I was poking around my blog last week and came across this post:
Who are the Villains in your Job Search?
One of the “benefits” of having written for almost fourteen years is that I come across stuff I’ve written about, and was at one point passionate about, but have since forgotten. It’s like I get to relive a bit of that passion.
Or, it leaves me scratching my head wondering what they huh??
This villains post sounded… jaded. Weird. It’s arguable that since I lost my job in 2006 I’ve been jaded and weird :p While the post was kind of hard to read, I think the point is still valid.
I think the most important part of that post is that you (a) identify the “villains,” or bad guys, or where you need to place blame, or even triggers, and (b) answer the question in my very last line: how will you resolve your villains?
I was recently in a conversation with a close friend about some issues… and for every issue we were trying to figure out the root causes. In having those conversations we identified people or situations at the root cause, but at one point realized that it seemed like we were mostly finding someone to blame for something.
I think root cause identification is great, and healthy. But it isn’t always what you need to do. Let me put it another way:
I have problems.
I need to move forward.
I can work on root cause identification. But if I spend too much time there, or wallow in that, I don’t leave enough time or space to move forward. Sometimes, I need to set my issues aside, set the blame aside, and do what I need to do: marketing, product, management, etc.
I have to function. I have to make progress. Otherwise I’ll just get caught up in nastiness.
In a way, no matter who else the villains are, I can become the biggest villain if I allow them to rob time from me.
This is the same for you. If you are in a job search, you can blame your idiot ex-boss for your problems. Or you can pick up the phone and ask someone for an informational interview. If the phone is too scary, send someone an email.
Don’t let your villains rob your progress.