Overheard a guy at The Hive say his best project came from a random coffee chat

I was working at The Hive on 5th yesterday and this guy was telling his friend how he landed a huge website redesign just from striking up a conversation at the coffee machine. He said he wasn't even trying to sell anything, just talked about a coding problem he was stuck on. It made me think I should talk to people more instead of just keeping my head down. How do you start those kinds of chats without it feeling forced?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_webb3h ago

Yeah, that's so true. I'm the worst at starting those chats too, always feel like I'm bothering people. What works for me is just asking a simple question about what they're working on, or even just commenting on the coffee being terrible. It gets easier after the first word.

ray_burns2h ago

Man I spent three months at my last job just nodding at the same guy in the kitchen before I finally asked him if the vending machine snacks were ever fresh. That first sentence feels like lifting a hundred pound bag of concrete mix. You're right though, once you get past the hello it just turns into normal talking. I still hate that starting hump every single time.

karen_hill31h ago

Lifting a hundred pound bag of concrete mix" is the perfect way to put it. I always feel like I'm interrupting their whole day just to say hi.