But maybe that is why I went entrepreneur. I just see the missed potential for everyone, and if I wanted to grow bigger, maybe they are the wrong “first employees”.
For example, I'm a total wimp. I forced myself to do go-karting because the big macho guys wanted to do it. I hated it, it was loud smelly and scary. I was sore for days.
Maybe allow different people to make suggestions and go with ones that are out of your comfort zone instead of expected your colleagues to do things that might not appeal.
You talk like they would do suggestions... They are totally passive, and they position themselves as passive, expecting me to come up with the ideas and directions for the software and even for where to position the desks or... everything. They’re just doing as I say.
It is possible to blame it on me for not “leaving them enough room”, but when I leave a blank, they don’t fill it. I expected events to let them be more active, and I’ve tried to give them ownership of projects, but they don’t extend beyond the initial tasks.
Omg I’m just noticing of bad of a team they are. Technically they are good, but they’ll never extend the company beyond simple execution. I made myself blind by trying to empower them, but they don’t want any power. I’ve paid them too much and now they’re not trying.
Sad.
I really don't mean to be rude here. Strangely I've had a boss that had a similar beef with our 5 person team years ago.
Boss always harped that nobody takes ownership but lacked enough self-awareness to realize Boss exhibited extreme overly controlling behavior. From which snacks we had (or didn't) to which color markers we should use in a whiteboard brainstorming session. And don't forget to wipe the sink down in the bathroom after your wash your hands. Things that really didn't matter in terms of whether the business was successful or not. Nobody took ownership of the products or features without being force assigned. They were all too afraid. And too afraid to let Boss know that.
Have you tried telling any of them _directly_ that you want one of them to take ownership of a _specific_ project?
If you do that, then at least be good at go-kart, you’re paid for it.
At least it clarified the situation: They don’t expect work to be fun. I stopped organizing events. If you want work to be boring, then this is how to make work boring.
It makes me a bit sad. But at least I’m sure I don’t care if I lose them.
I hope to build a better team after moving (which is in the plans), but I’m clearly lacking the talent to build a dynamic team. One of them told me his preferred series was The Office. Now I know my role. Maybe I should incarnate the Mickael Scott role, have a separate office, and be so much a caricature of the boss that they’d have to laugh.
But Mickael Scott was the only one at the airport when the girl left.