Week 45, 2024—Issue #333

✊🏻 As one chapter closes, new ones begin

File this under #personalfulfillment

Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash

Note: this article was originally published in the WorkMatters email newsletter on Nov 8, 2024.

Last month, after 13 years of building, learning, and collaborating, my colleagues and I decided to close MAQE.

Below, I will try to share what happened, the lessons I am learning from the experience, and what I’ll be working on next.

What Happened?

The story has both a short and a long version.

The short answer is simple: a large customer ran into temporary cashflow issues, ultimately leaving us unable to pay our bills.

Simple and correct.

But only half the story.

The longer answer is more complex: Over the past 18–24 months, I struggled to manage our costs in a shifting market where work became increasingly scarce. Instead of proactively downsizing or cutting back, I consciously chose to keep our team mostly intact, betting on an imminent turnaround. It was a calculated risk that didn’t pay off. As time passed, this decision gradually weakened our financial position. And so when we found ourselves unable to collect on invoices, I had no choice but to close down operations.

In essence, I/we had planted the seed of our own demise.

Key Takeaways!

This all happened very quickly, and I’m still processing it. It’s a setback of epic proportions. Especially for me, given that I write and speak about agility and resilience in business! The undeniable truth is that MAQE failed because it lacked financial resilience.

There are many lessons in this experience, ranging from the importance of differentiation to the difference between kindness and simply being “nice.” But the biggest takeaway has been the importance of aggressively managing costs.

It sounds obvious. But I hadn’t fully realized what this meant in practice. Managing the bottom line requires making tough choices — choices without clear answers, the benefits of which only become clear months or even years down the road. This lesson, more than any other, has hit home, and I’ll be exploring it in greater depth in the coming months.

Yet, through all of this, I’ve also had moments of gratification. The outpouring of support from customers and partners has been very much appreciated. And most touching of all was a book of thank-you messages written by some of the 250+ people that has worked a MAQE over the years — a deeply personal gesture that I’m incredibly grateful for.

What’s Next?

At MAQE, we operated multiple discrete businesses: product development, training events, consulting projects, and the building of dedicated product teams. Each came with its own set of pros and cons, but it’s that fourth business — the building of product teams — that I’ll be taking forward. In fact, “Teams by MAQE” (working name) is already underway, and I hope to be able to share more soon.

Additionally, I’m planning to expand WorkMatters into something like a think tank and product studio hybrid. Writing and reflecting on business and personal growth will remain central to what I do, but I’m also hoping to translate some of these ideas into digital products of some sort. There’s much more to come on that front as well.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

One chapter closes, and a new one begins.

I’ll see you on the other side.

Until then: Make it matter.

/Andreas

How can we build better organizations? That’s the question I’ve been trying to answer for the past 10+ years. Each week, I share some of what I’ve learned in a weekly newsletter called WorkMatters. Back issues are marinated before being published to Medium three months later. For example: this article was originally published on Friday, Nov 8, 2024. If you are reading this you’re missing out. Subscribe now and get the next issue delivered straight into your inbox. 😁