10-year Symphony Retrospective - 5 Essential Lessons That Influenced My Personal and Professional Life

Introduction

Let's take it back to January 2011. My first days at Devlogic, the fifth company in eight years of my professional career. One could say an expected career path for an IT professional.

From the moment I joined Devlogic, today known as Symphony, I have realized I had come to a different environment. We worked locally, but our stage was the world.

Fast forward to 2021 - I am still with Symphony. In the meantime, we have done hundreds of different projects and grew from 20+ to 350+ people in five engineering hubs and six consulting offices. In just a couple of weeks, I am hitting one more milestone with Symphony - we are moving into our new innovation hub at the Olympic mountain of Trebevic.  

Over the last ten years, I have learned a lot. Most importantly, I’ve realized that big lessons take time. It may sound straightforward when you hear it or read it - but it does take time to master and embed it into your practices. And it takes a lot of trial and error too. 

1. Learn from mistakes

Learning from mistakes and failures is an important component of the Symphony DNA. Nobody wants to make a mistake or fail on purpose, but inevitably those are constituent parts of our personal and professional lives.

Everything matters: what you understand, what you say, how you say it, what you write, how you write, how you prioritize, how you perceive the counterpart will react… How good is your judgment? How much experience do you have? And what if you fail? As Michael Jordan put it: "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." 

Ten years ago, and subsequently, through our maturing, I missed many shots, failed to deliver when needed, made wrong calls, assumed wrong things - yet Symphony founders Haris and Muamer always asked - "What are we learning from this?". Those lessons were hard to master, and with every genuine attempt, I became more confident that I can do better. As we continue to grow, more challenges are coming our way. I will continue to acquire new knowledge and promote a learning culture within our community. 

2. Leave the comfort zone

However, learning does not come from just being there and going with the flow. We have heard the old cliche, yet undisputed truth, that learning happens when you leave your comfort zone. And it helps if you have the confidence to take that step. I realized that something completely different enabled me to venture more confidently outside of my comfort zone. 

In 2016, Haris gathered us and said, "I have a vision that at least half of our company takes part in the Sarajevo half-marathon." "Damn," I said, but really, that was a supercharging trigger that made things flip upside-down. On my first try, I managed to run just 6.2 kilometers. From that moment, I started to collect street race medals wearing the Symphony shirt. Soon after, I got out of the comfort zone again and started swimming and riding a bike. I am not a stranger to triathlon races too.

I learned that the more I got into those activities, the better I was at work. All of a sudden, I found more time to read, explore and learn. As I ventured outside of my physical comfort zone, I was sick much less often, my self-esteem grew, and I started radiating positive energy. Working in a software industry that bridges time zones and continents requires flexibility. For the naive ones, it can also be very strenuous. You can quickly end up doing one and a half or two shifts. The correct balance between hobbies and work, physical and mental efforts, introduces variety and diminishes pressure. 

3. Be the change

Another thing I noticed is that change is constant. Instead of being a follower, it is important to become the innovator or at least the early adaptor. Reaching the top of one hill will open a new sight and allow you to see new summits to climb. Over the years, as the world around us changed, we kept revising and adjusting. Then we realized that we should strive to generate change by changing ourselves, the way we work and live, and the way we promote our best practices for the good of our clients and customers. As we climb to Trebevic, I am confident that new sights and new summits will open up for us. 

4. Take one step at a time

During this fantastic adventure of ours, I've come to realize the real value of being patient and trusting the process. Now I can boldly state that you cannot fail dramatically overnight, you cannot gain weight overnight, you cannot become faster overnight, and you cannot be the best overnight. It takes time, and you must learn how to appreciate and celebrate small wins! By completing daily tasks on time, meeting weekly goals, hitting important delivery dates, and continuously communicating and setting correct expectations, small wins will eventually pile up into significant success.

5. Empower the team

Once you look back on where you were and where you are now, you will understand how much you have accomplished. And if it is done with the team, it gets even more rewarding. I consider that the team effort will always overshadow individual effort - individuals make the team and contribute to it, the team ensures that individuals perform at their best.

Conclusion

As I enter my second decade with this fantastic team and company, there is an even stronger feeling that Symphony provides, not just a different, but really a unique environment. The experience of working with Fortune 5 companies, tech giants, and disruptors across major industries, alongside my personal desire to grasp new opportunities, took my career into several sharp turns and bumpy roads. It took time, It took effort, but today, I can contemplate that it has been a fulfilling and positive journey. This journey was marked with personal and professional growth and satisfaction, the one I desire to continue in the 2020s.