Greg Story shared how we were “established” as Same Team Partners years ago when I worked at Happy Cog, a company that Greg co-owned. That single post brought back a lot of memories, and maybe it was the beer, but I remember less about the event Greg wrote about and more about the lead-up to it. Either ay, I can’t forget what we did and how it changed how I looked at my work — back then and even now. Here’s my side.
Before officially joining Happy Cog, Greg ran Airbag. That said, his name, company, and team were well-known and part of the Happy Cog sphere when I joined the small Philadelphia team in 2009. Admittedly, I didn’t know who they were. Hell, I didn’t even know who Happy Cog was before I was hired. Was I supposed to? The hype of Happy Cog at the time didn’t grab me like it did others. I’d worked in small and large agencies by then, so I was very Shania Twain about it. Oh, you have global recognition? That don’t impress me much. Trust me, that changed after I worked with those who built that reputation.
Greg came in from San Francisco to visit the Happy Cog office — and now that I think about it, he was probably there to have essential meetings about becoming a part of Happy Cog. I can remember the first time we met. He was walking down the steps in our office in the old Stetson Hat building. It started with a quick hello between meetings, and that first visit ended with a get-to-know happy hour in the courtyard bar of that same building. That was when I realized this guy was a kindred spirit, and I hoped I’d get to work with him at some point.
Now, almost 15 years later — and a journey that includes the tearful ending to what should have been, the birth of a conference and community, a book and podcast, and countless hours of genuine laughter, inspiration, and ideas (some great, many not-so-great) — we are finally, officially working together again at Same Team Partners.
Greg wrote his account of how we collaborated on an idea that transformed how we worked — and amazingly improved the culture at Happy Cog. I remember the story differently from Greg, and that’s no surprise. The best part about our work together is how we bring different perspectives to everything we do.
I remember that fateful day at Javalina, and boy, do I wish I still had that yellow piece of paper we used to map our ideas for the way forward. But what Greg left out of that story was the lead-up to that meeting and the quiet chaos and evolution of changes that led to a bigger change that impacted how we worked together as a team of talented people from multiple time zones across two offices and a couple of remote employees.
When Airbag officially joined Happy Cog, and we became one team, I led project management — building a team of PMs and managing a portfolio of projects. I remember being in the seat that had to figure out how we’d collaborate. By then, we’d already worked together to build a site and app for Happy Cog’aoke at SXSW, and I knew this team was the real deal. The work was so much fun, almost effortless (says the PM). Sure, we were navigating being co-located and remote, but that felt easy to sort out because the people were excited, talented, and poised to do something extraordinary. I was entirely drinking the Kool-Aid.
As we were working, it was obvious to me that we’d need to reset some of the standards for communicating, collaborating, and managing projects, resources, plans, etc. It felt like a lot to work out, mainly because project management wasn’t being practiced at Airbag like it was at Happy Cog. So, I was asked to step in.
Through our work to align everyone, I had the opportunity to work closely with Greg and the team’s newest members. Around that time, Greg decided to move to Austin, TX, and open an office. Not long after, I was making trips to Austin for projects, pitches, and even just co-working time to get to know the team and sort out better ways of working. Here are a few I remember:
- The way project management was practiced in our two shops was different — and let’s be honest, my way was the better way. KIDDING. Greg and I heard some grumblings. I dug in with the new team to understand what they needed and were experiencing, and then we aligned PM with the team and practices we were building in Philly.
- How we communicated and collaborated as a company and as project teams was challenging and clunky, and there was a lot to consider: staggered time zones, differing practices and processes, a similar yet different working culture, and lame technology (remember Skype?). These factors needed to be addressed quickly because they all made getting work done across the company more complex.
- We had staffing challenges in that people wanted to work together, remotely and in person, across projects and disciplines. We were excited to mix it up and give the team those opportunities, but we had to figure out how to make that happen and not break the bank on projects (never mind the company, lol seriously).
These were the most exciting challenges to find solutions for, for me. We found a successful starting point — and our role was to understand the challenge, explore options, and find a starting point. Our leadership team would have to agree, and of course, helped to enact plans, set expectations, and test the waters. Again, it was a crack team. As time passed, we found what was working and quickly addressed the things that were not working. The team was poised to take over the world. We didn’t — that’s a story for another post.
But we did succeed in the ways that Greg mentioned in his post. That team was excited, full of new ideas and enthusiasm, and independently changed how the company worked — all within the framework we drafted over beers. It was a calculated move that required the ideas and buy-in of the leadership team, and it took a whole company to make it happen — from the CEO down to the most junior person on the team. We committed to it. We tested and evolved processes that impacted the business and how we operated. We built small teams and gave them autonomy. We were doing new things, and they worked. We learned so much along the way, and we built communities to teach them what we learned and vice versa. It was exciting and FUN.
And it’s still fun, but it’s about to get even better. I’m thrilled to take on similar challenges with Greg and our partners at Same Team. It’s work I’ve been doing with my clients since 2015 — with the added perspective of someone I consider a talented designer, empathetic leader, dedicated mentor, and battle-tested friend. We’re returning to where it all started (the good parts only!) and couldn’t be more excited.
