Speaking from first-hand experience, the process of interviewing with Atomic to receiving an offer letter is an exciting journey. It requires you to be fully present and engaged the entire time. It is only fitting that onboarding as a new Atom would include its own level of excitement, but also uncertainty. Uncertainty comes because you will not know everything that comes with your new role, nor all of the moving parts pertaining to the Atomic Object ecosystem. There is also no pressure to quickly retain all of the information that will come your way. Rest assured that your onboarding team and fellow Atoms have factored in a nice amount of grace as you ramp up. They will actively extend that grace, knowing that you will be faced with a level of uncertainty.
Finding an Anchor
Naturally, the human mind will seek certainty and comfort in the midst of a new beginning or challenge. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to figure out a way to remain grounded throughout your journey of being a new Atom. This is especially important because you will be joining a new project that will require you to digest information about the team and client dynamics, client domain and project structure, your particular work and expectations, and so forth.
Find something that will anchor you through it all. That can look like choosing a peer to pair with or lean on for guidance, a mantra or affirmation, and/or anything you deem as a sound grounding mechanism. One of my anchors has been organizing pertinent information into buckets of now, near, or future. This helps me to stay focused on the things I need to know the most about now, information that I will need to meditate on in the near future, and information that will require a deeper dive in the future.
You’re encouraged to lean into being a newbie. Be willing to express the areas you are a novice in while exuding confidence in your brand of expertise. Most importantly, trust yourself and that you will learn as you go. Here are five tips for navigating uncertainty as a new Atom.
1. Accept uncertainty.
The funny thing about uncertainty is that the quicker you stop resisting it, the quicker the internal pressure or anxiety caused by it typically dissipates. We have the ability as creative and tenacious individuals to build the plane as we go. If you can accept this, then you will be able to move through the uncertainty with more ease. Accepting uncertainty means allowing yourself to lack thorough knowledge about the many moving parts of Atomic, your new role, and the project you will join as you start. In short, that is okay, and your knowledge will grow.
2. Craft a list of the things you know/understand.
By crafting a list of the things you know and understand, you are essentially grounding yourself by identifying the knowledge that you have on hand. This is also a way to reassure yourself that you are not only taking in information and insight, but you are also retaining it as well. Having a sense of clarity of what you know will guide you into the next tip, identify knowledge gaps. When you are poised with an organized list of information that you’ll continuously modify, you’re setting yourself up for a successful onboarding experience.
3. Identify knowledge gaps.
Tip 2 coincides with this tip by first allowing you to acknowledge what you do know. This means you’ve primed yourself to identify your knowledge gaps. Identifying your knowledge gaps is for the sole purpose of self-edification, to seek out the insight and information you need to fill the gaps. This is not a ploy to try to assuage your sense of uncertainty by seeking an exhaustive list of information and insight. Rather, the purpose is to have a list of your gaps to build up your knowledge in those areas over time.
4. Maintain a running list of questions.
We’re building upon healthy habits one tip at a time, and this tip builds on the previous two. After crafting a list of the things you know/understand and identifying your knowledge gaps, you can maintain a running list of questions to collect answers over time. As you’re attending meetings, norming with your team, and carving out your unique Atom identity, you will naturally be curious and have many questions. Write them down so you can return to them when the opportunity strikes for you to ask the appropriate person or to answer them yourself as you fill in your knowledge gaps.
5. Bond with your Atomic community.
You will be surrounded by a community of welcoming, expert, and creative Atoms. Each Atom knows what it feels like to be the new kid on the block and will be more than happy to share the pain of uncertainty with you (Atoms on “Share the Pain” – We’re in This Together). Take the time to get to know the community by scheduling a pair lunch or pairing session, attending social events, and sparking interactions as you walk around the office. You will discover that you have a village rooting for you. They’re excited to get to know you and ready to lead you in the right direction. As you bond with your community of Atoms, you will be able to balance uncertainty with the sureness that you have people you can lean on.
We will face many new beginnings and endings throughout our lives that will include a healthy amount of uncertainty. Starting a new chapter with a new company is one of those new beginnings that comes with unknowns. The difference with being a new Atom is that from pre-hire to day one, Atomic will equip you to not only conquer but thrive in uncertainty.