Outcome-based flexibility
Don't just accommodate. Accommodate with a goal.
When do you bend, and when do you stand firm? That’s the big question with accommodation. My friend Angela said something that stuck with me: “If the outcome is great, I’m willing to flex more.”
This makes sense to me. For example, if you have a team with verbal processors, like me, but you need concise, punchy meetings, what do you do? It simply won’t work to just let them ramble on. In high-risk situations, letting your highly verbal people dominate the conversations might even create churn, encourage decision-making paralysis, and alienate a good portion of your thinkers.
One solution is pairing verbal processors to prep before meetings. Another is borrowing from Amazon’s playbook: send out a brief in advance and spend the first ten minutes silently reading.
“If the outcome is great, I’m willing to flex more.”
Flexibility isn’t about endless bending—it’s about aligning adjustments with clear goals. If the payoff is worth it, the team will flex. But without a clear outcome? That’s where frustration creeps in.
Erika, this is relevant to my week! Angela solidified it for me. "If the outcome is greater, I'm willing to flex more." This brought up why I get so frustrated with accommodations asks of others. Meaning, when someone says they need the syntax of user story, that being “As a user, I need X so that Y.” Vs. a simple functional requirement, like “A user can do X” - my question is always, “how the F is that going to help you design something insanely great?” But IRL when I ask “How might this help you?” and someone says “because it’s how others do it.” I wanna punch a baby!
Thank you for helping me understand my feelings and have a concrete means of handling these situations. The babies will appreciate it. 😂