Leadership

There is some kind of management reluctance ruling around here. Truth is, we enjoy making things at lot more than managing people. We prefer to get to the bottom of something, to understand and shape it, over staying on top of everything, without actually contributing much anywhere.

Yet, to align our forces as an organization, and to avoid learning from failures alone, leadership is key.

What is great leadership?

It’s not about you. It’s about looking at the bigger picture, seeing things from multiple perspectives, and taking care of your team. Setting the course and making decisions may be part of your job, but first and foremost, your responsibility as a leader at Infound is to empower the right people and then clear the way for them.

It’s all about you. Your ambition. Your vision. Your experience. Your instinct. Your example. Your ability to acknowledge, encourage, and strengthen the people you are responsible for. It’s on you to keep things as simple and clear as possible. It’s on you to be stubborn on vision, but flexible on details. It’s on you to create an environment where excellence is expected and celebrated.

Groups of people

Most groups emerge based on social connections and shared interests. Being part of a group like that feels emotionally comforting and provides a safe place. A few people are leading the group around, usually without a specific destination in mind. Most people follow along, rarely if ever stepping out of the line.

Outside of work, that’s all fine. But here at Infound, we need people who deeply care about the purpose and the progress of the work we’re doing together; opinionated people who practice thinking and feeling for themselves; articulate people who dare to speak up and challenge the status quo; passionate people who are proud of and love what they can do together.

So, you could sarcastically say, “That’s a group of difficult people, then.” And yes, there’s some truth to that, and it can be a challenge. But there’s a significant difference between people who are just difficult and those who are smart curious and resourceful and driven by the right motives.

We deliberately seek out constructive debates. This is where we find hidden treasures, and where we make meaningful progress together.

Put differently, the majority of groups do not help the individual members become more productive and reach their full potential. We all enjoy being entertained and distracted every once in a while. But at the end of the day, it is much more satisfying to achieve meaningful results for our clients and for Infound.

Exceptional individual contributors

There are incredibly talented individual contributors. It is a great blessing to have them, and given the right environment, they will be able to contribute to the best of their abilities. This includes providing clear job descriptions, ensuring that the necessary resources are available from the start, and removing distractions so that they can focus on the task at hand. As their manager, but also as their supportive teammate, take care of these requirements for focused, deep work.

Always remember, if we expect original work, we need to provide room for deeper thinking and freedom for playful experimentation.

Experts leading experts

We don’t believe in structures where general managers, who lack deep understanding of the domains they are responsible for, are entitled to make strategic decisions. At Infound the rights for making important decisions is given to those who have the most in-depth domain knowledge based on work experience within their respective area. This principle is especially important when making strategic bets on a new technology, platform, or trend.

Leading a project

For most projects, an experienced designer or engineer takes the lead. This follows our principle of “Experts leading experts”. They know or have established our agreement with the client. They are in frequent contact with the client, and proactively facilitate fruitful connections between all the people on the project team. It’s their responsibility to keep the project on track.

Key questions when leading a project:

Side Gigs & Portfolios