Fail and Fail Fast

Posted by Shaza Hakim on August 14, 2011

Help employees get their bearing back, send them out there again, then get the hell out of the way.

Shaza shares her take on why companies should permit employees to fail. Shaza is the Creative Lead at Stampede.

Zana wrote a brilliant post earlier today about nurturing creative culture at workplace. Her posts are always very insightful and I want to extend that with how we do things at Stampede.

When we started Stampede some good 5 years ago, Dov and I were still cringing at our share of bad workplace experience. Our goal then was to create a working environment where people not unlike us can do stuffs they really like while actually enjoying each others’ company. My litmus test when I wake up every morning is almost always – “Do I want to go to work today?”

You cannot underestimate the power of working with people you like. If you are an entrepreneur and have the choice, this should be high on your list. Not profit, not product. People.

Which brings me to my next point. So you found a person who is a perfect fit to your company culture. What next?

I think that it is crucial to build a company culture that allows employee to fail and fail fast. Everyone fails. You shouldn’t tiptoe and delay the inevitable. Only by throwing away your reservations and trying things and risking failure, you are able to learn new things. The key point here is moving forward – not to dwell on your failures or repeating the same mistakes. The former is denying yourself of further greatness (and I mean this in every sense of the word) and the latter is just, well, plain lazy. We abhor lazies.

At the speed in which this industry thrives, failing and moving on is a ubiquitous advantage. Never before an outcome of failure can be rectified almost immediately. If it’s beyond repair, be genuine and honest about it. Clients appreciate transparency and only know too well that everyone is fallible to some degree. Get it out of your system, step back and think of another way around it. Nip the negativity in the bud and move the project, and yourself, into positive territory again.

My take – everyone should be permitted to fail. I fail on daily basis, as few dozens half-finished artworks can testify. Dov’s intensity of hacking at his keyboard multiplies when he couldn’t get some code to work. Failure is an acceptable by-product of actually doing something. A good team is built to weather, nay encourage, the education of failures. People will be too scared to try new things if they’re too busy dodging toes.

On the other side of the coin, a company should have a failure-handling mechanism well-oiled and ready. Assure employees that failure is acceptable, help them get their bearing back, send them out there again, then get the hell out of the way.

So fail and fail fast. Then dust yourself off and move on. Rinse and repeat.

Posted in Inspiration, Team 2 Comments »

“All happy families are alike…”

Posted by Zana Fauzi on July 25, 2011

There is a reason Leo Tolstoy came up with that aphoristic brilliance of a first line in his novel, Anna Karenina.

Zana loves her new family so much she bugs for their status updates every single day without fail. Zana is the Project Manager at Stampede.

Here’s one thing about me – the day before joining a new company I would always establish the idea that my team members are like my family. That way, in times of those affectionate points of brushing past each other purring contently or during those fraught moments of tearing each other’s hair apart, I will be obliged to love and protect them, come high or low.

I carried the same notion with me the day I joined Stampede as a Project Manager. And just like all families, every member has their own quirkiness which makes every one of us unique. Here’s how I see them:

Dov

Let’s start with Dov. He is The Man, that’s how the boys call him. He’s the male parental unit of the family, generally taciturn, only speaks when he needs to. And when he does, his words are worth quoted and framed. The boys look up highly to him, at some point they fear him but often it is for a good cause. He never needs to speak much to convey his message, just a little sideswipe glance and the boys would scramble out of their seats, jostling against each other to finish their homework so that they could gain extra gaming hours.

Shaiful ‘Holmes’ Borhan

And then there’s the big brother, Shaiful. As opposed to Dov (but just as awesome), he is very laid-back, speaks in a pleasant drawl and regards everyone as his ‘homies’. Despite that, he’s whom everyone runs to when Daddy gives that fearful sideswipe glance. A few reassuring words, and we would be on the right track back again.

Guo Lin

There would always be a nerd in the family – here is our very own Guo Lin. Despite always racking his brain with what-to-do-next’s and here’s-what-I-think lists which never failed to blow our mind, he is often highly critical of himself. At the risk of sounding like a hypocritical mission statement for a tire & rubber company, he strives to be the best among the best among the best. We all love him for his competence and awesomeness, but often never admit because when every time we say “Congratulations, GL!” after a victorious feat, he would go, “Er, OK?”

The Twins

In real life, they are not one – but we have the twins, Syazwan and Mujib. Just like every pair of twin, although they might be identical there will be always be opposing traits that the family always welcome with open arms (although sometimes we leave them debating with each other in the distant corner of the video call). Syazwan is an Android enthusiast, while Mujib is devoted to Team iOs – so we often see them bashing each other about their perennial partialities to their favorite operating systems.

Shaza

Of course we shall not forget about our female parental unit, Shaza. Just like every mother, she is just as protective and wants the best for everybody. Analogically speaking, it’s like as she was trying to let us cross the street after a number of hours of road safety lessons at school, in an instant her mind would go, “It’s OK, Shaza, let go, let them explore on their own.” and after a few seconds she would go again, “Don’t go too far, come back! Let me show you how!” Of course, just like every mother, she has the ability to multitask like a bawse, and escapes unhurt every single time.

Zana

Then there’s me – the crazy, domineering sister.

There will always be one in the family – when the father’s scary sideswipe glance, the mother’s comforting words and the big brother’s reassuring pat won’t work – here’s where the bossy sister comes in. She reminds you every 5 minutes when you forget to clean up after your sleepover. She sticks Post-It notes all over your corkboard (of which she installed for you in your room) reminding you to do your own laundry. And when you forget to do so, she does it for you. Just when you are about to be grateful, she sends you a text message reminding you to walk the dog, when you are about to do so.

Nevertheless, this is what family is about. Some may drive everyone off the wall more than the others, some may be the instant family favorite, some may be just sitting on the fence watching the conversation over family dinner evolves from kindergarten to puberty – in the end, as I was saying, when you are a family, you are obliged to love and protect for each other come high or low.

Stampede team is made of this, amongst many other beautiful traits, and I am so grateful to join this family. (I hope the feeling is mutual).

(Pic: The Winslows of Family Matters, remember them?)

Posted in Team 2 Comments »

My Favourite Dudes

Posted by Anita Zein on June 1, 2011

They executed a well-orchestrated maneuver and completed their tasks with a bang.

Anita Zein is very proud of the team and she wants the entire world to know. Anita is the Project Manager at Stampede.

There’s nothing more fun for a manager than to see the crew she led successfully meets their target. And while having much fun too.

A project requires many things: fulfillment of responsibilities, good cooperation, effective communication and the awareness to be your own leaders. For the past one year, Stampede has been actively managing post-development tasks for one of our biggest accounts. As with other projects, there were stumbling blocks. But more recently and particularly today, everyone shines at meeting the demands of their. They executed a well-orchestrated maneuver and completed their tasks with a bang.

Mothers, Lock Your Daughters

We’re very proud of our three young dashing crew – Syazwan Hakim, See Guo Lin and Mujib Jazmin. Between the three of them, they tackled updates on a severely limited system and resolved them instantly. On a live server.

GL, Mujib and I received requests from the client and quickly distribute the tasks to the expert in charge. Mujib handled anything design-related, Syazwan did his front-end magic then GL followed through with the real deal coding. We then reported progresses and completion to the client on the same hour within minutes.

This is definitely my dream team. Their young spirits and friendship are invaluable to me. We had so much jokes and fun during the session, it was hilarious. Cherry on top – I received word that the client was very pleased with our response and speed. He skyped me kind words until he ran out of praise.

I’m surrounded by three extraordinary men in the team. Yeah I’m happy.

(picture by Ken Ludwig)

Posted in Team 2 Comments »