Well, it’s 3:00 o’clock, so you have about five hours to convince me this cannot work. Until you successfully demonstrate that we cannot combine all seven of our existing online experiences into one mega-site, we will continue with the cutover process already underway.

After nearly two years of information gathering, planning, site mapping, and an intense final push to build content, it was time to release mega-site, the online home for all things related to 5, the energy advisory firm I co-founded. The final mega-site product would include the website for 5, the website for a large competitor that we had acquired in New York, the website for our operations in Mexico, access to our premier transactional portal and analysis engine, known as Level 5, our self-serve small business center, and the integration of 5’s robust blog content with hundreds of pages of rich content related to energy and culture. It was no small feat and required tremendous planning to reach the moment of cutover, beginning that Friday evening in June of 2021.

But then we ran into a snag that I didn’t see coming. A key team member waited until the day of the cutover to tell me that what we were attempting to launch would never work. More specifically, I was told we couldn’t integrate the company website and our blog seamlessly due to functionality and form. As I dug deeper into this roadblock, it became more obvious that this team member didn’t think mixing the website and blog was a good idea but that nothing was actually impossible about our plan.

There is a big difference between “That’s impossible” and “I don’t like it.” Rarely is something impossible.

Realizing we had opened the door to an eleventh-hour debate, the other team members rallied around a solution-oriented approach. We had practiced the language and mindset of discovery and creativity for months, and now we were putting it all to work in a championship game to overcome an internal hurdle. We slowly but surely turned the tide and began to use the “yes and” improv technique to find a solution to the problem standing in our way.

While I wish the timing would have been different, I still relished the opportunity for healthy debate. In my experience, a group of highly aligned, fully formed adults engaged in an open, honest debate leads to incredible breakthroughs and deeper trust. This specific debate brought the team closer together and served as a place of teaching and formation on how to present counter-ideas as opinions and not facts. Each of us took one step further to becoming the best version of ourselves that day.

And what became of mega-site?

I can confidently say mega-site, aka www.energyby5.com, is one of the most trusted and enjoyable online experiences in the deregulated energy industry. The searchable content spans over 600 pages of intel on markets, products, legislation, the unique needs of specific client types, and intentional culture building using plain language, humor, and subject matter expertise.  The site is used to educate a wide variety of clients while also serving as a primary education stop for 5’s competitors, most of whom are just future-employees-in-waiting.

The fruits of planning for and launching mega-site match those of the many other innovative endeavors I’ve tackled with great teams over the years. The number one lesson that continues to repeat in each scenario can be summed up in two words: Find Solutions.

That spirit lives on with our team at Undivided Life as our third core value:

Find Solutions – - Discover, Create, Say “Yes and”

Are you or your organization facing anything “impossible” right now? Have you uttered, “It is impossible for us to grow this company,” or “It is impossible to have a great culture in our line of work”?

Contact us, and let’s Find Solutions together.