Two Peas in a Pod
In 2015, I found myself as the Chief Operating Officer of a food startup. It was an incredibly wild ride, where I had to learn how to quickly scale a small business into a national supply chain, working with distributors, co-packers, and all the moving pieces in between to make it happen.
It was during that time, that I realized how antiquated the systems I had to use were. In fact, we were still using fax numbers to receive and send orders. Totally bananas.
In 2016, I decided that to be the operator I wanted to be, I needed to learn how to make the tools I wanted to use. So I applied for a coding bootcamp, was accepted, and learned full-stack web development. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done to date. But it’s been one of the most important parts of my journey thus far.
Why? Well, let me tell you, my friend.
🙃 Overcoming Technology Paralysis
Before code school, I was overwhelmed by technology, including attempting to work a TV remote. Funny, but oh so true. When I would try to work with technology, it was like my brain was paralyzed into frustration and I couldn’t see my way through solving simple problems, like changing an HDMI input.
Now, even though technology could send me spiraling, I still found coding really intriguing. Like a digital puzzle where if I could figure out how to connect the dots, I could make whatever I wanted. My curiosity for the craft, helped to override my fear and frustration of technology, which ended up strengthening my resilience in problem-solving, in and outside of technology.
There’s that saying “The only out is through,” which is exactly what I learned in code school and also became the mentality for everything I do operations. I owe the learning of that lesson to coding.
🎨 Technology as a Canvas
Whether you want to admit it or not, technology is the vessel with which we run our lives. Especially with the adoption of smartphones. As of January 2024 there are 6.84 billion smartphones being used globally. These pocket computers have changed the way we interact in the world and how we need to do business.
In operations, technology is the canvas with which we develop our processes and help our people to do their best work. Without knowing how to use technology to create the operational framework of the business you are in, I hate to say it, but you are sorely behind.
Just like an artist needs to learn how to layer paints on a canvas to create dimension in their artwork, operators need to be able to layer data, technology, automations, and more to create a dynamic ecosystem for businesses to thrive and scale in. It’s a necessity today and only becoming more so over time.
💬 Becoming an Operational Translator
The whole reason why I started Secret Ops was because we as operators suck as explaining what we do. Why? Because there are different specializations and ways that our roles manifest in business. That being said, there’s one vital quality that doesn’t change no matter what the operational role — communication.
Operators need to be able to talk to anyone about anything. Whether it’s a senior stakeholder, external client, or a technical team member, we have to walk the walk and talk the talk, in order to remove blockers, roll out initiatives, and make the business run smoothly.
Because of that, we not only need to understand how the technology works behind the work, but we need to clearly communicate that with anyone on the team. This is not an easy quality to hone, but a requirement of our job. The days of burying our heads in the sand are over. We must because technologist in our own right to do what we do best.
👉 Wrap Up
Technology and operations are like salt and pepper— You can’t have one without the other. The more you embrace the marriage of these two worlds, the better your operations will be. Also, the easier it will be use a remote to watch your favorite show.