Parting thoughts on my last day at Facebook Inc.

Today was my last day at Facebook as Head of Design for the Events Platform, which serves more than half-billion+ people every month and is one of the app’s most tenured features.

I shared several parting thoughts with my colleagues, and I’d like to repeat some of them here for you. None of these are exclusive to Facebook Inc. and can be applied to any setting.

1. When writing, tell a story. When presenting, tell a story. When resolving conflict, tell a story. When leading a meeting, tell a story. Whenever in doubt, tell a story!
2. A mentor once taught me sometimes it’s better to be unified than to be right. Both are needed, however to those I’ve worked with closely: please accept my apology for the times I strived to be right when I should have strived to be unified.
3. On the other hand, leaders must be willing to strive to be right when necessary or “decision-making by democracy” will become the norm. Few things are more challenging for leaders than committing to a decision for which a majority of your team members disagree, persuading them to put commitment above alignment, and trusting it’ll end up being the right decision. But be willing to play this card (sparingly).
4. Problem statements, while critical for building products that accurately address people’s needs, are typically present- or backward-looking. Recognize that innovation is often found in understanding tomorrow’s problems, or at the very least, hypothesizing problems people don’t know they have yet.
5. Pro tip: Ctrl+⌘+Space for inserting emoji anywhere and everywhere. 😎
6. Never underestimate your capacity as a leader to impact the lives of others. In a former leadership role I was called to the bedside of a friend’s father who was in the literal act of dying. He had lived a wonderful life and was on hospice at home. There’s was nothing more medicine could do. When I entered the room he was shaking violently. At my friend’s request I placed my hands on him and felt impressed to say, “It’s OK to let go.” Immediately he became peaceful. I left the room, hugged my friend, and returned home. Later I learned her father had passed away peacefully before I’d even left the house. She was grateful I responded to the call. As a leader your most important opportunities to serve may come without any notice. Great leadership is found in the day by day, small step by small step actions that lead to significant impact in the lives of others.
7. Wisdom acquired through aging is vastly undervalued. Please give age diversity the same care and attention you give other forms of diversity.
8. Please unplug when you take vacation time! When you “helicopter” in to a chat thread or meeting without prior notice during time off, it can result in confusing your team/manager about your true availability. Try giving notice before leaving about meetings you’ll join and prefacing messages with something such as “I’ve got a few minutes” or “checking in for a moment”. Or simply don’t check in at all.
9. There are a few things lacking in discussions about suicide prevention. Please take a moment to read these observations. No workplace is shielded from severe mental health issues that lead to suicide.
10. Of all the things I care about most when leading teams, this is near the very top: Does each team member genuinely feel valued? Great leaders enable this by balancing high expectations with feasible confidence-building opportunities. It’s a 2-for-1 investment: increase one’s confidence and you’ll almost always increase their self-worth, and in turn their performance. But there’s a catch. Not everyone feels valued chasing an ever-increasing performance bar or operating out of their comfort zone 24/7. Take time to understand, assess, goal against, and improve self-worth for each team member in an individualized way.
11. “Every experience is a positive experience even if it’s negative because it’s a learning experience... if you choose to learn from it.” Words from my wise father in a recent phone chat.
12. What will it take to increase the joy, reduce the burnout, and minimize the cynicism to end your career like this?

What’s next for me? I'll pause for a few weeks before discovering that. Reach out if you’d like to discuss opportunities: email@cameronmoll.com