Sometimes, your first day of a new job sets the tone for the rest of your tenure.
That’s why Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel gives new employees on his design team a very difficult task on their first day, he said on Monday’s podcast episode of “The Diary of a CEO.”
“We have design critiques once a week for a couple hours,” said Spiegel, 34, whose company owns social media app Snapchat. “[On] your very first day, you have to present something … Of course, on your first day, when you have no context for what the company is working on … How on Earth are you supposed to come up with a good idea? I mean, it’s almost impossible.”
The tactic may seem unfair, but it lays the groundwork for the creativity and critical thinking skills that the employee will need to succeed at the company, Spiegel said. It can also help people quickly get over their fear of failure, encouraging them to take more work-related risks.
“Your worst fear has come true that we’re sitting there all together and we’re looking at an idea that’s not that great. I mean, sometimes they’re pretty good, but ultimately not that great,” he said. “And I think that opens the door to creativity because it already happened. You already failed.”
The exercise helps people build confidence and mental resilience, and acts as a bit of a bonding activity for employees, said Spiegel.
Overcoming a fear of failure — or any other fear, for that matter — can be predictably challenging. Effective strategies can sound silly, like attaching a funny accent to the voice inside your head or giving yourself a hug, but they’re likely to work if they can “disrupt” the pattern inside your brain, phobia specialist Christopher Paul James told CNBC Make It on July 1.
Facing your fears head-on can work too, according to leadership consultant and retired Navy SEAL officer Jocko Willink.
“The first thing you’ve got to realize is that most of the fear that you have isn’t a reality. It’s just built up in your head,” Willink said in February 2019. “So what you need to do to overcome your fear is to go and face it. Go and look at it. Go on the attack.”
‘We’re all born creative’
Overcoming your fear of failure during your first day on the job probably feels daunting, especially with an audience of your brand-new colleagues. Whether you’re thrown directly into a tough situation or not, you can mitigate your first-day jitters with a little advance preparation.
You can make the biggest, quickest impact as a new hire by understanding your company’s mission and how your role can contribute, Lori Castillo Martinez, executive vice president of talent, growth and development at Salesforce, said in October 2024. So, talk to the hiring manager about expectations and company culture during your job interview process. Talk to a current or former employee on LinkedIn or email before your first day.
That way, when you’re asked to come up with a new, creative idea on the spot, you’ll be more prepared contribute something valuable. “It’s worth experimenting and being curious, leaning into the opportunity to identify your purpose and decide what kind of impact you want to be as a new hire,” Castillo Martinez said.
Even if your idea falls into the 99% category of not-so-good ones, you’ll have gained some useful experience, said Spiegel.
“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas,” he said. “So the team is just constantly generating a number of ideas and products and features … Our job is to try to figure out what the great ones are.”
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