What resonates here is the gap between fixing symptoms and building systems. Many teams feel productive while quietly accumulating fragility, until scale exposes the missing operating model.
@Christine Tan I thought this would resonate with you - you were fixing problems long before they knew what to call you! You were literally the glue of our company!!
Sometimes the most important work isn’t in a title or a clear path, it’s in noticing what’s broken, holding context, and quietly connecting the dots others miss
As good a description as anything i have ever seen. Most people that attempt to describe what people do in operations have only done bits and pieces. Most people that are good at it, do not even attempt to describe it because others donr understand.
I love it when you said you just care about how things work.
This is wonderful Katie. I love how you pointed to the fact that hoarding knowledge does not make you powerful. Some of the most powerful people I know are definitely those that are the freest with their knowledge distribution and their capacity to want to find out more.
Thanks for the great story! Operations is crazy like this. It's that amorphous-yet-critical niche that pulls fixers and pattern-recognizers into its orbit, without us even realizing it. I vividly remember the light bulb moment when someone told me, "you know, you're really an operations officer." (I had some generic corporate title at the time). It completely reframed the role into something that sounded more tangible than I felt running around cleaning up messes.
Thank you for sharing! How would you frame your observations—would you also provide recommendations? I can relate to this post, but I’m wondering how to be more impactful with my observations.
Thank you for your insights and sharing your personal experiences!
Sometimes it can be slightly fulfilling to be viewed as the hero, always solving problems and feeling like that the company “needs” us. As you said, this creates a fragile system.
Lately I’ve tried to take the mindset of: how can I work myself out of a job? It’s a way that I try to empower and teach others. It’s is hard. But it can be a way to build influence. I’m still learning 😀
What resonates here is the gap between fixing symptoms and building systems. Many teams feel productive while quietly accumulating fragility, until scale exposes the missing operating model.
@Christine Tan I thought this would resonate with you - you were fixing problems long before they knew what to call you! You were literally the glue of our company!!
YES! I’ve been called the glue at every gig I’ve had. Operations generalists hold so much. Appreciate you sharing :)
Sometimes the most important work isn’t in a title or a clear path, it’s in noticing what’s broken, holding context, and quietly connecting the dots others miss
As good a description as anything i have ever seen. Most people that attempt to describe what people do in operations have only done bits and pieces. Most people that are good at it, do not even attempt to describe it because others donr understand.
I love it when you said you just care about how things work.
Operations chose you! Wisely ✨
This is wonderful Katie. I love how you pointed to the fact that hoarding knowledge does not make you powerful. Some of the most powerful people I know are definitely those that are the freest with their knowledge distribution and their capacity to want to find out more.
I’m glad that part stood out because it’s still something I think about a lot. 😭young me took it as such a gut punch.
The little girl in me felt seen in this post, thank you!
Love that!! We need to be kind to the past version of ourselves.
This is what real operators look like long before the title shows up.
Great piece. I thrive in that middle vortex and never imagined this journey. Also....going to try to that image idea!
Oh please do! There was a bit of a release when I tried it. That old version of me was pretty great. Even if she didn’t know it.
Awe!!!! This is amazing! I actually want to make an image of me with my younger self. Hadn't thought to do that!
Do it! It’s silly, but I also love it.
Thanks for the great story! Operations is crazy like this. It's that amorphous-yet-critical niche that pulls fixers and pattern-recognizers into its orbit, without us even realizing it. I vividly remember the light bulb moment when someone told me, "you know, you're really an operations officer." (I had some generic corporate title at the time). It completely reframed the role into something that sounded more tangible than I felt running around cleaning up messes.
Thank you for sharing! How would you frame your observations—would you also provide recommendations? I can relate to this post, but I’m wondering how to be more impactful with my observations.
Thank you for your insights and sharing your personal experiences!
Sometimes it can be slightly fulfilling to be viewed as the hero, always solving problems and feeling like that the company “needs” us. As you said, this creates a fragile system.
Lately I’ve tried to take the mindset of: how can I work myself out of a job? It’s a way that I try to empower and teach others. It’s is hard. But it can be a way to build influence. I’m still learning 😀
I need to read this but I want to just quickly tell you how amazing the graphic is and how it gave me a physical reaction - cannot wait to read!!
I lacked language” says so much about how real ops talent shows up early, quietly, and without a title