The Corporate Ferris Wheel

The world is a gigantic Ferris wheel. You heard that before? Here’s what I mean, if you’re on top of the world and decide to throw a paper ball (to use a subtle example) at the person diametrically below you remember that when the wheel turns the person you threw the ball at can return your gesture (but they might prefer an object different from your paper ball).

Next time you think about your career remember the “Gigantic Corporate Ferris Wheel.”

It’s not about being friends with everyone or “sucking up” to ensure that everyone “loves” you—for one thing you will never reach this level of consensus.

The thing is that your actions, accomplishments, and deeds have the “Gigantic Corporate Ferris Wheel” effect and you shouldn’t ignore them. You might think that the world is huge and that nobody will remember what you did when changing jobs or industry.

But this is an illusion! More than globalized, the business world today is connected and allows for fast checking very easily. I usually receive resumes that don’t match the information included in the professional’s LinkedIn account, or Facebook or even a quick search on Google (have you already searched your name on Google?). It’s not difficult to find out who your co-workers, assistants, or bosses were at a certain point in your career. And it’s also easy to find out that those professionals are in your contact network, in a platform such as LinkedIn. And sometimes we even know them, which makes it easier to check references.

So here are some tips in order to make the best of your ride in the “Gigantic Corporate Ferris Wheel,”

1)    NEVER LIE. Not in your resume, interview, size or authorship of projects you managed or participated. It may work in the short term. ONLY in the short term;
2)    When resigning from a job, always value the “don’t burn your bridges” adage. Finish your last projects at the company and don’t just cross your arms and “coast”!!
3)    Value your word and commitment. For instance, accepting a job offer which involved a lot of work and time from a company’s top management and then changing your mind might have serious consequences for you;
4)    Harming other professionals in order to get advantages in the short term leaves a mark in the career of those professionals and might have repercussions for you in future;
5)    This may sound funny, but don’t “create” characters to increase or aggrandize your experience or professional accomplishments.

As Profeta Gentileza[1] used to say, “Kindness Generates Kindness.” Believe me, this works for everything in life. Even your career.

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[1] Translator’s Note: José Datrino, better known as Profeta Gentileza, “Profet Kindness,” was a sort of preacher in the Rio de Janeiro urban landscape who became famous in the 80’s for inscribing his peculiar writings on the columns that supported an overpass in the city. He would walk around wearing a long white gown and long beard. His preaching and writings were about love, kindness, and respect for humans and nature. He has been immortalized in songs, such as this one by Marisa Monte, Gentileza, with English subtitles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tfbw6818Ls)

 

Online Career

Few weeks ago I started an online discussion about the allowed use (or not) of Facebook in the workplace. A lot of people participated and the discussions posted were very interesting to say the least.

Regardless of Facebook, workers are not always allowed to use their social networks at work under the allegation that their inappropriate use can negatively impact employees’ focus and productivity.

I personally don’t agree with that. I myself have profiles on Linked In, Twitter, Plaxo, and Facebook, in addition to videoclips on Youtube. My productivity is not affected because of that. Quite the contrary, I believe it’s even higher (the entire discussion about the use of Facebook was conducted through a set of interconnected social networks!!).

On the other hand one must also consider that the improper use of social networks might lead to the loss of productivity and focus in the workplace. It might, but not necessarily.
Let’s use a knife as an analogy. You might consider it to be a weapon, even an object whose use should be forbidden. However, through correct use a knife is an essential tool in several activities. So one way to look at it might be that it’s about how we use each tool we’re provided with.

And this was also addressed in the discussion about Facebook use in the workplace: common sense.  But once again I’d like to point out my reservation about this. Common sense doesn’t exist. It’s part of each one’s individual framework and it’s extremely bound by cultural, religious issues; and varies depending on the context.

So how can one allow the use of social networks in the workplace without losing productivity and focus in the results to be delivered? Simple answer. By being focused on management!

It might sound like an easy answer, as if management were the answer for everything. But the truth is that it generally is!

Managers should pay closer attention to the results of their teams and how they produce them. Following the process of result generation and the impact of such process in motivating employees is a responsibility of managers.

For that reason prohibiting people to use Facebook (or any other social network) is not an action suitable to companies that plan on making the utmost use of the potentials offered by the current world. What businesses should be doing is training managers capable of guiding their teams toward maximizing the use of social networks to their own benefits, and training globally connected employees to exchange information, generate content and value online. Of course there are professions in which the use of social networks as work tool is less obvious. But perhaps social networks are today what the world wide web represented a few years back, which was only seen as useful in the academic environment. And does anyone see themselves living without the internet today?

Certainly, accommodating these new tools in the workplace (and why not in schools as well?) will still generate a lot of attrition and adjustment, which is natural.

But it’s already a reality; everyone’s is connected. Even without knowing for sure how social networks can actually help ONLINE is already my middle name and yours.  Isn’t it?