I’ve been watching a few scenarios unfold from the sidelines. Without being directly involved, it’s fascinating to sit back and watch people tick. In particular, I’m amazed to see how people present themselves. Quite often, they have no idea what they’re saying, what messages they send, or how those messages are perceived. The biggest lead-in to this entire scenario is what I call “institutional ego.” That’s when your presumed importance in, or as part of, any organization leads you to believe that you either matter or deserve more than you do. Here’re a few scenarios. I’m guessing they’ll sound familiar to you…
Scenario #1: The Roadblock
You’re doing your job fairly well, but there’s someone who feels threatened or cut down by your success. Their job, therefore, is to make sure you don’t succeed. They’ll throw up all kinds of roadblocks to make sure you’re either delayed, deterred, or better yet, they can claim success. Remember, success has many fathers while failure is an orphan…
Scenario #2: The Expert
Perhaps you’ve worked with The Expert. They’re the person that has no knowledge of how to do your job, but they’ll gladly tell you what to do. They seem to know everything, and they’re in a position of authority, but you’re mystified as to what they actually do.
Scenario #3: The Obligation
This is my least favorite scenario. These’re the people who needed to be included in every decision you make, but they bring nothing to the table. These people are easily identified by ambiguous job titles, and names that’re preceded by “you’ll really need to talk to.” No idea why you have to talk to them, but please keep them in the loop. There but for bureaucracy and office politics go you, o’ humbled worker…
Institutional ego damns many companies to failure. It also keeps inferior people at their jobs for years. Job success becomes a game of being a bigger “company boy” than everyone else, or worse, a skill at pointing fingers in every direction but yours. It breeds delay, disorder, and unnecessary miscommunication.
My value, as a consultant or team member, is an insistance on transparency and process. Make a team plan, get everyone on board (which is the biggest struggle…), and march forward to victory. When you keep everything above board, it can frighten the folks like The Roadblock. I’ve lost jobs this way, and it’s not fun. At times, you’ll actually think that being good at your job is detrimental. For me, at least, I can keep a clear conscience. It doesn’t always pays the bills, but alas, is anyone doing that today?
