Today I met with two established organizations who for me represented the "bookends" of the cultural range. Each of them had things that I groked and appreciated as well as things that made me go "hmmm".
Full disclosure, I will not be using the names of the organizations in this post as I am in active talks with both regarding employment and I do not wish to color opinions.
This morning started with a meeting of the CTO at company "X". This company is a local success story and has a great reputation for being a fun and exciting place to work. I have a number of contacts within this organization that I have worked with in past lives. Needless to say, the opportunity to work with these fine folks is a big part of why I agreed to take the meeting.
The organization is at the point in its lifecycle where they are putting all of their chips in and betting on the come. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of being part of a huge gamble, let me tell you something about how that feels. It is exciting, scary, fantastic and inspiring all at the same time. As the CTO said to me today "It is during these inflection points when creativity kicks in and amazing things happen."
I could not agree more.
The point I wish to make here is that this organization had built a culture of innovation and action and was now looking to mature it into a culture of excellence and quality. This is not to say that these cultural traits are mutually exclusive, but they do have a hard time occupying the same time and space at times.
The next meeting was with a large multinational company who has great brand recognition and strong revenues. They are the undisputed 800 pound Gorilla in the market and have great products used and enjoyed by millions of people across the World.
The gentlemen I met with impressed me with his candor and intelligence. We had a great meeting and I was intrigued by the opportunity being presented.
This organization had already made the leap to a culture of excellence and quality, and was now looking to broaden its product portfolio and bring some "spice" to the line up.
Neither one was better than the other, in fact, it is not fair to compare the two because of where they are on the maturity scale. What can be compared is the level of engagement and excitement observed and felt by walking around the facility and talking to the people.
At the afternoon meeting, I did not have opportunity to speak to anyone besides the gentlemen interviewing me, and I regret that was the case as I think that there is missing data that I need in order to make a quantitative evaluation of the opportunity.
All of this leads up to this fact; I find myself in a quandary which will only be resolved by deep contemplation and introspection. There will also be a healthy dose of mentoring and advice sought by yours truly, as these are not the only options on the table, and I need to figure out which one is going to be the right option to pursue.
I look forward to the next phase of this adventure. Rest assured you will be kept in the loop....
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