Improving my profile, or my life?

I have thought about why I write this stuff. Let's face it, there's a lot of people writing stuff out there. Some do it for money. Some do it for their "profile". Some I'm sure, do it because they feel the wisdom they've gained could help someone else avoid a pitfall or help them to grow. There may be other reasons too that I've completely overlooked. Perhaps they're all true. I know I started doing this because these words were inside me and they need to get out. It's therapeutic. It's not coding. It's not Hadoop. It's not solving someone else's problem. This is for me. It's for my psychology. I like doing it; perhaps some people read these words and it may help them, but that's not the reason I do it. This is for my own head.

One of the things I did some time back was to take a year out from my day-job and study psychology. Of all the things I've studied, this possibly has helped me more in my job without being my primary job. In a previous role, I applied for a high-level position and didn't get it. In the "fireside chat" beforehand, I listened while this senior person explained to me why I was not a great fit for the post and that there was no truth to what I'd written in my cover-letter. I'm quite happy not to have had an offer, but I have come to understand people and organisations far better than they possibly know. The manager claiming that "nothing is wrong" - but then you see lots of changes around me means that something IS wrong. I nailed it!

Someone close to me was passed up on a very senior role despite being the best candidate; her honest assessment of the problems [and how she proposed to fix them] was not well received. The appointed candidate is oblivious to the problems and as a result the organisation continues to struggle along - on a downward trajectory.

It's a game. It takes some finesse and a ton of trying to understand people - to figure out someone else's next move. This applies to organisations too. It was driven home again recently when talking to a potential customer.

Sitting in the room with the incumbent service provider, they sat glumly at the table, saying nothing because they simply don't have the skill; and they're about to lose their customer. Don't underestimate their power though! They've developed relationships with people at all levels of the organisation and just because the CTO/CEO wants something to happen in a way that may contradict the incumbent, doesn't mean it will happen. They can scupper your best laid plans through those relationships. In discussion, it took some time to suss out the situation - and only when we were alone out of the earshot of the CEO did the true colours come through. I nailed it!

Psychology and specifically social psychology is a fascinating field. If more people took the time to try to understand others, there may be much greater success in achieving the outcomes desired. A favourite podcasts is Hidden Brain. I listen to the studies and am fascinated at how applicable these topics are to people and organisations around me.