How to Navigate Being the New Person

It’s not uncommon to change jobs. It’s generally one of the most effective ways to find your ideal work environment and to advance your career.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, as their name implies, really likes numbers and they have some interesting data. Their data shows that changing jobs is pretty normal. The BLS reports that people born between 1957 and 1964 held an average of 11.9 jobs from ages 18 to 50; that means that most people had to be the new person eleven or twelve times throughout their careers.

That’s a lot of new work environments to get acclimated with. What makes it so hard?

Put simply, office politics. Depending on what your work environment is like, this might be discussed openly, or it might hang in the air unspoken because everyone knows it’s a thing, but the landscape is so tense that no one will even speak its name.

In some places, the reality of office politics is essentially Voldemort. But instead of he who must not be named, it’s the thing that must not be named. So let’s talk a little more about the thing that must not be named. It’s particularly hard to figure out and deal with when you’re brand new.

Do a lot of listening, reading, and general observing.

Figuring out the culture of a place is difficult. Even if culture isn’t openly talked about in your work environment, it’s there. Workplace culture is everywhere; it’s in how people talk, when people come to work, and how willing they are to stay late when a project demands it.

However, it’s also an element of work-life balance, since we all know that staying late once in a while is fine, but doing it every night isn’t so great.

In Ed Catmull’s book, Creativity, Inc., he shares what made him realize there was a very big problem with the culture in Pixar. He said how he realized that a big red flag in a workplace is when the most spirited conversations happen whispered in hallways rather than freely voiced in meeting rooms.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat through entire meetings, did not hear a single reasonable idea or productive action, but no one would say a thing for fear of judgment or just a general disinterest. Then out in the hallway, everyone is whispering about how this person is crazy, that person is lazy, and so on.

Get to know your new team and be open to talk to anyone.

“The people you choose must (a) make you think smarter and (b) put lots of solutions on the table in a short amount of time.

I don’t care who it is, the janitor or the intern or one of your most trusted lieutenants: If they can help you do that, they should be at the table.”

— Ed Catmull, Creativity Inc.

I absolutely adore this quote since there are not that many people out there who will actually welcome the janitor or the intern to share their thoughts. I have had the pleasure of working with leaders like this and it’s delightful.

Another big thing that Catmull talks about is candor; in the context of his book and his office, he explains that this means honesty and openness.

“Believe me, you don’t want to be at a company where there is more candor in the hallways than in the rooms where fundamental ideas or matters of policy are being hashed out.”

— Ed Catmull, Creativity Inc.

Be sympathetic to any colleagues who confide in you, but maintain an optimistic outlook.

Here’s another fun fact; on average, we don’t stay at jobs as long as we used to. For workers from 25 to 34, the median duration for keeping a job is 2.8 years. Subsequently, that means you’re statistically quite likely to be the new person quite a lot.

If the culture in your new environment errs on the side of having more spirit in the hallways than in the offices, people confiding in you might start pretty quickly.

If people confide in you, specifically in the context of complaining to you, be sympathetic toward what they’re saying. However, if they’re complaining about a person, this is when you’ve got to maintain an optimistic outlook.

Don't fall into patterns of complaining prematurely.

If someone starts to speak ill of someone else, don’t jump on the bandwagon. When you’re new, immersing yourself in negativity is a bad move. It’ll make you less happy to be at work. Plus, since you are still getting to know people, you might discover that someone who is the butt of complaints actually isn’t so bad at all.

Never, ever speak out of turn unless you know someone is fully on your side and know that the situation really is unfair. I know I’m starting to make office life sound more like war. This is an extreme situation and you’ll most likely only encounter harmless, small complaints, but there’s no way to know who your allies are when you’re brand new.

Don’t make too many assumptions, but find out what the lay of the land is like.

Always go in with an open mind. However, it's also important not to gaze through rose-colored glasses. A toxic work environment doesn’t have people walking around in HAZMAT suits. It doesn’t always have warning signs that will be entirely apparent during your interviews.

You might find yourself in a place that seems quite normal at first, only to realize that it’s filled with toxic personalities and people who truly are out to get you. This might sound dark or paranoid and I’m very fortunate to say that I’ve only been in a situation like this once or twice over the seven years of my career thus far. For the most part, I’ve been blessed with strong teams and wonderful people.

However, good, hard-working people end up in highly toxic situations sometimes. If you find yourself in something like that, the only thing you can do is try to land on your feet.

That’s precisely why it’s important to find the balance between being entirely open-minded and also figuring out if there’s a dark underbelly to your office’s culture.

Always, always try to understand your colleague’s perspectives.

When you’re new, figuring out people’s intentions is vital to make yourself at home in the office and to building a strong team.

One thing I’ve encountered a lot in my career is working alongside “the idea person.” Idea people are great, we certainly do need them, but when you have people who are strictly supplying ideas and have no power or skill to enact those ideas, it can be a little frustrating.

Here’s the lesson to walk away with from this example. Judge people based on their intentions and their actions. If you’re butting heads with someone, not getting along with someone well, or just having trouble navigating rounds of revisions for someone, figure out what makes them tick.

If their intentions are good and they are really trying to do what is best for the company, you might just have to bow your head and accept it. The creator of Behance, Scott Belsky, shares advice in his book, The Messy Middle, on this exact topic.

“Great teams are ultimately grown, not gathered.”

— Scott Belsky, The Messy Middle

Belsky writes at length about how understanding where people are coming from is key to having a strong team. If they seem a little difficult to work with, but they have a few good reasons for that, they can suddenly become a lot more tolerable, perhaps even inspiring.

In a good office environment, there are just a few little pointers you need and you’ll be just fine.

I’m very delighted and immensely relieved to say that my current office is like a calm bay. We get tide sometimes, but it’s generally very calm and easy to navigate. You can get around in a kayak, you don’t need a large boat with several engines to get from your starting point to your destination. Nautical imagery aside, here’s the gist of it; I love my job and my colleagues.

This is the kind of place you want to be; somewhere you can thrive, not just survive. This is the kind of advice that can help you succeed in a new environment, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s simple and not a big deal whatsoever. In a positive work environment, the warnings you hear and the advice you get will be easy to follow.

There are a lot of different extremes that you might find when you’re starting a new job. Most careers are filled with job changes and that perfectly okay. While changing jobs is usually an exciting jump into greener pastures, it’s still always tough to get acclimated to the new environment.

But if you listen, stay optimistic, and do your best to understand your colleagues, you should be just fine.