Skip to main content

Pretense.

By Bamboo In The Wind
Pretense is a cover-up. When something does not look closer to our expectations, we fall back on acts to avoid embarrassment. Pretense is a desperate attempt to show that things are going as per plan. All in control. Fear of getting exposed to the poorest performance makes us create a shield that masks reality.

It seems that pretense originates from insecurity, a strong desire that we must achieve what we want. Often we are unaware of the blind spots. We have unknowns we need to properly prepare for.

Without the preparation, there is a sudden unexpected outcome. We are in for a surprise. While we know what a crest is, we have no experience of the trough. 

Often, we are surprised because we are used to seeing only an upward trajectory, success, and having everything our way. We have no exposure to seeing what it means to not be up to the mark or even fail.

More importantly, pretense also comes from wanting to be a winner in our minds and in the eyes of others.

Pretense creates false beliefs, shallow trust, and dependence. In the short run, it can entertain and excite people about our prospects.

In the long run, pretense erodes trust and exposes the quality of work and outcomes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Checks and balances!

By Bamboo In The Wind
Defining a good purpose, setting a target goal and getting people working on them is usually not enough! There are too many aspects involved in getting the results we want. For example, there is an aspect of painting the big picture, working on motivation management, productivity tracking, building experimentation labs, and erecting resilient systems that systematize the workflows. Just putting bodies to work and defining milestones rarely achieves the right results. The other aspects that help march towards the milestones in an orderly manner, they are equally important. At the very least, they make objectives widely understandable and results more attainable. The job of a thought leader is to enable progress and enable recovery. Therefore, it is never enough to have just ideas. Those with ideas also have the responsibility to assemble the work environment in such a way as to create situations containing the energy disperses. Energy dispersal from lack of clarity, loss of motivation, ...
Post a Comment
Next »

Choking the communication channel.

By Bamboo In The Wind
There are instances where everything looks in order. Structures are rightly in place. Right roles are defined. Responsibilities are distributed. Bi-directional open communication is expected to take place. And with that, collective work is expected to turn out productive. Yet, when the action begins, everything breaks apart. Productivity dwindles, cooperation is missing, and ad-hoc interactions are common-place That creates chaos. No one appears in charge even though there is someone responsible. It clearly is a sign of broken communication channels. A well-orchestrated workplace focuses on methods to communicate grounds-up and top-down. It encourages patient listening, internalizing and responding rather than reacting. All effective open communication channels are a result of making such communication possible. Often, the structures are set such that you centralize communication of every bit of your activity to someone in the hierarchy. Over time it turns into a permission-based inter...
1 comment
Next »

Unentangle.

By Bamboo In The Wind
Some circumstances warrant protecting your time and effort. Saying no to everything and ruthlessly keeping space becomes your priority. Space that can hold the opportunity to take something that excites you. There are distractions thrown your way. Carrots are dangling in front of you, making you believe that a brighter future lies in following a defined path. They are others' views of the opportunities, not yours. When you are picky about what you want to do - the right way to go is to say no until you can say whole body yes to something that ignites you. Eventually, what you do may work or not. But you made your choice. Some other circumstances warrant a mechanism for creating opportunities. You ought to find ways to use your time and effort to do something worthwhile. Say yes to what comes your way, and keeping up with exploration provides experience. Experience in what among many options to pick from. By knowing what those options involve. When you are open about what you want t...
Post a Comment
Next »