The Art of Ops: Wrangling 13 Ways of Working

People assume that operations is about processes, and that processes are boring, necessary evils that must be done in the inevitable paperwork and admin that piles up.

But processes aren’t static or suffocating. The best ones are fluid, adaptable, and surprisingly creative. In practice, ops is about noticing patterns, editing pain points out of workflows, and designing systems that are just structured enough to withstand hiccups but flexible enough to bend with the inevitable curveballs of a timeline.

And that’s what I do, every day, for 13 wonderfully unique, passionate, imperfect individuals.

When I first started, I assumed there was one ‘ideal’ way to work, and that everyone had to follow it to succeed. There’s a million books touting the latest and greatest strategy, why teams work best online and asynchronously, why teams thrive better in-person with water cooler chats, why cubicles are better than open plan spaces, why ping pong tables are essential to startup success.

But for our workspace, forcing everyone into the same box stifles creativity and productivity. The real work is creating the kind of guardrails that let people thrive in their own way, while gently steering us toward the same shared goal.

This means my job is essentially a juggling act: balancing 13 different ways we can go about something, and making them all exist in a way that is productive, fun and efficient. It’s a never-ending process, because people are ever-evolving. It’s just the nature of humans being humans.

Some people think best by talking it through, others by writing it down. Some thrive in long meetings, others can’t stand them. Some need every detail, others just the guardrails. Some want structure and regular check-ins, others prefer freedom and space. Some need time to prepare, others work better thinking on the fly. Some focus best in isolation, others need a giant whiteboard wall to sketch their ideas.

The challenge isn’t choosing one way, it’s weaving them together into a coherent mission-aligned productive stream.

I think of everyone as a different instrument, with me as the conductor cueing people in at the right moment so we make a harmonious sound. Each instrument is played in its own way, but we’re still following the same sheet music — our business strategy.

Ops is a constant balancing act between structure and flexibility, predictability and novelty. Too much structure, and you choke the energy. Too little, and everything falls apart. The skill lies in knowing when to step in, and when to step back.

Through trial and error, a few principles have emerged:

1. Translate, don’t standardise.

Not everyone works the same way, and that’s a strength. Ops is about translating different working styles so they can connect, not flattening them into sameness.

2. Anchor with rituals.

As soon as a weekly ritual becomes standardised, it ceases its usefulness. People need a predictable structure, but they also need novelty. At least this weird little team does.

3. Support before you direct.

Never take problems at face value. Have the curiosity to find the root cause. A great process falls down on unwilling minds. Ops is as much about empathy as efficiency.

4. Make space for uselessness.

AI makes it easy to assume everything is about OPTIMISATION. To reclaim every minute and chunk of time. But you have to allow some breathing room to celebrate the wins and smell the roses. It’s why we always end our week by highlighting what we’ve achieved, topped off with a few beers and a game of some kind. These moments aren’t fluff. They are necessary. You have to breathe out to be able to breathe in again.

5. Be a chameleon

You have to be a chameleon to survive operating a ‘fast-paced environment’ (while I feel like rolling my eyes at this phrase, it’s true). You have to blend in, be a fly on the wall, observe, innovate and constantly re-write the playbook as new challenges emerge. It’s being a very squishy time-travelling chameleon too. Visiting the future and learning from the past to make the present the best it can be.

Creative problem solving in operations shines in the small moments. Balancing people and processes, adapting to quirks and leaning into strengths, to notice the silent cues of how a team actually works.

Because operations isn’t about one way of working. It’s about finding harmony in the chaos.

This article was written, edited and illustrated by humans only.