The first rule in the culture of startups, or How I was afraid of change

Change for the better. Change means progress. Change means that you have learned something new and started to act. Being open to change is the first rule you need to learn in order to successfully integrate into a startup culture ... and that was my biggest stumbling block when I first started working at Social Tables .

My dislike of change springs from the desire to always do everything right the first time. I used to think that change means that you were wrong from the beginning, and you have to go back to correct your mistake. Take this kind of thinking, add a healthy dose of stubbornness, and you will get a recipe for disaster among startup employees.

Fortunately, Dan Berger created a culture at Social Tablesin which changes are welcome: Make mistakes quickly and often. Every day is a training day. High risk - high reward. Constant innovation. Our culture encourages and appreciates change, which has given me no choice but to ... change myself.

Even so, so what?

Previously, I did everything “correctly” once and moved on without looking back. The first time I did everything right, why should I change anything? This is already done right! Change can only ruin everything! Fortunately for me, at Social Tables every day is a training day, and I quickly realized that every moment gives me the opportunity to learn something new.

Looking at each change, I ask myself: “What did this teach me?” or "What can I change, knowing this or that fact?". And that became the basis of how I achieve results.

Feedback is a gift.

And if making changes to your work is the first step, then the second is the ability to accept and appreciate the comments and comments of other people. This is the biggest step.

Comments are often perceived as if someone is trying to reproach you with your wrongness or indicate that you do not know what you are doing. Here, my stubbornness and resistance to accepting change took on the most dangerous form.

Criticism is something that I must value, love, and passionately desire. When I realized that my attitude to comments is the greatest obstacle to my personal and professional growth, I had to make efforts to combat my usual negative reaction to criticism, which took some time.

Now every time I get comments, the first thought that appears in my head is “Thank you.” Be grateful to those people who are trying to help you become better. This is an invaluable prospect, and you are lucky that he or she is quite partial and helps you improve.

What brought you here will not lead you further.

And now what? I am addicted to change. If nothing changes, I can’t find a place for myself. If we do not constantly change our goals, strategies and tactics, then this means that we are not learning and not improving. I know that when I start to feel calm, something needs to be changed.



The schedule behind which is a lot of scientific research. It shows how your startup comfort level should change over time.

In a fast-growing company, flexibility and the ability to adapt to change are an advantage over your competitors. To succeed in an environment focused on growth, you need to learn how to change along with the growth of the company.