The Head of Engineering that needs to do less

This story is about Teal Goose, a Head of Engineering who feels like he needs to handle everything by himself, all the time. Each of Wave’s clients is known as an alias to preserve confidentiality. Each alias is granted randomly and is a colored animal.

When Teal Goose joined Wave, he was in a stressful place, involved in too many topics, and feeling thinly stretched over all his responsibilities. He came with a clear request: “I need to do less”. But he didn’t seem to be able to cut things off by himself, and that’s what he explored with Wave. Why did he need to handle everything by himself, all the time?

Throughout his weekly sessions, he learned about his inner patterns. Namely, he likes being involved and fixing things himself. It gives him a sense of control, and of value. It wasn’t an easy mechanism to deconstruct, but Teal Goose managed to overcome his triggers within 3 months at Wave, following a structured methodology:

• Changing perspective thanks to his weekly routines — allowing him to step back and become more aware of your autopilot pattern when you came back
• Revisiting the way he allocated his time, thanks to the Ideal Calendar exercise — it gave him more headspace and a sense of structure
• Defining 3-5 core responsibilities, and making them his north star — to focus on what matters
• Exploring ways to delegate more, and better — giving him even more perspective on the team processes and general performance

In the end, Teal Goose really transitioned from an autopilot mode to a more controlled, mindful and balanced way of working, and living. It inspired him to share the same methodology to his teammates!