018
Take your time to get a feel for the place and the people before you get stuck in with your own passion and expertise. You’ll do great!
— Nicole Deufel (@NicoleDeufel) June 16, 2018
Listen! Recognise and acknowledge the expertise and insight the rest of the team have. Ask them what they think could be better and what they’d like you to change. But take the time to get under the skin of what you’re hearing, it might not be what it appears on the surface.
— Helen Featherstone (@HFeatherstone) June 16, 2018
Lots of advice on waiting; and reading the situation. Your gut is your gut. Don’t wait too long for action; or get talked out of it because of “the situation” which now you have “understood”. You only get to see the org with this clarity once, and it’s the first few weeks.
— Michael Parry (@vaguelym) June 16, 2018
In those few weeks, be ravenous: meet everyone; visit every space across the venues (stores; plant rooms; smoking areas etc); Ask loads of dumb questions, take loads of photos, devour any docs you can get. Fossick. It’s a pretty rare opportunity to see it all with fresh eyes.
— Michael Parry (@vaguelym) June 16, 2018
And if anyone says “oh, don’t worry about that bit” / “you don’t need to go in there” / “we’ll have to get Barry to get the other key to open that door” / “are you *really* interested in that?” etc. Insist.
— Michael Parry (@vaguelym) June 16, 2018
Yeah, have good chats with ‘Barry’. He knows what actually happening…
— Michael Parry (@vaguelym) June 16, 2018
As soon as you start make a list of problems/issues/things that are strange. Add to this list for the first month. Don’t try to solve them at the start. Just make sure you keep notes.
— Andrew Griffiths (@pixeltoofar) June 16, 2018
Latecomer: Reserve judgement about things you’ve inherited until you understand the intent behind them. No minimum time on that one — but rather a healthy respectful pause
— dean krimmel (@deankrimmel) June 16, 2018
And the first 3-6 months you may well have time to think before everything else catches up, so use that time wisely for inspiration and energy.
— Kristin Alford (@kristinalford) June 17, 2018
So to sum up the collective wisdom of the Twitter hive mind:
1) Be observant & relentlessly curious
2) Keep an open mind, but not an uncritical one
3) Document and diarise what stands out while you still have fresh eyes
4) Listen actively
5) It’s ok to feel overwhelmed at times— Regan Forrest (@interactivate) June 16, 2018
My LinkedIn network also recommended some great reading and resources:
{You can either follow the comment thread or below is a summary of some of the suggested resources}
Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt (coincidentally I’m in the middle of reading this)
The First 90 Days by Michael D Watkins
Gung Ho and One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
Tyranny of Metrics by Jerry Muller (which is referred to in one of the articles I linked to in my previous blog post)
. . . plus several others.
This should be enough reading and general inspiration to get me started . . .
This is great – good luck to you!