When they were only 10 people, they didn’t give much thought to how they shared beliefs. They didn’t need to. It was obvious; their product was going to revolutionize the industry.
They were on fire. They were going to change the way people did business. They talked about it every day. Their dreams fueled the late night pizza sessions and early morning coffees. They grew, slowly at first, then rapidly. Their hard work was paying off. They were the darlings of the industry.
That’s when it started to go wrong. Well, not really wrong, just not as right as it had once been. It wasn’t obvious at first; it was more like a slow nibbling. The new hires they were adding were good, but they weren’t as excited. The projects were still successful, but the team didn’t high-five each other when they finished.
One day, the CEO overheard the operations team talking about an upcoming client event. She realized they were just going through the motions. The team was openly complaining about the client, and their comments about their co-workers were even worse. Their tone ranged from resignation to downright toxic.
How did the once passionate team of 10 turn into a few hundred who were simply going through the motions?