My MOST DANGEOUS boss ever!

My MOST DANGEROUS boss ever!

As the former shyest person in the universe, talking to my bosses, especially disagreeing with them, was a HUGE challenge.

But you know that feeling when what they're saying just isn't right? When staying quiet isn't good for you, for others or for the greater good.

When you know for sure, deep down in the recesses of your gut, that what they're telling you to do isn't just wrong, it's DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS,

Yeh, I've had that too.

What was it they said that was so bad? so dangerous?

Well, at first glance it's nothing really. I mean it wasn't like they wanted me to walk on a skyscraper with no harness. They didn't expect me to operate heavy machinery.

What they said was...

"That's how we've always done it."

Six words that filled me with dread, because I KNEW we could be doing SO MUCH better. I could see and feel the danger of staying 'the same'.

And that's when it happened.

For one crazy, insane moment my fear took a back seat and involuntarily I said OUT LOUD, "that's not a good enough reason."

My boss's head swivelled back around at me in shock, like a wind wane during a snap summer cool change...?but honestly no one was more shocked to hear those words come out of my mouth, than me!

"What?!" It was really more of an EXCLAMATION from my boss than a question, like when Oliver Twist asked that famous question.

In that split second, I knew there was no back peddling on this one... so I dug in deeper... GULP

"That's not a good enough reason, " I repeated, thinking, hoping, wishing that the "WHAT" was a genuine attempt to hear my answer more clearly.

Feeling a little more bolshy, I promptly followed up with "we can do better. I know we can do better. "

And, after a trail period to prove that it could work, we DID do it better, easier and with more impactful outcomes... and that change led to other changes, and so on.

That moment, that crazy insane split second, was one of those DEFINING MOMENTS in my life, shaping me to always strive for better, to be brave and bold and rock the boat. To use my voice when I could see, or feel or sense danger ahead, or when the danger was so insidious that it was hidden in plain sight and generally accepted as the 'collateral damage' of doing business.

It's difficult upsetting the apple cart and challenging the status quo, but SO worth it. Now, in my business, this has become my standard, my true North.

I hear myself repeating those words "we can do better" in meetings, knowing that the way we've ALWAYS DONE IT, doesn't mean it's working at its PRIME.

Challenging myself, and now my little team, to constantly look at ways to DO IT BETTER.

To look outside of the norm.

To challenge assumptions.

To take educated chances and risks.

To innovate and to NEVER utter the words "that's the way we've always done it".

Why? because what we've been doing has created where we are now. When I hear some providers saying NO to even LOOKING at new ways of solving big problems (like student and graduate employment outcomes, student and staff wellbeing and mental health, engagement levels and so on) because, 'that's not how we've always done it' or that they 'already have solutions' (even if they're not working too well), I immediately think back to that much younger version of me, and her insane moment of courage and say "that's not a good enough reason".

I encourage you to do the same, because, if nothing changes, nothing changes, and that means that we get condemned to never being better, and being ok with the outcomes, even if they're not working, or worse, we've have gotten used to them not working.

My sister has a tattoo of her favourite quote: what you allow will continue.

My question to you is, what are you allowing to continue by saying that's the way we've always done it? and how dangerous is it to stay stuck in that mindset?

Anita van Rooyen is the Chief Confidence Hacker from Confidence Hackers, creating new paradigms in student & staff wellbeing & mental health, graduate student employability outcomes, engagement and more.

Confidence Hackers are 2021 IEAA Excellence in Innovation Award recipients for proactive and preventative wellbeing programs and events, 2022 Study Melbourne Finalists - International Student Experience and sited in the Federal Government's Best Practice International Student Experience Research

https://confidencehackers.com/