Startups face complex challenges that demand unconventional thinking. The key? Bringing together insights from seemingly unrelated fields like psychology, biology and engineering.
Here’s how it works:
- Break processes down to their core components
- Redesign them for maximum efficiency
- Understand the people involved deeply
- Optimise the systems around them
Take psychology, for instance.
Founders can use the knowledge of the team’s motivation, decision-making and group dynamics as guidelines to design better workflows, build engaged teams and create products that resonate.
Milestones are crucial. They let you track progress towards big-picture goals. For a startup, these might be key product launches, revenue targets, or hiring goals for critical roles. Signposts along the way could be user growth, activation rates, or sales pipeline metrics.
Horizontal relationships matter too.
These are connections between people across different teams or levels in the organisation chart. Think engineers working directly with marketers or executives collaborating closely with entry-level employees.
Cross-functional collaboration means people with different skill sets tackling problems together. A product manager, designer and developer teaming up. Or sales, marketing and customer success coordinating on a launch.
Why do these matter?
Complex startup challenges often fall between the cracks of traditional vertical departments. Horizontal relationships grease the wheels. Cross-functional teams bring diverse problem-solving toolkits to bear.
The magic happens when you mix it all together.
Let’s say you’re building a new notification system.
- Psychology tells you how to make it maximally engaging.
- Engineering and biology inspire you to make it ultra-efficient.
- Horizontal and cross-functional insights help integrate it seamlessly.
The end result?
A more robust solution that serves both your users’ needs and your startup’s goals. All thanks to the power of multidisciplinary thinking.
