Getting Shit Done, Brilliantly isn’t just a cheeky tagline.
Here at Inventive, we love to roll up our sleeves, constantly iterate, and stay focused on the work that matters. We know our people are the most important part of our mission. Because of that, we hire the best of the best who want to grow, thrive in a fun and hilarious culture, and have the experience to get the job done.
There are many reasons why Inventive stands out among its competitors within the start-up tech space: innovation, growth, and the way we improve lives with technology each and every day. But the thing that tops that list is the incredible team members that help to propel us forward.
In the first part of our new Inventive Leaders Series, we introduced you to Alyssa Bunn, Director of Recruiting, and talked all about the unique approach she’s taking to find and hire rockstar candidates.
In part two, we are excited to speak with Greg Bryant, Distinguished Architect.
We sat down with Greg for a brief interview to chat more about his engineering career, his new position with Inventive, what drives him to get shit done brilliantly, and the advice he has for anyone interested in breaking into the engineering field.
MEET GREG, DISTINGUISHED ARCHITECT
Inventive: Hi, Greg! Why don’t you briefly introduce yourself?
Greg: Well hey, there! I’m originally from Georgetown, TX, have my bachelors from Vanderbilt School of Engineering, and when I’m not kicking ass at Inventive, I am also the CTO of another startup.
Inventive: Describe your current position with Inventive and what led you to this awesome opportunity.
Greg: As Distinguished Architect, I’m responsible for handling the day-to-day personnel and project issues that may arise, at least as it pertains to engineers. I also work with the rest of the management team to maintain communication across the company. I had worked with Andy several jobs prior, and when Andy and James asked if I would be interested in managing engineering here, I thought it would be great to work with them.
ALL THINGS ENGINEERING OPERATIONS
Inventive: How do you work with your team of engineers to set goals, plan projects, build a timeline, and stay within budget?
Greg: We now have a strong sales process that includes a “discovery,” where a product owner, a senior architect, and possibly a designer go through what is needed to complete the project, so project planning and timeline obviously start there. When we start a project, the team working on it gets together, and I have a little checklist of decision points — from who is doing what, to what is the definition of done.
Inventive: How important is relationship building to you — both on the internal and client-side?
Greg: Absolutely important! As I see it, the main job of a manager is to ensure that roadblocks are removed. But different people will get blocked by different things. Knowing how people work, what their motivations and expectations are, as well as their communication styles is key. Understanding your customer is just as important here as it is anywhere else.
Inventive: What tools or platforms do you use to make completing tasks and projects easier?
Greg: Our main tools are Jira to manage work that needs to be done and ensure that the work is well-described, Confluence to capture our longer-term knowledge base, and Slack to exchange pet videos. Oh, sorry, I meant to say “keep open communication in a team that may cross several time zones.” Okay, and to exchange pet videos.
