Rocking the Boat - Part 1 - The Junior Shipmate Shuffle

I've always believed strongly in rocking the boat. Sometimes this has been successful in both life and the career, other times... not so! Yet I stand by those decisions!

What do I mean by "Rocking the Boat"?

I'm certainly not referring to rude or arrogant behavior, I despise people that hurt or back stab others to advance their own careers and I'm certainly not talking about going fishing. I am referring to being the one person that isn't afraid to put their hand up and say what other's are thinking. I am also referring to thinking outside the square (or cube!) and not just accepting the status quo because others told you so. I'm referring to challenging the thinking of management and ensuring they aren't letting their own stubborn ways hold back the business.

I can think of countless examples, so over a 3 part series I will discuss just a few.

Part 1 - The Junior Shipmate Shuffle
I've always been a big advocate for supporting new staff in an organisation to speak up about flaws they see or observations they make as they learn business systems and processes... and here's why. Many years ago (more than I'd like to admit) when I first made the transition from the Building Industry to the IT Industry, I started my first full time contracting position with a Wholesaler and Manufacturing SME in the Display and Merchandising world. It was exciting times, but also quite scary. I was going from building and concreting as a seasoned worker that was in charge of numerous staff and knew the job back to front and inside out. I was entering the IT world in an unfamiliar industry with a boss that had built a business from scratch and didn't think he needed an IT guy, but only employed me because all his management and consulting staff told him he needed to have someone.


Fresh Eyes
I spent the first couple of days getting to know the people, the business, sitting alongside staff and managers as they explained the various components of the systems. The time came for the weekly sales meeting and I was asked to attend to introduce myself. After sitting through the hour long meeting, the time came for the MD to introduce me and asked me to explain what I was there for! I had a choice right here... smile, say hi and all lovely things about the business.... or, say the plain honest truth. I decided to be forthright about the state of their aging IT systems, the lack of unity between processes, the unnecessary doubling up of paperwork that held up vital processes and the need to centralize network services. I was brief and to the point and positive about what laid ahead. 


After I finished there was silence, you could hear a pin drop and I suddenly wondered if I had gone too far. The National Sales Manager spoke up, "We just spent thousands of dollars on consultants that spent the last couple of weeks with us and then held a workshop to improve business practices... you just summed up everything they said and you've spent less than 2 days with us... I think you're going to go ok here!"


Sometimes Management Just Don't Know
A few minutes later the Managing Director and owner let everyone know that some building works were going to be taking place later in the week and glossed over the description of a wall being knocked down, that there might be a small interruption, etc. I turned and looked at the wall he mentioned and quickly realised he had no idea about what to expect. Again... choice time... do I speak up and possibly make him look like a fool? 
"Ah... excuse me", I said. I confirmed what I had heard, then commented. "That wall contains all the electrical, phone and network leads for the server and all the call centre computers and phones The main call centre will be offline for most of the day unless we move the cabling. It will also be full of dust and be so noisy no one would be able to be on phone calls anyway...and it's summer.... the builder is gonna stink of B.O.!!" The last bit was purely to ease the tension! Again... a silent pause... then MD said "OK, Troy's in charge of the building project"

Introducing the Alternative... easing the blow with Feel, Felt, Found

One of the difficult things with introducing the "outside the cube" style thinking with a senior manager or a meeting forum is ensuring the standard human defence mechanism of others doesn't shut you down before you've spoken.

If others are set in their ideas, sometimes formed on ill-informed evidence, the most difficult thing for a new staff member in an organisation or a junior member of staff is helping others see past the blinkers they have on. Many years ago in the sales industry I was taught an almost corny methodology to gently turn an objection around using a process called Feel, Felt, Found. It may sound somewhat corny in its description, yet it works wonders in it practice.

It's simply about the phrasing you use before introducing the new idea.

1. Firstly you acknowledge the alternative perspective with "I understand how you feel". Explain an example in your experience that relates.
2. You then find common ground by saying "I also felt that way" or "many others have felt that way". 
3. Then give evidence to offer the new and more enlightened perspective by saying "yet after researching it carefully what we've found was..." or "yet after implementing an alternative system, we found these benefits..."