Challenging the Comfortable

It’s easy at larger companies to get comfortable only interacting with the teams/people who are necessary for you to complete your daily tasks. However, this can often cause artificial walls to develop between teams and even groups inside of teams.

Recently, I’ve tried to do something about this. While it’s not a breakthrough idea or a solution for everyone, it is something that I have employed in an attempt to break down those walls. I do it through one simple way: lunch.

Everyone has to eat, and lunch is a great opportunity to get to know co-workers with whom you don’t typically interact in normal day-to-day operations. I use this as a way to force myself out of my own comfort zone, to get to know others, and to see how I or my team can help them. Additionally, I have found that people tend to open up more in smaller, casual settings. Most importantly, these meet-ups are used to build relationships between teams to facilitate collaboration.

Overall, I would challenge you to ask someone to lunch with whom you would normally not eat and just discuss with them what they do. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn about another person and how you can help one another solve problems.