TheessenceofaFinTechteam

Along my short career I find myself wondering what the keys to success are. I have come to the realization that though the media will tell us stories of successful individuals, few key inventions were conceptualized and industrialized by just one person. So what makes a successful team and how would you put one together?

The idealist within me wishes that I could provide a recipe for the ideal FinTech team. I would like to be able to say in order to revolutionize the world you need 5 analysts, 10 developers and 17 Data scientists but this still wouldn’t guarantee success. So what is the essence of a Fintech team? I may not have all the answers but I do think there are some common elements in truly successful teams.

PURPOSE

The word purpose is over used but misunderstood. The true meaning of the word took on a new meaning when described by Viktor Frankl in his 1946 classic, “Man’s Search for Meaning” within the context of a World War 2 prisoner camp. Viktor was a neurologist and psychiatrist who was captured and lived in a prisoner of war camp. He shares his observation on the elements of motivation and depression that he observed in his fellow prisoners.  Personally I think Viktor does a better job at explaining it than I could.

Viktor explains that the reason people survived the Holocaust is they had something else to live for, a true purpose. Sometimes this was as simple as a desire to see their family again, in other cases it was more complex. It is this motivation by purpose is that I believe galvanizes a team.

Salim Ismail insists that all start-ups set a multi transformational purpose. These purpose statements need so be short and to the point so that there is no room for misinterpretation. If your purpose cannot be stated in one sentence, then it has not been distilled into its essence. This helps focus all team members at the same goal. Most importantly it means that all team members should believe in the purpose. Getting this right is almost impossible but I would be willing to bet that successful teams have gotten this right. My memory takes me back to South Africa’s 1995 Rugby World Cup winning team who went through the entire tournament with the purpose statement of “one team, one nation.” A purpose that resonates so strongly in all individuals within the team makes it impossible to fail.

PEOPLE

I was in awe of these start-up stories outlining how a group of people started a multi-billion-dollar company in their garage.  In the past few years I found myself in the proverbial garage of multiple different acquaintances and friends, it was only then that I realized what was driving this behavior. I found myself drawn to this group merely because we were enjoying the hard work and the time we were spending with each other. It is easier to accomplish a complicated and long goal when you have good people around you that you connect with. I’m not at all saying that you need to be best friends with all your team members but I do believe that you need to find some commonality to have a human connection.

WHAT ABOUT SKILLS?

I’m am by no means diminishing the need for skilled people in your team. I am however making an assertion that even if you have the best skills, without a purpose and connected team you are doomed to fail. Pay more attention to the qualitative things when setting up the team. The things we take for granted like the feeling when you walk through the office doors, the vibe in the room, the “nice to have” social interactions.

So I guess my recipe is this:

Find a purpose that resonates with you. Then find a group of people that you can connect with. If the purpose resonates with your team, I believe you have a good chance of success.

by Tyrone Naidoo