At every cocktail party, meeting in a long elevator ride, get-together or interview, the question comes up: What do you do? For the past ten years, my answer has varied from (literally) "anything and everything" to "whatever needs to be done". This might get a guy or gal labeled with that less-than-romantic designation, Jack (or Jane)-of-all-trades. Shudder. And then one of two opinions of you are formed, ingrained in the least-pliable matter of your new friend's brain: 1) You must be the dumbest person in your cool-hip start-up if you're in charge of the cleaners and the food or 2) You must be so smart to be able to manage IT and schedule Board meetings and order food.
While I much prefer the second opinion to the first, neither are really spot on. What is, is this: I, and all of my operations brothers and sisters are passionate about the organizations we join. We may not know the technology or the science inside and out, but we stand behind all the good work the founders have developed and their vision for what is ultimately a better future. We come to work each day looking to solve the snags that might get in your way of advancing that vision. We strive to provide the tools you need to get the work done. But, we also come with a barrel full of common sense and good humor that is not always the first attribute of said Ph.D. founder, or rising CEO. We are intelligent enough to know how work flows, how to listen to others and how to operate.
Now, as my third start-up matures, I am growing with it and shedding the sheath of Operations Demigod to focus on a more defined career path. But I struggle to leave that multi-faceted role behind. I hope that sharing my knowledge here will free me of the need to reach every single nook and cranny of an organization that's no longer a start-up, while helping all of those who've suddenly found themselves in charge of everything (outside the defined corporate goals) in their organization.
In the final weeks of 2015, as I sat in interviews with stunningly intelligent candidates, I tried out a new response to the question, "what do you do here?" I work for a great company, and a fantastic CEO. She runs the company. I make it run.