Why can’t we talk?

Hi potatoes!

How have you been? I’ll admit I wanted to write this much sooner but work has been so busy that I had 0 energy left at the end of the day to pick up my laptop.

Let me set the scene:
HUGE financial institution, undergoing transformations left, right and centre. Trying to keep up with the pace of technology while carrying with it all the dinosaurs and lifers that are so..SO comfortable with a certain way and pace of working.

As I get older, I see the appeal of being comfortable in a job—stability, decent benefits, and the ability to go on “auto-pilot.” My problem arises when evolution becomes a necessity. The same systems, processes, and mindset that were relevant 10 years ago—2015, mind you, NOT 1995—do not stand a chance to survive in the upcoming future, though this isn’t about that.

My issue(s) today come from the fact that I have been feeling ever so frustrated. I knew what I was signing up to when I took on the role. Transformations are HARD. People dont like change even if they know its inevitable

I have been empathetic since day 1. Its hard out here man. Targets are increasing, people are expected to do more with less and all the while, the personal everyday struggles are growing. I didn’t expect to be “taken in” on day 1, but I did think that after a few weeks of working with me people would realise that actually I’m trying to help and if anything, really REALLY showcase the overwork and noise that we have to face. Never did I think my own team would feel the need to be defensive.

I have the luxury of being a small fish in a big pond, so I can observe things going wrong from a bird’ s-eye view. I’m pretty vocal about it because honesty is my way of life. The way to fix any problem is to first acknowledge that there is a problem. Yet this big organisation doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge it. WHERE IS THE SENSE IN THAT?

Why can’t we say we’re not okay? Why are we not speaking up when the time calls for it? Why are we accepting that just because someone has a certain title, they can make no wrong decision !? I suppose in many ways its the same as the notion about parents always being right.

Is it fear? Fear of speaking up and putting the spotlight on yourself? Fear of being wrong? Fear of being right!?
Is it delusion? Perhaps denial?

WHAT IS IT? What in the actual fuck is making us not speak up and actually say “hi, there’s a problem”?

I am well aware of the political nonsense within the corporate world but perhaps it is the fact that we cannot be open and honest with one another that allows the political nonsense to occur? Think about it. If we were able to open discuss salaries with one another without this taboo or 6 vodka lemon and limes, our employers couldn’t take us for a ride because what leg would they have to stand on?

I don’t know my lovely potatoes. I guess I’m just trying to make sense of how we’ve got here and how much worse it needs to get before we realise that hiding/lying about the reality of a project, mental state, feelings, or decisions will only ever end up in disaster.

Maybe the next time will be a more cheery post?

CP xx

PS if you’ve made it this far… check out my latest idea in trying to connect with the world!