Cubicle-Fu

Today I overheard someone say, “The goal of this widget is to make Joe happy.” Joe is the head of our division, he has final approval.

This is a losing game, plain and simple. What if Joe is having a bad day? What if it takes more than a widget to make him happy? What if he doesn’t know what he wants, and you continue to chase a moving target?

The thing to do here is find out what will make Joe happy by asking him! If Joe gives you a list of requirements, even a simple bullet-point list in an email, then you have a target (and something to point to if he changes his mind and wants to blame you for it).

How to measure happiness:

• Get a list of requirements in writing
  A bullet list in email should do
• Get a final approval on the list
  Sending a confirmation email “This is the final list. Is this exactly what you need?” will seal up any potential for a moving target. Well, it still might move, but now Joe will know that he moved it, instead of blaming you for not having strong enough mind-reading skills.
• Present the final work with a similar list of how it addresses the first list
  If A, B, and C add up to Happiness, show off the work and point out how it addresses these requirements.

You depend on you

Think about it this way: if you didn’t exist, you wouldn’t have issues. Put another way, when you have a communication breakdown at work, there is likely a shift or request you can make to change it, as opposed to depending on others to change for you.

But they said they’d change!

That’s all well and good, but if you’re counting on someone else to keep watch on your state of being, even if they’re Ghandi you’re going to be disappointed

So What do I do when someone at work keeps getting in my way?

Step 1: Find the real issue (hint: it’s usually a feeling). Every time I go to “I’m not happy because he… or she…” then I’m relying on my coworker to stop being them. Risky business at best. What I can do, is see what I can change so I don’t have to end up in situations that frustrate me. In my case, I recently noticed that I just don’t enjoy being in a role where I’m managing this particular team. In fact, when I realized that, I looked back and saw that I don’t really like middle managing in any corporate environment. Now I can not take jobs that require that, and I wouldn’t have figured it out if I kept pointing fingers.

Step 2: Redefine what success means. Find a solution that exists, or one that doesn’t. In my case, there really isn’t a role that is management-free on my team, so I looked at the available work and realized I’d be really happy if I could just do the doing and have other people plan. What?! That’s like asking to never be promoted. Well, I discovered that I feel successful and happy when I am doing fun stuff. Great! Now I know both what I don’t want, and what I do want.

Step 3: Ask for what you want! If you don’t ask for what you want, then you are guaranteed not to get it. I told my boss I feel extraneous and frustrated in meetings, and suggested that I let the team leads make decisions and give me creative work to keep me busy. Turns out, he thought it was a fine idea. “But what if he doesn’t?” Ask him if he has any solutions. Get him thinking for you.

Quitting is always an option. You can read Tim Ferris’ “The Four-Hour Workweek” to figure out how to quit.

Step 4: Follow through. If you asked for it, and you said it would be good, do your best to make it so. If you ask to telecommute and just take a vacation, then you deserve to lose your job. If you say you’ll do something, just do it. It will give you the best case to ask for more, now that your boss sees that you have creative ideas that work.