Amazon purposefully has ambiguous asks of each employee. As
a company, we know what the end goal is, but we are constantly trying to figure
out how to get there quicker, more efficiently, and in a way that improves the
customer experience.
But I’ve watched so many people struggle as they try to
navigate their way through ambiguous asks, but when you break it down into
these simple 4 steps, it’s nothing you can’t handle.
Your brain wants to know the exact steps and to-dos to get
to the end result. You are literally wired to freak out when we don’t have all
the answers because that feels dangerous and your brain is ALWAYS on the
lookout for danger. But not knowing HOW to reach your goal is not actually
dangerous. It just feels hard.
Following these 4 steps and help you skip the freak out part
and get right to work.
1. Be clear on the result you are trying to get:
Notice I did not say, know every step and process, and detail on HOW you are
going to get there. Just make sure everyone is aligned on what the goal is and
how you will measure success.
Maybe your manager asked you to increase
engagement with your product. Start by establishing a clearly defined goal
behind that ambiguous ask. It might be
something like, decrease customer attrition in week 5 from 23% to 10% measured
by app launches.
Now that you know exactly what result you
are working towards, you can get to work, right….? I’m guessing you are thinking, I know what
I’m trying to do, but how do I do that?
2.
Identify
the obstacles: Next you have to identify the obstacles you think you’ll run
into in reaching this goal. You probably don’t know all of them today, but
write down everything your brain is freaking out about. HINT: Those are the
obstacles.
It could be things like: How are we tracking
app launches today and how do I get that data? What happens between week 4-5
that drives the large drop in engagement? How do I get dev resources when I
don’t even have a plan? How can I
directly tie back what we test to the change in engagement? What ways can we communicate with to drive
engagement? Where do I even start?
3.
Come up with a strategy for each obstacle: Now
that you know what challenges you need to start tackling, come up with a plan
to tackle each one. Don’t worry about it being the “right” plan, just start
thinking of ways to overcome these obstacles.
Things like: Attend BI office hours next
Tuesday to understand how we measure app launches today. Ask BI team and
coworkers if there’s a query with this data. Walk through customer experience
of the product. Look at key drivers in engagement during weeks 1-4. Meet with
TPM to understand Dev sprint cycles, intake process and how things are
prioritized. Meet with marketing team to understand communication channels.
Meet with PM on other teams that have similar challenges.
4.
Focus on the ONE next think you need to do: To
be clear, you still have NO idea how you are going to do this. This is still a
very ambiguous ask. The goal might not even be possible given the available
tools you have today. BUT, all you need to focus on is the ONE next thing to
do. Keep taking just one step at a time. Talk to all the people. Dig through
all the data. Then you can come up with a plan, write the doc and start taking
action to see what does and does not work.
Above all else, try to keep a realistic perspective.
Leadership has not solved this problem yet and does not know exactly what to do
which is why they hired you and asked you to help. If you knew exactly what to
do, you would probably be their boss. So, step in, get to work, and don’t worry
about the unknowns. Figuring it all out is the rewarding part of your job.
If you want help figuring out how to move forward with your
projects and feel confident while you do it, let’s jump on the phone and come
up with a plan together. Sing up for free coaching at www.lindsaybuchancoaching.com
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