Dinosaurs, Systems, and Innovation: My First 30 Days in Big Corpo.
At the beginning of August 2026 I started my professional career in Sika, which is a big company that makes construction chemicals. How did I get there? The story started in late April 2026, when my friend and I managed to design a system supporting handling complaints process in Sika company. I really want to share my ideas with you, but in this moment I am not sure if I can, but as later our manager had said: “they revolutionised complaints system”. Finally, we did it. We won the Sika Poland Innovation Challenge and the prize was an internship, during which we can launch our project in real business life. Now, after one month of working in the company I would like to share my thoughts with you. Of course, I won’t reveal any details.
Count One's Chickens Before They Hatch
Life in the big corpo seems to be really dynamic. We had a plan to execute our project, but at this stage I am sure that we won’t manage to do it as we planned. Here, every process lasts so long – it’s the total opposite of a start-up or single-person company, which I was mostly involved in. The onboarding process is not only one or two weeks long, but it is longer. You need to go deeper to the deepest level, to get to know your company carefully– every factor that has a significant impact on your position. The average employee learns through the entire professional life, believe it or not.
The People
The Sika company is mostly made up of industry veterans who have over 20 years’ experience. Wow! We are the youngest. Our projects required us to have discussions with most departments, so we met a lot of people, including the heart of the company: salesmen. We became a shoulder to cry on. We listened to their problems and challenges, and then designed a tailored system for the company.
In big corporations, beginners suffer from a lack of information because the knowledge is divided among many people, so you need to spend a lot of time networking if you want to or not. Surely, you won’t be able to get to know every aspect of your position, but you need to know the specific people in your environment. The only good news is that the managers are pure gold; they are generalists, and they accumulate the most, so befriend them.
The Creativity
The operational employees are full of routine. I am almost sure that over 80% of their work are repeating tasks. In this condition, people lose their natural ability to think at their desks. Their work looks like this: coffee – work – work – work. The long procedures can really kill their creativity. They are afraid of making mistakes that can cause future problems or just extra work for them or their colleagues. There is always time to innovate. Innovation does not mean a revolution. Science gives us a few types of innovations like disruptive, radical, and incremental, which means a development of existing technologies.
For example, Apple released a new iPhone model that differs only slightly from the latest model. They happen more frequently than radical and disruptive innovations. Dear employee, next time, instead of standard work, try to think about what you can improve in your process – it can be one small element that makes your work faster and more efficient.
The Skills
I am aware that it sounds easy, but I always know that English is key. The last month has given me proof. If you don’t know, you must leave the queue. There is also a pro tip if you want to upgrade your position in the company. Just learn a new language and have a certificate confirming your skills. Besides that, my manager always said that working in a big company gets me into the world of systems. It’s almost impossible to treat the world like one element, but try to think about it as a multi-level system. It will be much easier.
The Ambition
As you know, I can’t share details, but believe it or not – plans are really ambitious. Probably I will stay in Sika for a little bit longer. Stay tuned!
