Fragility: Thoughts on Business Relationships

I went to a funeral this past weekend for a twenty year old young man. He was someone who was very bright, with a lot of enthusiasm, great ideas, a great source of strength for his friends, and full of promise for the future. His brother and his uncle both provided excellent, very powerful, eulogies. But I sat there thinking that we were no longer going to hear his voice; we were no longer going to create new stories with him. We will treasure the memories of course, but know that plans that have been made will not come to fruition and instead we'll just think about what should have and what could have.

This caused me to reflect about how fragile that we all are, and how fragile our relationships with each other are, including our relationships that we make in business. It takes a lot of work and time to develop a solid business relationship and to build up mutual trust to become a well performing team with a good network of connections throughout an organization. These relationships are generated through actions at work of course, but it is also important to be willing to take time outside of work to meet for a meal or drinks or do an outdoor activity and during these activities to listen to understand your colleagues.

We are going though some intense changes at Intel right now and many colleagues that I have worked with are being laid off or are choosing to take voluntary separation or early retirement packages. There is a lot of sadness and anger from some of my friends who are impacted--who have had this decision thrust on them suddenly--and a lot of anxiety from others about whether this is just the tip of an iceberg. I have had several off-site lunches or after work meetings these past couple of weeks with colleagues who have needed someone to vent to, or needed coaching, or just wanted to reestablish a connection after working in different teams for a few years. I feel honored to spend time with my friends and to continue to be in their circle of trust.

Gone in a moment

When management breaks up teams due to reorganizations, the structure is gone in a moment but the bonds created between team members in a good team continue to live. Strong relationships between individuals should persist even through multiple reorganizations especially if you take the time to foster those connections. While the impact to teams by reorganizations is fairly severe, if new teams that are created are open to an extended network brought by the individuals in the teams then new business value may be created. The danger though is that the anxiety of all these changes cause folks to keep their information close and only fragile teams come out the other side.

Just as a brother is generally one who can deliver a meaningful eulogy for those that have gone before us, a close business colleague can provide context and meaning when friends disperse onto paths to something better--whether that is off to an adjacent company doing similar work, onto a new business venture, doing what they've always wanted to but hadn't been brave enough to take that first step, or to a hard earned retirement. Spend time on those relationships; you never know when you might not hear their voice again.