How many of you think outside the box?
I mean
really think outside the box. Be honest here, because we all like to think that we're not "cookie-cutter" people - that we're prettier, more honest, have fresher breath than 99% of the people we encounter on a daily basis (really, isn't that what we think with our inside voice?).
I'm not prettier; I'm not more honest; And Wifey will affirm that I have foul breath even after brushing my teeth (thanks for the support Wifey!)
But, I will say that I can cook a good meal. I can mow a St. Augustine yard like no one's business. And, I can think outside the box when looking at certain problems.
Ever since I was a child, I could take a different look at an issue or problem and try to apply a different solution than what was considered conventional. As an example, if I was trying to fix or adjust something around the house, I look around at "things" that would fit the gap or the notch as I was trying to adjust. I might look at a kid's toy or I might look at some piece of debris in the garage that would do the job. It confuses Wifey as I pick up a kid's toy and head towards something that needs fixing. She always asks, "What do you think you're doing with that?!" And after I plug the tip of the toy into a gap and use it as a screwdriver or lever, she just shakes her head and says, "You're nuts. You should have used a real tool."
And that's my point. In my head, I've already looked at that gap or notch and figured out that a traditional tool (in my toolchest) would not work. I look at the actual gap, and I don't say to myself, "only a tool can fix that". I literally will walk around the house looking any item that is a round peg for the round hole. I don't have the time or patience to order a round peg off the internet to fix the round hole.
When I was in college and more importantly, in the workplace, people would be gathered around mumbling about the difficulty of a certain problem. I would sometimes say, "Hey, you know if you tried it this other way...." I would get one of the following responses, that is if anyone would actually listen to me:
- That's crazy! You obviously don't know what you are talking about.
- You don't have enough experience. Just sit back there and let the experienced programmers discuss this. You're distracting us.
- Uhhhh, yeah. Okay, next!
- Who the hell are you?
Most times, my crazy ideas just got batted down. But the thing was, they were batted down because they were considered crazy. It's like saying...."The difference between a crazy man and an eccentric is that an eccentric is rich and a crazy man is poor." So because I didn't have a fancy professional title or years of working in the company, my ideas were outright shot down.
I was kinda in a mid-career crisis a few years ago. It felt like, no matter how well my ideas might solve a problem, they were considered crazy because the right person didn't come up with the idea first.
Now, I have to tell you....that many people feel that way. They feel that "the Man" is holding them down. I had a friend in grad school who was a born contrarian. When my study group would get together to discuss how to figure out some proofs - he would ALWAYS go against the grain and propose some hairbrained solution to a proof. And really, about 90% of the time he was just wrong. So I am well aware that my views that I had legitimate alternatives could also mean that everyone looked at me like my contrarian friend.
I work really well with women managers. I had one who liked me and leaned on me to help her run the department. But, she would never put me on a list of technical "go-to" people. I bugged her for 2 years to do that. Finally, I was going to another department and she was headed off to manage another department. We both got burnt by her boss. He lied to her, which in turn made her a liar to me (she promised me one thing to have him snatch it away). But at the same time, there was a major dustup with one of our big customers. It took 3 months, but I managed that problem away. And as we were driving to some going away party for someone...I once again nagged her that she should have put me on that "go-to" list a few years back. And she blurted out, "Well to tell you the truth Johnny...Until recently, I didn't know you were capable of that type of leadership."
And again, that's what it comes down to me and my crazy ideas. In order to try some of my crazy ideas, you have to be respected. And you can't get the respect unless someone is willing to try one of my crazy ideas to solve a problem.
This long-winded story leads me to my "guardian angel manager". She became my next manager. To be honest, I took a boring job I was way overqualified for just to get away from the manager who burnt me and my last boss. My new manager and I had good rapport. But one day, during our twice a month one-on-one session, she was sighing and musing about how was she
ever going to get rid of a problem that plagued most managers in our building. There were some tedious forms and paperwork that needed to be cleaned up - we're talking about several years of backlogged paperwork that we couldn't just conveniently forget about. But how do you get people to take care of something they've been ignoring for years?
And that's when I casually told her my solution to this problem. I was just talking stream-of-thought about using carrots and sticks to motivate people. This is where most managers would say, "Yeah. Well, when you become manager, you'll see that's easier said than done." And that would have been the end to that.
Instead, she looked at me and said, "Let's do it!"
And that, as Rick said to Captain Renault, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
My solution resulted in spectacular results and my guardian angel manager gave me bigger projects to solve. I was loaned out to another area by her for almost a year. But, she was still my manager when it came to raises and performance reviews. After a particularly good review, I asked her,
"So...I don't really work FOR you on a daily basis. But yet, you give me good reviews. Isn't that penalizing the rest of the people in your real department? I mean, I am essentially taking away a good review chit from someone else in your department and I don't actually deliver anything to YOU and the department."
and she came back with,
"Well, I don't view it that way. First, can anyone else in my department get the results you get? No. And, I don't care if you don't deliver anything to me personally. If you help the Mega-lo-corp with a bigger issue, then it's good for the company and it's good for all of us. You just keep doing what you are doing. Let me worry about everything else."
God I loved working for her. I think in the 20 years at the Mega-lo-corp, I've only worked for 3 managers who took the view that what was good for the company, as a whole, was the most important issue.
And was it a surprise that she promoted me twice in 3.5 years I worked for her?
And now, essentially I work for her. About 2 months ago, I was chit-chatting with her in her office and I told her this big project had the right technical people working at the bottom. But, the team was a bunch of lumberjacks used to sawing one tree at a time. They, literally, couldn't see the forest for the trees.
And then she whispered a manager's ear. And that manager whispered into my manager's manager's ear.....and suddenly, I became the team lead to these lumberjacks.
The other day, my guardian angel manager told me, "Have I thanked you again, for taking this job?"
Have I thanked her for realizing and appreciating a programmer who thinks outside the box and is willing to try crazy things with him?
We both win.
