The Smart Rat
A close friend is in a tough situation. She is a bright, hard worker and a huge asset to her company. In fact, her efforts have improved multiple projects and the managers promoted her. Wonderful! Right? Well, no.
She finds her job frustrating because it is a large company with endless bureaucracy resulting in even the simplest task lasing five times longer. It is a private company run by a family and they recently took steps to fix the issues by hiring an outside vice president. He put her in charge of several projects resulting in more work and responsibility but no authority. To make matters worse, her manager is spineless and takes on more projects even though there are no available resources. Now, she is swamped with work and the projects are moving along at a slower speed.
Her main project is developing a government proposal. Like all government projects, they have procedures and if you do the steps per their guidelines and thoroughly answer all their questions your proposal will be accepted. Well, the VP wants to skip the first step which is essential for safety. Is the government going to allow that? Of course not.
There is an even bigger problem. Three other companies have approved solutions that work outstanding while this new solution if approved will be at best 30% effective. Why on earth is the company going in this direction? Easy, it is a big market. So, she is working like crazy on something that will likely never be approved or used. I see the frustration in her eyes every time we talk.
What is she going to do about it? Because the company is huge, it will take a gigantic effort to correct the issues that span across all the departments and the VP has no intention of doing so. This leaves one viable solution. Find a new job.
This woman has been interviewing and I anticipate next week, she is going to turn in her resignation. Will the managers be surprised? Of course, but her coworkers will not. They are looking too, but she is going to be the first one to leave.
I have seen this pattern many times. Great coworkers see problems, get frustrated and leave. There is an old saying, “The smart rats leave the sinking ship first” and this is a perfect analogy of what is happening to my friend.
What is going on? One can view society and companies like waves gently rolling in the sea. Sure, there are storms, but usually, they gently go rolling by. Something to be ignored. The key is to watch the waves and make sure your ship is perfectly positioned to capture their energy and keep afloat. What is a wave? It is anything substantial that can be considered good or bad.
Take the computer and the cashier. Let’s pretend it is the early ‘80s and I am a cashier. To do my job effectively, I spent years learning prices and how to operate a mechanical cash register. Computing a refund? Wow, that is a big part of the job.
Then a big wave rolled by. This company invented a cash register that has a computer inside. The technology has a price database and a bar code scanner. Suddenly, the cashier sees the future. All their skills are meaningless. The smart cashier sees two options: Learn how to use a computerized cash register or take their career in a new direction. The oblivious casher ignores the big wave and continues hitting those mechanical keys. A few months later, the owner buys new cash registers and they are out of a job.
This pattern is all over modern society. We desired the latest entertainment, want a time saving kitchen gadget, look for a shorter route to work, avoid an unpleasant situation, ignore a problem or do something stupid when we know better. The trick is to see the big picture and make the best decisions for the long term. This means paying attention to new innovations and taking advantage of the situation, technology or windfall.
As always, I try to tie concepts into writing. In this case, the smart rat character. This person would have good wisdom, make good decisions, avoid unpleasantness and do their best to lead a happy life. Err, a lazy know-it-all? Err, yeah, that’s it.
Take the situation my friend is in. No reader has time to invest in look descriptions about an awful work place. And the casher? Learn how to use a computerized cash register and move on. It is so obvious.
My point is that an author must be careful when creating characters to avoid the smart rat. Readers like normal people who are not facing arduous environments. They dislike tedious situations, obvious solutions to big life problems and characters who seem to think they know everything. Yet, it life, this is exactly what people must do to remain ahead. It is interesting when life mirrors art, but fascinating when the opposite is true.
You’re the best -Bill
November 20, 2024
She finds her job frustrating because it is a large company with endless bureaucracy resulting in even the simplest task lasing five times longer. It is a private company run by a family and they recently took steps to fix the issues by hiring an outside vice president. He put her in charge of several projects resulting in more work and responsibility but no authority. To make matters worse, her manager is spineless and takes on more projects even though there are no available resources. Now, she is swamped with work and the projects are moving along at a slower speed.
Her main project is developing a government proposal. Like all government projects, they have procedures and if you do the steps per their guidelines and thoroughly answer all their questions your proposal will be accepted. Well, the VP wants to skip the first step which is essential for safety. Is the government going to allow that? Of course not.
There is an even bigger problem. Three other companies have approved solutions that work outstanding while this new solution if approved will be at best 30% effective. Why on earth is the company going in this direction? Easy, it is a big market. So, she is working like crazy on something that will likely never be approved or used. I see the frustration in her eyes every time we talk.
What is she going to do about it? Because the company is huge, it will take a gigantic effort to correct the issues that span across all the departments and the VP has no intention of doing so. This leaves one viable solution. Find a new job.
This woman has been interviewing and I anticipate next week, she is going to turn in her resignation. Will the managers be surprised? Of course, but her coworkers will not. They are looking too, but she is going to be the first one to leave.
I have seen this pattern many times. Great coworkers see problems, get frustrated and leave. There is an old saying, “The smart rats leave the sinking ship first” and this is a perfect analogy of what is happening to my friend.
What is going on? One can view society and companies like waves gently rolling in the sea. Sure, there are storms, but usually, they gently go rolling by. Something to be ignored. The key is to watch the waves and make sure your ship is perfectly positioned to capture their energy and keep afloat. What is a wave? It is anything substantial that can be considered good or bad.
Take the computer and the cashier. Let’s pretend it is the early ‘80s and I am a cashier. To do my job effectively, I spent years learning prices and how to operate a mechanical cash register. Computing a refund? Wow, that is a big part of the job.
Then a big wave rolled by. This company invented a cash register that has a computer inside. The technology has a price database and a bar code scanner. Suddenly, the cashier sees the future. All their skills are meaningless. The smart cashier sees two options: Learn how to use a computerized cash register or take their career in a new direction. The oblivious casher ignores the big wave and continues hitting those mechanical keys. A few months later, the owner buys new cash registers and they are out of a job.
This pattern is all over modern society. We desired the latest entertainment, want a time saving kitchen gadget, look for a shorter route to work, avoid an unpleasant situation, ignore a problem or do something stupid when we know better. The trick is to see the big picture and make the best decisions for the long term. This means paying attention to new innovations and taking advantage of the situation, technology or windfall.
As always, I try to tie concepts into writing. In this case, the smart rat character. This person would have good wisdom, make good decisions, avoid unpleasantness and do their best to lead a happy life. Err, a lazy know-it-all? Err, yeah, that’s it.
Take the situation my friend is in. No reader has time to invest in look descriptions about an awful work place. And the casher? Learn how to use a computerized cash register and move on. It is so obvious.
My point is that an author must be careful when creating characters to avoid the smart rat. Readers like normal people who are not facing arduous environments. They dislike tedious situations, obvious solutions to big life problems and characters who seem to think they know everything. Yet, it life, this is exactly what people must do to remain ahead. It is interesting when life mirrors art, but fascinating when the opposite is true.
You’re the best -Bill
November 20, 2024
