The Long Game

I’m watching two personalities in the workplace in the midst of an interesting “dance” … I find people watching interesting, truly.  

Watching people in the workplace has some contextual benefits … you understand (usually) the cultural overlay, the political landscape, in some cases you even have a sense of who the personalities in play are.  

Let’s fall down the rabbit hole … 

Every workplace has a culture … some have several … every workplace has politics … every workplace has personalities that show up as themselves and others who show up as their “work” self.  All of these influence behaviour, performance, progression … the workplace itself often has a “persona” … depending on the size, it’s possible it has more than one.  

I’m clearly not an idealist, I fall more into the realist camp … if I don’t balance my circle with optimists I can very easily slip into fatalist thinking, so I’m careful to find a balance … fatalism isn’t a look I wear well.  

What is often interesting, or at least to me, how many people play the “short game” … I’m more of a long-game player … I suspect that’s a byproduct of my upbringing and my early career transitions.  I have moments where I slip into short-game thinking … I’m frustrated, tired, reacting emotionally, feeling unappreciated.  

I’m not saying short-game thinking is bad or wrong … I realize it sounds like I am … what I’m saying is … it’s wrong for me.  I’m at my optimal performance and showing up as me when I’m in long-game thinking.  I’m a builder - not literally - figuratively - I need to assess what I have, where we are, people will tell you but I’ve found that corporate politics makes trusting individuals' perceptions an unreliable data point … their behaviour, actions, influences often provide more credible evidence for current state.  It also gives a much clearer indication of the culture, the subcultures and provides a reading of their readiness for change.

For me, you can lose a game and not lose the match … sometimes you need to hold back to get a feel for how the others play … are they offensive, defensive, do they have a tell, do they have one strong play they rely on repeatedly or can they pivot and adjust to meet the game unfolding before them?  Are they able to check their ego?  Regulate their emotions?  Learn from their mistakes?  Are they resilient?  It’s amazing what people will tell you about themselves when they think they have the advantage.

This may sound manipulative, I don’t see it that way, to me it’s just data.  It's why individual values should align with the company’s, my peers and my bosses.  For me, I have a relationship with my workplace … I invest my time, energy, and a large part of myself into where I work … what I do … outside of my paycheque, I want to feel like what I do matters … that what I've done has been left a little better than how it was received … whether it’s a process, a program, a person … that matters.  To me.  

I can’t do that if I don’t understand the starting point.  

Fostering an environment that drives a lot of change in a short amount of time requires influence … transformation or innovations requires passions, conflict, collaboration … Facilitating various personalities, expertise, viewpoints is challenging … I’ve found understanding the personalities at play helps - who will get defensive when challenged, who might shut down, does one personality take over?  Some groups need very little help with the process, others need to be coaxed through, they need someone to ensure the process is working and that all voices have a chance to be heard.  It's a bit like walking a tightrope - but the rewards!!

I’ve lost track of the number of things I’ve been told were impossible that proved possible.  Long-game thinking is understanding how I grow within this role and where what I’m working on needs to be before I know it’s time to go.  That’s not to say I have an exit strategy going in … I just know when it’s time to start getting one in place - usually.  I believe in diminishing returns of value … I will reach a point where I’m no longer adding net new value and likely not getting any … I’m not interested in being that person.

Some people might call this strategic thinking … maybe it is … maybe it isn’t.  Semantics isn’t the hill … calling it a game might suggest I don’t take it seriously … Anyone who has ever worked with me would not suggest I don’t take my work seriously.  I do.  My performance is personal, doing my job well matters to me.  I take those habits with me, into the role, the next company … Those habits shape how I work -  no matter where I work - they matter.

While I talk about winning or losing … winning, to me, is about making something better …. Maturing programs, developing people, it’s about becoming better - my own ongoing development.  

I like the long-game, I need it.  It’s the reminder on the bad days of what I’m doing, it’s what gets you back up when you’ve fallen down, it’s the mirror if/or when you’re not where you’re meant to be. I’d be lost without it.  Kobe Bryant once said “These young guys are playing checkers.  I’m  out here playing chess.” That’s the long game.