The fine line between solving problems and misreading the context

In the first weeks of a new senior role, things can feel awkward and unnatural.

Our decision-making feels clunky. We’re missing knowledge of the customs and processes that enable us to move at speed. At the same time, we see early signs that things could be clearer, faster, and more effective. Our instinct is to act to demonstrate capability, reinforce the hiring decision and gain confidence.

The problem is, we don’t know what we’re missing. We don't know what the organisation is optimising for, which inefficiencies are deliberate trade-offs and which are consequences of previous decisions, why previous attempts to change things have broken down or how decisions get made when the pressure is real.

It’s tempting to rely on our track record, reference past successes and draw parallels when making recommendations. Track record might be why we were hired, but once inside a new organisation, that history carries very little weight. “Show me what you can do here” is much more prevalent than “tell me what you’ve done elsewhere”.