Surfing the Chaos in HR With AJ Thomas, Chaos Pilot at X, the moonshot factory
In this episode of Redefining HR, I’m joined by my good friend AJ Thomas, the “chaos pilot” for people and culture at X, the moonshot factory. AJ and I discuss her career and many other interests, what it means to surf the chaos in HR, the idea behind moonshots and how it can relate to personal goals.
AJ’s role at the moonshot factory is focused on the talent experience. AJ is also the co-author, with her daughter, of the children’s book “Courage Takes Flight.” She’s a great HR leader and also a full-fledged creative thinker and doer. I’m excited to share our conversation with you.
You can also listen/share the episode directly syndicated on any of these channels: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcast | Stitcher | TuneIn
Redefining Creativity’s Role In Progress
AJ’s career path hasn’t been linear, and neither are her interests. She’s co-written a book, is an accomplished musician, a certified pilot and has extensive UX experience. The commonality is her creativity.
Many people define “creativity” as constantly coming up with something new. That’s not what stokes AJ’s creativity. AJ talks about the opportunity to “revel in constraints.”
HR leaders are often constrained by the budget and other resources available to them. At the same time, they’re asked to do big things with strategy and programs. “I think creativity and resourcefulness actually have a very strong connection with each other. And if you are able to be resourceful, it means you're also able to be creative,” AJ says.
“And so I'm always looking for that: ‘OK. What could a constraint be, and is that implicit, or is that actually a constraint?’” she adds.
Surfing the Chaos
“Chaos pilot” isn’t a typical job title, but it encompasses everything AJ does and what other HR leaders have gone through. As she describes it, “The job is so fluid. You're learning all the time, and you're learning how to swim. And I think it's also, in this space, it's important to learn how to fly.
“In a place like the moonshot factory, where a lot of things are just very chaotic, and you can’t control everything, what you can control is the altitude. And to figure out, OK, what’s the higher-level purpose of what we’re doing? How do we bring people back to the mission?” she continues.
Her pilot training helps her navigate this uncertainty. In this analogy, HR leaders have to fly the plane, assess the terrain, communicate with air traffic control, and protect the passengers in the back. You need to make quick decisions while ensuring that you continue toward your destination, whatever that is.
“It’s not much different because at the end of the day. I run our talent function here at X, and what’s really interesting is I have folks in the cabin, right? My hiring managers, my candidates, etc. I have a destination, a target we need to hit on a project we would need to move to a different milestone or need to fund, etc. I have controls, and sometimes the joystick’s broken, right?” AJ explains. “
In the face of all the chaos, you have to get creative in your approach, understand the constraints and adapt to changing conditions.
“Every good pilot has a good flight plan. But every good pilot with a flight plan understands it’s not about the flight plan, but the planning that happens if you have to shift,” AJ says.
Making Moonshots Personal
X is no stranger to tackling distant goals and aspirational dreams. This is why the company has adopted “moonshots,” which are ideas that have three traits:
A huge problem that affects a large group of people.
A radical, sci-fi-sounding solution that seems impossible.
And a technological breakthrough gives us a glimmer of hope that the solution could be possible in a few years.
Moonshots can also be personal. AJ’s workplace is constantly thinking about the future, and her personal interpretation of that is focused on building a future for children — including having them more involved with the projects and decisions that adults are running.
“My personal moonshot is that we close a gap on that generational diversity and make it so much more normal for that,” AJ says. “And then also, in the same vein, the people that were the future before that are kind of sundowning in their own journey. How do we take those people in their wisdom and mash that together and create a world we’ve never seen before?”
People in This Episode
AJ Thomas: LinkedIn, Twitter, X, the moonshot factory website
