bad work from 2003
The
no
team.
2-3min read
back then:

I was living with a few friends and we were all working in the “internet" industry. A project manager/programmer, a journalist, a designer, a programmer and a production guy, trying to make the transition to the UX/UI areas - this one was me. One of us found a open source tool that would make it easier to build websites - nothing compared to what we see today on Squarespace, The Grid, Wix and the never ending list of building websites available in the market.

We talked a lot of how we could use it as a starting point, customize and use it as commercial tool, which was perfectly legal. Nights and nights of talking, writing on the board, discussing what was turning into a business, a company. We called it TheOneTeam. But here is the thing: all the “we" I’ve written above didn’t include me. I didn’t talk that much. I didn’t propose that much. I didn’t know how to build the idea up and there was a reason for that: I just wanted to be in because they were my friends.



I was thrilled with the opportunity, but not actually engaged with it. I was only going with the flow.

understanding:

failure

I’ve failed to be actually present and make a decision: to be fully committed with that new journey or to watch and cheer for my friends to make it happen, to be successful.



Be present,
raise your hand,
speak up.

this was a bad work from 2003

reflect & learn

The company went on, but not for long. Legally, it exists until today because of bureaucratic reasons and, more importantly, we’re all still good friends. But that experience makes me think today on how to decide if I want to get involved with something - a job, a side-project etc - specially if it comes from someone who is a friend.

It’s not an easy task, but it helped me to set some initial and simple guides when moments like this happen. To be open when discussing the initial thoughts around the idea, to be present, to be clear on expectations and, finally, to give the chance to say (or to listen to) that I don’t want to get involved.

do you have a failure story to share?
i'd love to hear about.