{"id":14185,"date":"2018-01-02T16:31:21","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T16:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.intercom.com\/?p=14185"},"modified":"2020-07-30T12:57:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T11:57:06","slug":"pride-over-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/pride-over-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Take pride in your work and the process will follow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Process is important for any startup. But process is a means to an end. It\u2019s never the end product.<\/p>\n

I see lots of talented people get bogged down \u201crunning a process\u201d and struggling to prioritize and drive what\u2019s really important for their teams. They often lose sight of what really matters, which is Delivering Great Things, As Fast As Is Humanly Possible\u2122.<\/p>\n

As managers we put processes and mechanisms in place to enable our teams to do well. But processes alone won\u2019t guarantee success. And too much of it, or too much tweaking of it, can make it hard to remain focused on what really matters.<\/p>\n

Great people, with great attitudes, working hard, with urgency and pride in their hearts, guided by “just enough” process will deliver great results.<\/p>\n

Time is precious – spend it where it matters<\/h2>\n

Life is short and opportunities are fleeting. Companies go bust, great teams break up, economic forces change, your own personal circumstances change. Seriously, time is short, don\u2019t waste it on unnecessary process. So if you love what you do, make it your life\u2019s work. Ask yourself, if this is my life\u2019s work, am I proud to say that the work I\u2019m doing now will be my legacy?<\/p>\n

If it all ended today, would you be proud of the last few weeks?<\/p>\n

If you look back over the last week or two week sprint, think about how you worked, how you hustled, how you learned, how you taught and helped, how you cared and reflect on what you actually achieved. If it all ended today, would you be proud of the last few weeks and hang your career hat on your accomplishments and trajectory?<\/p>\n

Then ask yourself the same things but this time about your team. Hopefully, you\u2019re really happy with the answers. I\u2019m pretty happy with mine to be honest. I\u2019m standing tall today.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re not, why not? What are you going to do about it? What is your team going to do about it? When are you going to start building your legacy, your life\u2019s work, and working and achieving in a way that you\u2019re really proud of? Work that you will be proud to tell your kids and grandkids about, back in the \u201cgood old days\u201d before robots took all our jobs. Who\u2019s going to pull you up and get you into this mindset? Wouldn\u2019t it feel better to be able to say you did it yourself? Yes. Yes it would.<\/p>\n

Changing your mindset<\/h2>\n

Stepping down from the soapbox for a second, I’ll share some simple ways you can get started with this mindset.<\/p>\n

Firstly, just care about doing a great job. Be open, humble, take personal responsibility for your behaviors and actions and commit to work with people who want to work with you.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a manager, here are a few more tips\u2026<\/p>\n