Fishpond or Fusebox Work - Applause or Cause?

Work For A Cause, Not For Applause - Unknown

We humans are really caught in a dilemma everyday. A tension between applause and working for a cause.

This need "do stuff" that immediately impresses others in order to gain credibility and ultimately be accepted is more urgent than playing a longer game in order to find a cause bigger than one individual. It takes many forms both inside and outside the workplace.

I recall way back in 1991 making the purchase of a lovely sandstone fronted house in the suburb of Vale Park in Adelaide Australia. The house needed a little bit of work so we set about "doing stuff" that would immediately impress others and make us gain credibility and be accepted.

We gave it a fresh coat of paint

We hung new curtains

We sanded back window sills and stained the wood

We established an impressive vegetable garden

We purchased a wall mounted Bose speaker system

We replaced the carpets with new ones

But the most impressive project (according to me) was that I built the most amazing fishpond in the front yard. It was no ordinary fishpond. It became like a small swimming pool with different levels, little hiding spots for the fish that would inhabit it, beautiful plants adorned it and the concrete base was even coloured to look like an amazing oasis waterhole in suburbia.

People walking past would stop and admire the craftsmanship, heap praise on me and it make me feel credible and accepted. I had done something that got me instant accolades.

My fishpond work had paid off immediately.

Meanwhile we had a fusebox in the kitchen that was hidden inside an old wooden box. It was messy and ugly and required work but nobody could see it so we just left it be. No need to fix things that others couldn't see we thought....................

How wrong we were.....................

You see one night the thing that nobody could see sparked and caught fire and we woke with the smell of dirty blake smoke billowing through out the house. This smoke permeated through the carpets, curtains and left a horrible smell in the house. All of our impressive work that gained applause was ruined by something that nobody could see.

It's a bit like that in the workplace today.

Most focus on the fishpond work or the "doing" if you like. Do stuff quickly that results in applause for them and forget the fusebox work or how you're "being" in the workplace; the cause if you like. You see the fusebox work doesn't bring you a higher rating or immediate acknowledgment and we live in a world that is now about immediacy.

The fusebox work requires a mindset where one can hold their nerve when playing a longer game and not be seduced by immediate applause, recognition and acceptance. Fusebox work is critical if your workplace is going to transition to a more human approach because it is H2H interactions that will ultimately make the fishpond so impressive.

Fusebox work is the work of "being" and involves building trust, being vulnerable about ones strengths and weaknesses, understanding ones relevance and contribution, creating deeper connections and bonds and engaging in a cause that ultimately results in applause. It just takes longer.

It doesn't result in a quick sale, a sudden cost out initiative or capturing that "low hanging fruit" that is always talked about in the workplace. It's ugly, hard and messy work by nature so we avoid it until something goes wrong - usually in the form of a shitty engagement score, high employee attrition and a reduction in the state of leadership effectiveness scores.

It also takes out the craziness of short-termism - the need to panic and change direction based upon a poor week, fortnight, month or quarterly result. Building more fishponds if you like to get back to applause and move away from cause.

Are you working on the Fishpond or the Fusebox right now?

Mark LeBusque has mastered the art of Purposeful Provocation He has a unique gift in making pointed and incisive interventions into human interactions where the truth has gone missing. He is fearless and goes where others talk of going in order to help individuals and organisations make real progress. He brings the Elephants front and centre into the Room.

Mark's first book BEING HUMAN - Why Robots are not the Answer to Business Success was launched in February 2017.