1. Jotform’s weekly Demo Days: Jotform holds weekly Demo Days where cross-functional teams share projects without a single leader. This fosters collaboration across generations, giving everyone an equal voice. It’s a unique way to reduce generational friction and boost productivity by ensuring all employees, especially Gen Z, feel heard and valued.
2. Jotform’s Gen Z-led digital training: Jotform recruits younger employees to train senior colleagues on new digital tools. This not only helps older staff stay current but also engages Gen Z by recognizing their expertise. It creates a two-way learning environment, bridging generational gaps and making everyone feel important to the organization.
HBR – Effectively leading a hybrid team requires understanding and accommodating the differing needs of introverts and extroverts. Introverts may need more time and space in meetings, which can be facilitated through tools like chat bars, hand-raising features, and asynchronous participation options. Extroverts benefit from regular face-to-face interactions, video meetings, and social activities to maintain connection and engagement. Managers should foster a digital environment that supports varied communication styles, ensuring all team members can contribute authentically. This approach promotes inclusivity and productivity as organizations transition to hybrid work models.
QUARTZ – An electrical engineer, Bob Nichols, Inspired by Scott Joplin’s iconic 1902 ragtime song, “The Entertainer”, thoughts it’s perfect to add the song to ice cream trucks as the jingle. He founded his company Nichols Electronics in 1957, which supplied music boxes to ice cream trucks, and controlled up to 97% of the ice cream trucks market in the US, making “The Entertainer” synonymous with them.
In the 1960s, Nichols improved the design of music boxes, significantly reducing costs. Though the demand for music boxes has decreased with fewer ice cream trucks on the road, Nichols Electronics continues to produce 300-400 boxes annually, maintaining a small, family-run operation.
Embrace Risk: In high-stakes industries, calculated risks can lead to groundbreaking innovation. SpaceX’s early challenges exemplify how overcoming fear can result in significant advancements.
Cultivate Strong Team Culture: A shared commitment to a mission fosters resilience. SpaceX employees bonded through shared hardships, leading to loyalty and enhanced teamwork.
Adapt and Evolve: Learning from past challenges is crucial. SpaceX’s ability to refine recovery processes highlights the importance of adaptability in achieving long-term success.
In the high-octane world of SpaceX during its early days, working wasn’t just a job; it was a lifestyle. As author Eric Berger recounts in his new book “Reentry: SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Age,” the stakes were incredibly high. One particularly harrowing night in December 2010, five SpaceX workers found themselves stranded on a barge with a Dragon spaceship full of volatile, hypergolic fuel. The crew had just retrieved the spacecraft from the Pacific after its first flight, a mission critical for securing NASA contracts vital for the company’s survival. With Elon Musk on the brink of bankruptcy, this mission was a make-or-break moment.
As rough seas battered the barge, the captain deemed it too dangerous for the crew to return to their ship, leaving them to sleep in a cramped shipping container beside the toxic spacecraft. “We got the best night’s sleep we could,” Kevin Mock, one of the engineers, reflected, acknowledging the exhaustion that had taken over. This risky venture wasn’t just about the immediate danger of fuel leaks, but it also exemplified the grueling, yet exhilarating, culture at SpaceX. The following day, the team successfully drained the spaceship’s fuel tanks, showcasing both their technical prowess and unwavering determination.
SpaceX learned from this ordeal, streamlining future recovery operations to ensure safety and efficiency. What was once a daunting and dangerous task has since evolved into a swift operation, solidifying Dragon’s role as a cornerstone of NASA’s space missions. This story highlights the entrepreneurial spirit of SpaceX, where innovation, risk-taking, and a fierce commitment to mission success define every challenge faced.