The Slow Leadership article, The Freedom to Choose . . . and the Time to do it, written on Sept. 22 by Carmine Coyote states: Along with the technological ability to supervise people more closely than ever before, executives seem to have lost the willingness to grant people true authority to do their jobs.
He also writes: Not only are many professional people no longer free to choose how to spend their time during working hours—which used to be the distinguishing characteristic of being a professional: a person trusted to produce results without set working methods and close supervision … (I would like to add – a professional is also a person who has dedicated a certain amount of time and money to mastering the skills necessary to produce results.)
I’ve complained several times over my career about a lack of professionalism in the software industry. People have often misunderstood me. They think I mean dressing in suits, carrying briefcases, no ping pong table in the break-room, and no Friday “beer-bunny.” This is not what I mean at all. What I mean is exactly what Carmine Coyote defines above. To me, professionalism is treating workers as “experts” in their fields. An employer hires a highly skilled professional to make results happen in a specific aspect of the product. Even though an employer takes the risk, has the money, and has the vision – he/she doesn’t have expertise in every aspect of making a successful product and stable company.
Why not open a dialog with the professionals about the product/company visions and how to apply their various areas of expertise to bring these ideas to fruition? Why not “unleash” the professionals on new ideas and let them do what they do best using the skills they’ve been honing for years? I want responsibility and I want a challenge. Of course I’ll be collaborative and of course I’ll be accountable for my work. Of course, I’ll require a certain amount of direction, but all in all I have spent my work-life studying the ways in which I can meet the current challenge. Let me at it! Why is this desire of mine, to be treated as a professional, so often considered threatening or risky from a CEO’s point of view?
Did the last bust of the tech industry make the owners of companies so nervous that they are now completely neurotic control freaks? On the otherhand, doesn’t the move to outsourcing force the execs to give up control over the specifics but cut costs in return?
I think these two opposing ideas actually reflect a shift in values in the workplace – and maybe even our society – over the last 10 years. Politically, the last 6 years have produced a lot of talk about “values.” In this context, “values” has meant religious beliefs, usually Christian beliefs, and a strong sense of family often coupled with the disapproval of abortion, gay marriage, stem-cell research, philandering, etc … This is not what I mean when I talk about “values.” Carmine Coyote, once again, has word-smithed the concept I’m talking about in his Sept. 25 post Fads, Fashions, and Work/Life Balance – “values: deciding what truly matters in your life or organization.” The value shift I’ve experienced in the work-place, which has rolled into my personal life, is an increased value of money, posessions, and power over others, and a decreased value of collaborative relationships, physical health, mental health, and knowledge.
Think of all the news headlines and buzzwords you’ve seen in the last 10 years:
- Divorce is on the rise.
-”Latchkey kids”
-Obesity is on the rise.
-Diabetes is on the rise.
-Increasing number of Americans take anti-depressents.
-Americans fall behind in math and science education.
-Percentage of Americans working multiple jobs on the rise.
-Credit Card Debt of Average American is on the rise.
All of this says to me that as a group – we prioritize money and posessions over each other and ourselves. My experience trying to build a career in the software industry over the last 10 years backs-up this sad claim.
We are all responsible for this shift in values and we are all responsible for making things better. We need to determine our values and prioritize them. (I think the people on the left and the right politically speaking will be surprised at how closely our personal, daily, moment to moment values are.) Then, we need to develop backbones and actually practice our values. If enough of us do this, maybe we can change the tone of corporate America and finally enjoy our environment, our jobs, ourselves, each other – our lives.