Myth no. 1: This ‘soft’ stuff is really a waste of time
What gives you the biggest headache (and heartache) at work; the actual tasks you do or the people you have to deal with?
Now, I’ve studied and worked with more ‘hard’ systems than most people:
I'm an award winning (IEEE Vickers PLC) 1st Class BEng (Hons) Manufacturing Engineering & Management degree holder; I’ve designed and researched prototype cars at Ford, resolved ‘real life’ production problems, taken engines apart... I programmed the mobile phone system for Singapore’s 1st privatised network; developed, managed and taught software systems in banking, enabling the bank to manage its credit, trade and save £20million a year...
Yet I've spent the last 12 years exploring the ‘soft... and why?
Well, because the ‘hard’ stuff was rarely where the ‘problems’ lay; pretty much every time there was a work issue for myself or others it was a ‘people’ thing; a lack of motivation, stress, conflict, attitude issues... that screwed things up. And why is that?
Well, because virtually all of our ‘education’, at school and work, focuses on mastering the ‘hard’ systems and the ‘soft’ skills we learn are usually focused on ‘managing’ or manipulating the symptoms e.g. stress management, conflict management; they’re surface level fixes, which is why things rarely stay ‘fixed’ in the longer term.
So until you and I are ready to face the ‘soft’ stuff at the very core i.e. stuff like your thinking patterns, control patterns, primal emotions like fear… the stuff that really drives you, sabotages you or supports you, you’ll continue to fire-fight the surface symptoms of stress, conflict, dissatisfaction… and (work) life will become more and more uncomfortable, and costly.
Cheryl
