Diatribe & Second Thoughts

Yes, I think it would kill them to say thank you. I bet, too, if they forced themselves to think upstream – just the tiniest little bit upstream - that their heads would explode, which (of course) would necessitate closed-casket funerals. So it’s no wonder that thanking me for thinking so far upstream so often, in a way that makes everyone’s work downstream so much quicker & smoother, is so risky. God forbid I get recognition for going above and beyond in my work, translating into potentially millions of dollars for the organization without requiring any additional budget lines, staffing, or schmoozing. God forbid.

Perhaps it is better just to think small, concrete, and last-minute. React to fires. Be a hero for actions that shouldn’t have required heroism in the first place.

I think I’m a little edgy today. After a meeting with a colleague whom I’ve nicknamed “Debbie Downer,” I posted a Facebook status update that read Sometimes, like today, I feel like kicking someone so hard. You see, Debbie Downer took over my meeting, focusing on a tiny piece of the picture (the tiny piece that just so happens to be hers). She focused on that task because it is also a very concrete task with well-defined turnaround times and expectations. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fluid, critical, abstract tasks that must be executed elegantly in order for her concrete task to be neat and tidy…or even feasible.

And whose been working on all of those never-before-seen, fluid, abstract tasks over the past three months? Me. And whose questions didn’t get addressed during the meeting? Yep, mine.

I know I’m a pretty sharp gal. I also know that I’m having a really hard time selling people on the importance of planning, thinking upstream, and seeing the big picture along with its requisite detailed components. Of course, I only have seven more work days with this work team, so I won’t have to sell these folks on my skill set for much longer.

But, what if I get to my next workplace and they decide that these skills aren’t very valuable either? Or, what if I really am the condescending know-it-all jerk that my current colleagues, manager, and director think I am? Oh my. Well, then I suppose I get serious about becoming a yoga instructor and a travel writer after all.