Three Months at FMS – Brian Miller

Yes, acronyms and initialisms are rife here. But it is no wonder. We operate in a very complex, fast-moving environment, the learning curve is as steep as Mount Everest, and we are all both climbers and sherpas.

We communicate in intermittent gaps between multiple locations on site and in between a plethora of meetings: training, client updates, critical supplier talks, internal OKRs (objective key results, KPIs to most other businesses).

We do things a little differently here. It is a geek haven, a palace of nerd.

Our meeting rooms are named after our solar system’s moons, satellites to our main office. Our multiple labs, which allow us to isolate client projects and prevent information bleed-over, are named after sci-fi and sci-fact inspirations: The Portal Lab, Enigma, Tardis, Holodeck and the Dharma Initiative.

I am thankful to have been shepherded into this new role by a former work colleague. I came out of the most intense decade-long sprint as a founder of my own spin-out company. I had dedicated almost 15 years of my life to my non-living baby (an invention I am still convinced can change the world for the better). I sacrificed so much of my life to it that it took me over eight months to find myself again. I find myself once again protected from the crushing weight of being where the buck stops. Merely a support in the shield wall on the front line.

But it is very apparent I am needed here. My colleague, past and present, again looks tired; he has been through his own sprints. This business is a roller coaster just as brutal as my own venture was, but with more support and more security. It is packed with so much talent. It needs to be to meet the demands of what we choose to do. We work behind some massive names in the medical technology space. We have to meet the highest standards, every time, all the time.

For example, on day one I was presented with an introduction to our electronic quality management system (E-QMS, naturally). A crucial resource that enables us to trace EVERYTHING. Over 100 training assignments were allocated to me. Three months to complete them, but without doing the training, you can’t really do much of the jobs that need done. To be useful, I crank through hundreds of pages of SOPs, policies, work instructions and equipment-specific training. At least I have three monitors, so I can do the few useful things I am trained for as intermittent breaks to recover between document-reading sprints.

I am not the only new start; we have some awesome scientists joining at the same time too. We go to general induction training together. They’re cool, smart, nice people. I soon discover this is true almost universally here. The culture that has been ingrained here is one of support and collaboration: helping where you can, not being punished for asking for help, but encouraged instead. I like it.

Maybe things are too good to be true? What am I missing? We are hiring, that’s good, right? That means the company is growing, doing more business. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any red or green flags just in case.

I think back to my first day. It just so happened to be on an all-hands monthly company update meeting day. There was a rather entertaining quiz to break up the more mundane updates and reporting on our OKRs. It was about tomatoes and potatoes; can you guess which variety name belongs to which vegetable? It was a deathmatch format. I think I did rather well, but not well enough to stay the distance (it lasted several minutes before we got down to sudden death, two players left). A green flag: gardening discussions welcome in the mix. I wonder if there is appetite from some people here to “make sports”.

Over many years, I have never stopped trying to stay on the healthier side of things, not to an extreme. I hate the gym, I dislike jogging. Too boring and repetitive. So, I found myself drawn to activities that are fun but are also good exercise: skating (all varieties), board sports (sun, sea, snow), cycling, racket sports, martial arts, etc. Something that keeps the mind focused while the body works in concert. The only real option amongst these for teamwork looks like racket sports. We are in Scotland, so if I want consistency, it should be indoors. Let’s go for badminton, less likely for injuries than squash.

So, I put it out there, an inquisitive mind seeking partnership out of the necessity of the game. To my surprise, there was a lot of interest, and even those not so convinced knew where to point the finger (Ali and Bhuvan were keen). And so, the internal group “Flexminton” was created. On Monday evenings, like clockwork, we now go five minutes’ drive from the office for an hour of fun exercise together. It is still growing its following, with almost 50% of the company now part of the group chat (though far fewer attend regularly).

Ok, three new starts, but what is this? Three people departing the company in the first month? Is this subtle evidence of a lurking red flag?

Naturally, I had to investigate.

One wanted to follow an engineering passion that needed more dedicated focus than the cut and thrust of subcontract development and manufacturing could offer. Another was taking early retirement which, when I thought about it, felt like a greener flag than many younger people might give it credit for. And the third was moving to another organisation in a similar space.

So I watched how it all went down.

Celebrations, notes of appreciation and personalised poems written and recited for all three. Plenty of well wishes and plans to stay connected. Nothing that suggested some hidden exodus, just three people moving on for three very different reasons.

It looks like my red flag chase was in vain.

Another five or so new starts join over the next couple of months. Each one an obvious expert in their field and each one fitting into this complex machine like sliding into tailored gloves. They clearly have a secret “Vibe” detector hidden somewhere that they use in the recruiting process. I wouldn’t be surprised, we have sensors for everything at FMS!

The company is growing, not just churning. I am relieved. It seems I have also slid into my position like pulling on gloves. Driver’s, not boxing. I release my concerns and enjoy the drive. I have a lot of work to do now that I am understanding the topology of the place.

I want to stay.

I can’t help but feel a touch of nervousness as I approach the hopeful end of my probationary period. This is a place of enablement, compatriots, exercise buddies, gardeners and more. We seem to celebrate something on an almost monthly basis. We had our company barbecue, a pizza party a couple of months earlier, and a breakfast roll (for all dietary requirements) is provided at every all-hands meeting too. We have unlimited access to Lavazza coffee (or some dangerously delicious hot chocolate) on our stalwart Gaggia office bean-to-cup machine.

I haven’t felt this looked after in a long time (thanks Mom BTW, love you). It has previously been me doing the looking after and, to be honest, they are doing a better job than I managed. I cross my fingers and get to work.

I’ve got a job to do, and I want to kick ass.