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The Water Cooler
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No Way To Prevent This, Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
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<blockquote data-quote="Glocktogo" data-source="post: 2531496" data-attributes="member: 1132"><p>One of the biggest problems is a matter of culture. I get asked all the time "Why do you try so hard? It's not gaining you anything, so why do it?" Well I do it because I gain intellectually and spiritually. I don't require a monetary reward. Just yesterday I was asked a question that wasn't in my area of expertise. I could've taken the easy way out and said "You'll have to wait till so-and-so comes back to work next week for an answer". Instead I stopped what I was doing and did my best to provide an answer. It turns out they were on a conference call in the next office with DC, trying to explain why a program requirement wasn't feasible for our situation. I went over and asked a couple of questions, then provided a detailed explanation of what we really had on the ground, and why the raw data in the system was misleading. After providing the information, the HQ person agreed that simply "painting by the numbers" wasn't going to work. They would need to gather more detailed data about how things work at each field office, so they could tailor the program to fit. They changed the requirements for our office on the spot and thanked us for the information. After the call ended, I was thanked profusely for assisting.</p><p></p><p>Now I'm not going to get a bonus for saving about a hundred hours per month <u>per office</u> in misdirected efforts that would've undermined the overall mission, not to mention annoying the bejeezus out of our stakeholders AND our own employees. I was just doing the right thing. I did go about the rest of my day with a sense of accomplishment, which is reward enough for me. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, we tend to reward the cautious and discourage the risk takers. I've always told my bosses that I'll do my level best to make them look good, but I'm going to do the right thing. That means I occasionaly step on a few toes, but so be it. I also praise those who take initiative, accept my own mistakes and never shirk my own responsibility. </p><p></p><p>What we need is that culture change, where those who undermine the braver efforts of people with stronger conviction that they'll ever have, don't reap rewards. We need to favor critical thinking skills over rote memorization. We need to stop programming our youth for careers as mindless drones. In WWII, American soldiers were considered dangerous without leadership, particularly by the Germans. They recognized that if you killed a platoon leader or NCO, it didn't matter. The American troops didn't require an officer to take initiative, they'd do it themselves. meanwhile a leaderless German platoon was apt to just surrender. They were never trained to take anything but orders and follow them blindly.</p><p></p><p>If we lose that fierce, independent fighting streak, we're hosed. Yet senior people who should know better have been spending the better part of a half century trying to extinguish that fire. Why? Because it makes their efforts to undermine things for their own self interests easier. Simply put, there are priviliged people in this country who need a swift kick in the nuts... very, very much. <img src="/images/smilies/frown.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":(" title="Frown :(" data-shortname=":(" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Glocktogo, post: 2531496, member: 1132"] One of the biggest problems is a matter of culture. I get asked all the time "Why do you try so hard? It's not gaining you anything, so why do it?" Well I do it because I gain intellectually and spiritually. I don't require a monetary reward. Just yesterday I was asked a question that wasn't in my area of expertise. I could've taken the easy way out and said "You'll have to wait till so-and-so comes back to work next week for an answer". Instead I stopped what I was doing and did my best to provide an answer. It turns out they were on a conference call in the next office with DC, trying to explain why a program requirement wasn't feasible for our situation. I went over and asked a couple of questions, then provided a detailed explanation of what we really had on the ground, and why the raw data in the system was misleading. After providing the information, the HQ person agreed that simply "painting by the numbers" wasn't going to work. They would need to gather more detailed data about how things work at each field office, so they could tailor the program to fit. They changed the requirements for our office on the spot and thanked us for the information. After the call ended, I was thanked profusely for assisting. Now I'm not going to get a bonus for saving about a hundred hours per month [U]per office[/U] in misdirected efforts that would've undermined the overall mission, not to mention annoying the bejeezus out of our stakeholders AND our own employees. I was just doing the right thing. I did go about the rest of my day with a sense of accomplishment, which is reward enough for me. Unfortunately, we tend to reward the cautious and discourage the risk takers. I've always told my bosses that I'll do my level best to make them look good, but I'm going to do the right thing. That means I occasionaly step on a few toes, but so be it. I also praise those who take initiative, accept my own mistakes and never shirk my own responsibility. What we need is that culture change, where those who undermine the braver efforts of people with stronger conviction that they'll ever have, don't reap rewards. We need to favor critical thinking skills over rote memorization. We need to stop programming our youth for careers as mindless drones. In WWII, American soldiers were considered dangerous without leadership, particularly by the Germans. They recognized that if you killed a platoon leader or NCO, it didn't matter. The American troops didn't require an officer to take initiative, they'd do it themselves. meanwhile a leaderless German platoon was apt to just surrender. They were never trained to take anything but orders and follow them blindly. If we lose that fierce, independent fighting streak, we're hosed. Yet senior people who should know better have been spending the better part of a half century trying to extinguish that fire. Why? Because it makes their efforts to undermine things for their own self interests easier. Simply put, there are priviliged people in this country who need a swift kick in the nuts... very, very much. :( [/QUOTE]
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