I’ve been a longtime fan of Kevin Twohy, an independent product designer who often shares his journey on Twitter. Aside from his beautiful design work, what I admire most about Kevin is his thoughtful approach to choosing the people he works with.
In a post on Twitter last year, Kevin listed his criteria for a person he’d hope to refer work to, including a curious phrase: “batteries included”. When asked to clarify, he said it “means they don’t wait to be told what to do”.
This response stopped me in my tracks - it put words to a long-time belief of mine: the best colleagues have “batteries included”.
In my decade working with a number of different teams at a number of different stages, I’ve observed a number of intangible qualities that are signs of a strong contributor, but this idea - “they don’t wait to be told what to do” - is perhaps the most critical quality, a cornerstone habit that usually leads to a number of other important qualities, such as being a fast learner, being confident dealing with uncertainty, and being impact-driven rather than performative.
My philosophy towards management is to find amazing people, empower them with high level priorities and the conditions they need to thrive, and then get out of their way. This philosophy only works with people who come with “batteries included” - in situations where colleagues are not as proactive, management feels more like doing their job for them.
Any success I’ve had in my own work has come from having a “batteries included” approach. I aspire to be as autonomous as possible, trying to take a broad approach to adding value and being helpful, proactively looking for ways to contribute, and avoiding complacency.
It’s important to note - having “batteries included” is often a measure of confidence in one’s role, and not everyone has that confidence for various valid reasons. Perhaps your organisation has created a culture of micromanagement where you don’t feel like can work autonomously, or perhaps professional or personal setbacks have given you cause to doubt your ability to autonomously make decisions. Combating this culture and creating the space for folks to feel like they can act autonomously is closely related with creating a culture of psychological safety - one where anyone can propose an idea or initiative and it will be taken seriously.
While I don’t have all the answers, I do believe that there’s inherent value in trying to shift one’s mindset (or an organisational culture) towards one of “batteries included” - trying to be thoughtful about priorities and what work needs to be done and then trying your best to proactively do the work.