Why reorgs happen and why the true reason is always hidden
Video clip with Rahul Pandey
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I did a podcast with Rahul Pandey (Cofounder of Taro, former Staff Engineer and Engineering Manager at Meta) on “Lessons From The Top: Managing And Growing 800 People” for Taro members.
I want to share with you the above video clip, that Rahul made public, where we discuss why reorgs happen and why the true reason is always hidden.
Here are 4 key takeaways.
(1) Reorgs happen because the leader cannot meet a goal(s).
If the reorg doesn’t make sense to you, then you are likely not seeing what the leader felt was not working (e.g. making money, getting users).
An example reason is if the leader was in charge of growing advertising revenue by 30% and the result was only 12% growth.
(2) If you are an individual contributor (IC) and your skip level changes, find out if your mission is the same and ask your manager to set up a meeting with your skip.
It’s always worth asking your manager to set up a meeting with you and the new skip. In that meeting, say: “Hey, this is what I do, I’d love to help and want to make sure my work meets your mission, can you explain what your mission is for my team because I want to do work that helps you.”
The key point is to always phrase it “What’s in it for the recipient (in this example - your skip).”
The worst thing you can do is work around the clock technically to ship something and it does not align with or help your skip’s mission/goal.
(3) If you are a manager, the way to determine whether a reorg is “good or bad” for you is whether you were given more resources or a more important charter.
On the flip side, if things are taken away from you, it’s a sure sign that it’s bad and you do not have much trust.
(4) If you are an IC, the way to determine whether a reorg is “good or bad” for you is how is your manager doing.
As an IC, if your manager is not getting the investment (e.g. bigger role, more important work) then it means you work for a manager who is seen as average or an area that is viewed as unimportant.
Resources flow to the good managers and important teams.
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Love that wording to your skip manager. Thanks for sharing, Ethan!