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>> If you’re reading this looking for advice, you’re probably a go-getter. You consider yourself a responsible person, who cares deeply about doing things right

>> If you’re reading this looking for advice, you’re probably a go-getter. You consider yourself a responsible person, who cares deeply about doing things right. In many environments, the tough part about resolving to pick your battles and leave problems to other people is maintaining the image of a responsible go-getter in order to protect your career. "Tending your own garden" translated to the language of your manager may be "limited vision", "not a team player", "does not display leadership qualities" and "not engaged". Regardless of whether or not you or anyone on your team actually has broad influence on anything, you have to act like you think you do to appear engaged.

dkarl 7y ago
There's a trade-off in perception, because there are two approaches that different kinds of leaders like. One approach that some favor is the "tell it like it is" approach, where anything is up for criticism by anyone. Another is the "if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem" approach, where if you bring the criticism, you'd better bring the solution and be willing to see it through. These approaches both have strengths and vulnerabilities. The strength of the "tell it like it is" approach is that big problems can't fly under the radar, and ideas and criticisms are shared across organizational and disciplinary boundaries. Its vulnerability is that clever people can curry favor by harping on known problems outside their responsibility to fix. Sometimes if a problem is hard enough, the people fixing it don't look like they're doing anything, and it may appear that they don't even appreciate the problem, because they're likely to respond defensively to having the problem announced over and over again. A hard problem is a goose that lays golden eggs for a loud critic, who looks more and more "right" the more they harp on it, and the people who are actually working on a solution lose credibility, without which they can't devote resources to the solution. So a boss who favors the "tell it like it is" approach must be careful not to create an atmosphere where words count more than action. The strength of the "if you're part of the solution" approach is that it encourages an enterprising spirit and rewards go-getters instead of talkers. Its vulnerability is that big problems may not get talked about at all. Someone might be the only person who sees a problem but assume everyone knows about it but aren't talking because they don't have a solution. Or someone might see a problem and not want to mention it because they don't want to invite pressure on themselves to solve it. In other words, these approaches are both pathological if they become consistent enough to define the atmosphere in a company. Good leaders have to constantly rebalance them to fit the occasion.

dkarl 7y ago

There's a trade-off in perception, because there are two approaches that different kinds of leaders like. One approach that some favor is the "tell it like it is" approach, where anything is up for criticism by anyone. Another is the "if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem" approach, where if you bring the criticism, you'd better bring the solution and be willing to see it through. These approaches both have strengths and vulnerabilities. The strength of the "tell it like it is" approach is that big problems can't fly under the radar, and ideas and criticisms are shared across organizational and disciplinary boundaries. Its vulnerability is that clever people can curry favor by harping on known problems outside their responsibility to fix. Sometimes if a problem is hard enough, the people fixing it don't look like they're doing anything, and it may appear that they don't even appreciate the problem, because they're likely to respond defensively to having the problem announced over and over again. A hard problem is a goose that lays golden eggs for a loud critic, who looks more and more "right" the more they harp on it, and the people who are actually working on a solution lose credibility, without which they can't devote resources to the solution. So a boss who favors the "tell it like it is" approach must be careful not to create an atmosphere where words count more than action. The strength of the "if you're part of the solution" approach is that it encourages an enterprising spirit and rewards go-getters instead of talkers. Its vulnerability is that big problems may not get talked about at all. Someone might be the only person who sees a problem but assume everyone knows about it but aren't talking because they don't have a solution. Or someone might see a problem and not want to mention it because they don't want to invite pressure on themselves to solve it. In other words, these approaches are both pathological if they become consistent enough to define the atmosphere in a company. Good leaders have to constantly rebalance them to fit the occasion.