Recently a friend of mine told me she was doing a lot of speaking up in her company. “I’m not afraid to make a fuss,” she said.
But, I asked, what’s the point of fussing? You have to make a decision. Take action or do nothing.
For example, “Jane” was getting frustrated with increased workload demands. She complained bitterly. She wrote memos. She joined a committee on working conditions. Nothing happened.
Jane’s colleague Tina didn’t bother to complailn. When she was assigned extra work she asked herself, “Will this work lead to outcomes that demonstrate my productivity? Will I be rewarded? Will I have something to put on my resume?” If the answer was no, she just didn’t do the work. Most of the time nobody noticed. When somebody noticed, she politely gave a noncommital response.
Tina also had a repertoire of responses, such as:
“I need more time to evaluate the impact of this task on our mission.”
“I have to choose between serving our customers and finishing this task.”
Tina actually did less work than Jane but she had a reputation for being focused. The idea is to avoid whining but instead to create outcomes based on our actions.
