Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Overcoming Obstacles

There have been a lot of little bumps throughout the course of my internship. In the winter I was part of a program in DC that included a full-time internship, and I was lucky enough to find a great opportunity that had a very structured Fellows program that I really enjoyed. My internship this summer in Chicago has been the exact opposite of my previous experience in a lot of ways. I was excited to work in the Startup community because I knew that it meant fun, flexibility, creativity, and networking on overdrive. What I did not expect was that these positives could mean that Startup businesses or incubators do not run as smoothly as larger companies that have been around for decades. One of my biggest obstacles has been coping with the ramifications of Startup culture, including things like disorganization and prioritization. At my previous internship all the information I needed was at my fingertips, how-to guides, address books and directories, etc. None of this exists where I am now, so I have to source information from my bosses who are very busy and often not around the office. I completely understand this, but it has been an obstacle for me because I’m used to being in a typical cubicle office where I can turn around and ask a superior a question. Dealing with this has forced me to take more risks and not look before I leap, which has been good and allows me to get work done faster without waiting for answers.

However when taking a risk goes wrong it goes very wrong. For instance this week FedEx came to deliver a package and I was the only person around the first floor, so the deliveryman asked if the company on the label was in this building and I told him that I didn’t know for sure. He didn’t leave the package and I didn’t think much of it. A few hours later a guy came downstairs and asked me if FedEx had tried to deliver a package, and I told him that they had but I hadn’t recognized the company name. This made the entrepreneur pretty angry, and he started lecturing me about how they’ve had office space at the incubator for years. I felt terrible, but it also made me frustrated that I still don’t have a document of all of the Startups that work here, which I’ve been requesting repeatedly since I started. The whole experience dragged me down, but I eventually started feeling better and realized that this type of thing happens when you have to take risks without waiting for directions.

1 comment:

  1. I feel your pain. Last year, I worked at a big and structured company, however, this year, I decided to work at a startup.The transition has not been smooth and organization and prioritization, among others, have been two of my chief obstacles this summer. Communication seems to be the best solution, yet sometimes or even often times, that is not always available. I hope that you see improved results in the rest of your internship.

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