As someone who has performed in various leadership roles over the years, one career killer remains evident year after year: The Specialization Ambush. When did this fundamental requirement for capitalism become obsolete you may be asking yourself. As someone who has spent years learning about computers and software, I would have argued a strong case for learning every bit and byte there is to know, but now, I propose a different position.

The Specialization Ambush is a trap that workers of all occupations are lured into by exploiting existing skills at the cost of learning new skills for the future, and doing so will likely result in major distress at some point in time. Triggers for detecting too much specialization are the thoughts: “that’s not my job” or “I’m not trained for that”. As employers look for employees to do more with less, it’s worthwhile to consider learning more about other parts of the business, even if little bits at a time, because today’s craft is tomorrow’s bygone.

Early in my career, I spent a lot of time collecting all the emails I had sent or received. I would have backups of 1000’s of emails lying around on servers, encrypted with compression passwords. Occasionally, I would perform a massive search on these GB’s of data to uncover a few emails discussing a topic, which had recently resurfaced. In many of these cases, the true purpose of finding one of these emails was to prove my rightness in a disagreement or occasionally show my innocence in some controversial situation (i.e. CYA – Cover Your Behind).

Nowadays, this all seems silly, and here’s why. First, if you are thinking you need to CYA something, there’s a good chance the decision should be reconsidered or handled in a different way. In other words, if your gut is not feeling good about the course of action being taken, those actions need to be changed. This sounds easy to say but often much harder to implement due to politics or other confounding aspects of the situation. Unfortunately, the career ladder is littered with those who just followed, but most of those at the top took the initiative to do something others weren’t willing to do.

Second, pulling out the old piece of ‘evidence’ to slam your work nemesis rarely gains anything but a short pride swell and a couple of enemies. For instance, pulling out the email that says ‘I said this was a bad idea’ is not much more than documentation of your self-incrimination. If it was such a bad idea the time, a simple email documenting a stance isn’t a worthwhile method of exoneration. Other options would have included escalation to a higher authority or complete removal of oneself from the process. In this case, pulling out the old CYA email has just shown a desire to track all disagreements with your peers as well as an inability to take a stand. In the end, neither of these will create healthy business relationships nor help with career progression.

For all those loyal readers of my old blog, I decided to bring back the Bar of Gold Theory, but this time with a slightly more positive twist aimed at improving the situation. Simply put, the infamous Bar of Gold Theory:

If a person starts handing free bars of gold to anyone who asks, someone will complain.

Again with the disclaimers/assumptions:

• There is plenty of gold.
• The value of gold does not decrease relative to its existing monetary value. No violence ensues due to a mad rush on the gold stand.
• Each person only gets one bar of gold.
• Forget any other silly notions; it’s a metaphorical situation equal to many other proverbs, so ‘bar of gold’ can be easily replaced with just about any perk.

Granted it’s a subtle twist on the old saying ‘you can’t please everyone’, but in this case those who are complaining have gained something they did not have before. So, the question as a leader or peer is how to deal with this circumstance. Here are some proposals in dealing with those smitten with this dilemma:

1. Ask if the situation is better than it was before the reward. (Sometimes a simple reminder of one’s benefits can resuscitate the optimism within a person.)
2. Ask for a detailed scenario in which the situation would be better. (Mentally working out problems can help some see what’s there.)
3. Ask for an outline of changes potentially implemented by trading roles, often referred to as the ‘What would you do differently if you were in my shoes?’ question. (Similar in nature to #2, this allows venting to occur which can calm down a heated situation.)
4. Last but most importantly not least, ask for the reward back, and be courageous enough to take it back, if it would help. (This is the defibrillator method meant to shock someone into realizing their gain by showing what an equal loss would be like. In extreme situations, the overall outcome may be better by removing the reward as it has no longer retained its benefactive effect.)

The author of True to Our Roots provides a great story about the power of motivation in the workplace. The context of the story revolves around the power of creating the right environment where people feel they are obtaining much more than a paycheck. (I plan to write some more on this topic after I’m finished with True to Our Roots.) Here’s a paraphrased version of the story.

A management consultant has been brought into a hospital to look for ways to improve processes, productivity, etc. The consultant interviews all the doctors, nurses, HR staff, and etcetera for weeks. As he’s leaving one Friday, he notices a janitor mopping the floors near the elevator. Debating whether to even talk to the janitor, the consultant stops and asks him the opening question that he has used with all of the other staff. The question is simply to explain what role the person plays at the hospital. The janitor stops and thinks for a moment, and then says, “I help Doctor Johnson save lives.”

While a much more animated version of the story is described by the author, the point is incredibly clear, almost inspirational. It also provides a sharp reminder that we should look for things like this in our own work routines or find other means to accomplish what’s important to us as individuals.