No Competence – No Success by Guest Author Windroot
Every Man A Giant
Letʼs begin with a caveat. No matter how many tips for success you read, nothing replaces competence. Assuming a minimal aptitude for the work, what follows are some practical lessons learned over a 35 year career working in a large organization as a middle manager.
Be Curious – This is the single most important long-term advice I could give anyone. Learn everything you can about how things work, not just for your job but for everyone you come across in your organization, from the mail clerk to the guy down the hall in accounting to the guard at the front desk. Most people love to talk about their work, so this is not that hard to do.
Build Alliances – Cultivate working relationships before a crisis comes up rather than in the middle of one. In any given situation, there is one person who can stick their finger in the wound and stop the bleeding. Learn who these people are, and let them know who you are. This is another benefit that comes from talking with people about what they do.
Prioritize Your Goals – In any given situation you are unlikely to get everything you want. The trick is to know the ONE thing you absolutely have to have versus the things you would like to have. If you are in a meeting, focus on getting that one thing you want as early as you can. Then you can use the other like-to-haves as bargaining chips. When making a presentation or a written report, structure everything around that one key point. Make damn sure the decision-makers take away the single most important message you have. Anything more than that is gravy.
Know When To Do Nothing – Stay calm in a crisis. Nine times out of ten, doing nothing is the best course of action. The art is to recognize that one time in ten when you should do something and to then act decisively when that moment arrives.
Get Your Own Way By Doing Nothing – This is a bit Zen maybe, but the idea is to structure situations so that you get what you need by doing nothing. Think about it.
Trust No One – Let me repeat that. Trust no one. Nobody sees things exactly the way you do, so nobody is going to react to things exactly the way you want or expect them to. Reduce the need for trust by leaving as little as possible to chance. There is a great line said by Gene Hackman in the movie Heist:
“I donʼt tie my shoes without a Plan B.”
Words to live by.
Trust Everyone – The one thing you can always trust people to do is to act according to their nature. Don’t expect people to do things that are contrary to their fundamental natures. You can ask it of them, but just don’t be shocked if they don’t come through. Over time, try to structure situations so that the people you work with can more easily succeed. That’s good for then, and it’s good for you.
These tips may seem pragmatic to the point of being Machiavellian, but as George on Cheers used to say,
“It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and I’m wearing Milk bone underwear.”
Please visit Every Man A Giant where Windroot writes about the things that interest him. Generally that is an equal mixture of current events, science and, for lack of a better phrase, personal philosophy. Some pieces are straight opinion, others are aimed at sharing with the reader ideas and facts that have he has come across in his wanderings through the internet.
Discussion question:
Do you have some practical lessons regarding competence and success that you would like to share?
Be Curious
Build Alliance
Prioritize Your Goal
Know When To Do Nothing
Get Your Own Way By Doing Nothing
Trust No One
Trust Everyone
I have nothing to share but this post is a great learning tool for me.
I can feel what I am lacking..
Thanks for the beautiful post.
Not forgetting that Zen thing is lovely.
dosoxs last blog post..Yellow Dreams
I like your point about doing nothing. Sometimes that can be really difficult but from my own practical experience the result can be spectacular. I remember a very difficult position I was put in, rather than reacting and trying to think of a way to cover my ass, I decided to sit back and let things unfold. As the momentum of the event carried forward remained complete out of the fray. When things came to a head and I was called in to explain, the whole scenario fell beautifully into my hands.
Thanks for the great article.
Nick Grimshawes last blog post..A Call to Conscious Evolution
Timethief,
Your blog is like a dictionary of all the self-enrichment books in the world.
Thanks for sharing.
Bens last blog post..Pre-marital Issues
@all Thanks for the nice comments. I notice most of you locked on to the pointer about doing nothing. It is hard to give a specific scenario where this works because it is so situational, but as Nick pointed out, once you set yourself up all you have to do is sit back and watch events unfold, and since you did nothing your fingerprints will be nowhere to be found. Most of us are good at doing nothing — I excel at it — so this is a natural fit.
Wow, you are amazing in the life you have lived and the things you have done. I really enjoyed this as it is not only good sound advice but it so clearly laid out. I am pretty good at most of this, but need to work more on prioritizing. It’s not that I don’t think about it all day as tackle each thing, it’s that there is so MUCH on my plate that I often can’t see the forest for the trees. (Or however that saying goes) :) I think what I need is to not prioritize “on the fly”, which is what I tend to do. I need to STOP all work sit down with actual pen and pad and make a list of everything I have to do and THEN rearrange it in order of importance. Then I am great at prioritizing. I just shouldn’t do it on the fly. Maybe I can keep that list ACTIVE (in my word processor) and keep adjusting it as I go and new things are dumped on my plate. I like that idea. Especially when things are as they are of late, a total swirl of demands.
You are one smart gal. I am forever impressed with your wisdom, knowledge and advice — about so MANY things. Thanks for this TT, Hugs and hearts, Robin :D
Robin Eastons last blog post..When did you last feel like this?
@Robin
Thanks for your kind words. The software automatically uses my username in the byline on every post. The only way I can change that is by giving each guest author an Administrative role on the blog and I’m not into doing that.
This post was written by a guest blogger who is another of my Blog Catalog friends. It was written by windroot http://www.blogcatalog.com/user/windroot and I’ll let him respond directly to your comment.
These 5 lessons are ones I learned the hard way over the past 10 years. I was finally starting to feel like I was competent and good at my job, when I was laid off. I wish I had someone telling me these things when I first started out. Great advice, great post. Thanks.
stillthinkings last blog post..Night
Fantastic advice here — many thanks for the reminders.
In default, I tend to be an action person, but that’s because I know that there’s a huge difference between tactically deciding to do nothing (which is rare) and passively always doing nothing (which is remarkably common).
But it’s true — sometimes, hands off works better. You just need to know when to play it.
Roadss last blog post..204. Sand, storm and shingle – from Rye to the sea
@roads Re the thing about nine times out of ten doing nothing is the best course of action.
You are right in saying that the idea is to be in control even when you are doing nothing. I learned the hard way that if you wait for the dust to settle you see things in the second look that you might have missed in the initial shock of the unexpected. Plus I was stunned to learn over the years that other people actually had a good idea from time to time and by not running around crazy I gave myself time to listen and learn and include their ideas as well. And again, a surprising amount of the time it turned out there really was no problem or that the initial facts were incomplete and that doing nothing — at least initially — worked out for the best.
My word of advice…Once you’ve identified your goal, head straight for it, like an arrow. Too often people let distractions & obstacles get in the way. Long story short; “Just DO it!” (Apologies to Nike.)
Lanas last blog post..Work vs. Sanity…Now with Alligators!
Hi Timethief, I have read this post a few times and have come back to read it several times because you offer some great advice. I think you hit the nail on the head when you talk about being curious–because when you are curious about things, you are driven to want to learn more and understand! I really think this was the driving force in my attending college and really succeeding in that capacity.
I smiled when I read what you wrote about being ‘zen.’ My husband and I fly *a lot* and are constantly having hassles in airports. He is the calmest, most patient person in the world (unlike yours truly–lol) and he always says, “Melinda–GO ZEN!” Lol.
Take care,
Melinda
Melindas last blog post..Facing Fear: A Day of Salvation
@Lana
It seems you always come through with comment that results in me saying agreed. :)
Love ya
@melinda
I’ve read it more than once myself but I’m not claiming authorship. This is windroot’s writing based on his experience. It certainly does resonate with me too though. :)
Love & peace
Hello, in the article the righer said nothing replaces competence. It did not explain who should be competent. I am sure there are alot of incomptent people who are successful. How did they accomplish success? They surround themselves with competent people. An example of this is inviting guest posting or blogger on your blog.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying you are not competent. If you are not good at something, get someone who is on board.
Would you like me to be a guest blogger? ;-)
@Holoptica
I will be making the guest writer windroot aware that your comment is here and allowing him to reply to you.
Regarding your question about having you as a guest blogger, my answer is no thank you.
@Holoptica In my experience, incompetent people who surround themselves with competent people soon find themselves experiencing high staff turnover. Good people generally won’t want to work with someone once they figure out he or she is a poor manager. They will do so only until they can find something else.
But this misses the larger point that I should have made clearer. In saying that nothing replaces competence, I mean to say that there are no magic shortcuts that can make you successful if you don’t possess a growing competence in your field. Part of being competent is a basic aptitude for the work plus the ability to learn from experience. Equally important is enjoying the work. And if you enjoy the work you will be curious about the work and from that everything else flows.
Will there be stretches that you don’t enjoy? Sure. That’s when you practice seeing yourself as a professional, which I define as the ability to do competent work even when you don’t feel like it.
Good luck, because that doesn’t hurt either.
Windroots last blog post..Living Small
@timethief I actually was not expecting a reply to the guest posting question ;-). Now that you did, it has got me thinking…
@Windroot, I agreed with the original post,my comment was more about looking at the article from another perspective. Thanks for the reply.
Hi timethief,
I have to say that this is one of the better articles I have read in awhile. I love hearing career advice from someone who has “been there, done that.” You make a bunch of excellent points and they are all good to reflect on…
Cheers,
Jeremy
Jeremy Days last blog post..Build a Monopoly Where You Are
@Jeremy,
Windroot, who is the author of the guest post and I have been chuckling. It’s done wonders for my reputation as a management guru .. lol :)
Hi Timethief -
Boy do we need to learn the art of doing nothing. At work, we’re awaiting notification of restructuring and layoffs. Lots of not-so-subdued panic and frenzy. But really, the decisions have been made by outsiders using predetermined criteria. The only thing to do is get one’s resume in order, network and wait. We’ve been told to keep doing our current jobs until told to do something else.
Rationally, it makes sense, but emotionally it’s tough. It’s like struggling with the Serenity prayer when you really want to bellow “SERENTIY NOW!!” like George on Seinfeld.
We may know this week. Just rip off the damned band-aid and let us get on with our lives already!!
sorry…still working on the serenity thing ;^p
Lulu
Just put some passion into it.
I’ve found it’s so rare to find people who truly care about what they do, and aren’t just going through the motions.
It seems like if you’re simply doing something you enjoy, and putting just some of your heart into it, you are ahead of 99% of the game.
Elliott
Elliotts last blog post..What is commitment?