Put Your Hands on the Clay


Put Your Hands on the Clay



“It’s important not to overstate the benefits of ideas. Quite frankly, I know it’s kind of a romantic notion that you’re just going to have this one brilliant idea and then everything is going to be great. But the fact is that coming up with an idea is the least important part of creating something great. It has to be the right idea and have good taste, but the execution and delivery are what’s key.” - Google cofounder Sergey Brin


When I was 21 and looking around for career prospects, I was a bit like I am now: curious, argumentative, rebellious, and pretty sure I was the smartest guy in the room. With the exception of once in high school, I had never worn a suit or tie. I was just about the furthest thing from an IBM recruit you could imagine. I didn’t understand their culture when IBM recruited me to help them break new ground with data visualization, UX design, and coding on their newest PC operating system. Imagine my thoughts when the division VP thought he was selling me on the dream when he said, “You’ll enjoy year-round golf in North Carolina!” Golf. Rrrrright. The creative and technical challenges sounded exciting, so I took the job, moved to North Carolina, and, no, I never picked up a golf club.

During my time at IBM, I wrote lots of code and built some cool products. But culturally I was frustrated. IBM was quite persistent in their attempts to drown me in their formaldehyde-soaked culture. Meanwhile, I made fruitless attempts to beat the dust out of their fusty and insular environment. The more rigid I found their processes, the more lifeless their leadership, the less I wanted to change myself to fit their moldy mold. Several years ago, I was throwing away a bunch of old paperwork. I got a laugh out of reading my old performance reviews. I found myself remembering how unengaged I was in the success of a company that I had no ability to shape. Because I couldn’t effect change, I wasn’t committed to IBM’s success. Some companies are like rock and some are like clay. You might think rock beats clay. Think again.

In The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowecki explains that the creativity and intelligence of a group is far greater than that of any one individual. (So much for me being the smartest guy in the room!) If only one member of a group is making all the decisions and team members aren’t comfortable debating those decisions, you end up with mistakes and lack of commitment. In traditional top-down teams, the boss makes most of the decisions. When this happens, classic dysfunctions may arise:

  1. If your boss doesn’t trust you to do your job, you’ll get a top-down command and control structure that will naturally reduce the commitment of individual team members since the free will and creativity of the group is diminished.
  2. Conversely, if you don’t understand that your job involves participation in shaping the plan and approach to problem solving, the team loses your contribution in the group debate.
  3. The noisiest (or highest-paid) person in the room isn’t necessarily the smartest. The healthy debate that can erupt from providing time and access for the crowd to explore a problem is most likely when it is ingrained in the culture of the team.
  4. If the team isn’t committed and involved, they won’t feel accountable to their results.

Only the best ideas should survive the crucible of debate. For you to succeed at embracing the conflict of debate, you have to first trust your team and its leaders. Otherwise, you aren't likely to be comfortable engaging in a productive discussion of ideas. Please consider the crucial role you play on the team. Your team, your process, and your product is ready to yield its shape to the positive pressure of your ideas. As I learned from my experience at IBM, expect your commitment only to be secured if you genuinely appreciate and leverage your opportunity to participate. Trust your team members enough to share your greatness openly. A phrase I use frequently is “Put your hands on the clay.” For you to shape the discussion, the plan, and enforce the strength of our commitment, put your hands on the clay and engage in the debate.

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