Month: February 2011

I was reading a review of Driving Technical Change by Roger The Geek (his label, not mine.)

He has both positive and negative things to say about the book. Read the review, I think his criticism’s fair. However he said one thing that sticks out to me.

Do you want to fight for technical change on your team or do you move from team to team or company to company looking for that great fit?

Basically, in early talks I gave on this I phrased it a little different:

You have three choices:

1. accept the status quo
2. leave
3. change your organization

 

This was inspired by Martin Fowler‘s quote:

You can Change Your Organization or Change Your Organization.

The problem I see in Roger’s question, is that it sort of assumes that work has only one compelling feature: the work. I see this from time to time, and I’m not entirely sure that Roger is saying this, but I feel in the minds of many people it assumes that passionate people don’t stay at a job where people are resistant to change. It implies that the people that do want better things have to leave to grow.

I know it’s not trendy to say this, but there are times where being an adult means that you can’t just hop from job to job following your passion. Having a family, a mortgage, and other ties require that from time to time you have to suck it up for a paycheck, heath benefits, and stability. You aren’t always free to leave.

This is not to take shots at people who set up their lives to enable this. They value their freedom, and they earn it by sacrificing other things. I respect and admire that, but theirs is not the only path to passionate fulfillment in your life.

This is also not to say you shouldn’t try to leave a bad situation. Just that you have to weigh your options and take passes on riskier ventures waiting for the right opportunity.

But while you wait where your coworkers aren’t interested in change, what do you do? If you cannot leave, your choice is between accepting the status quo, or changing the organization.

I’d argue that if you accept that status quo it is the first, if not the only, step to giving up on the passion at your job. That’s cool. No judgment. It might be right for you. It was decidedly not right for me.

Let’s assume that it’s not right for you – you have the passion to want other things, and as stated before you can’t change jobs… then you’re going to have to change your organization.

At first that seems like you’re making a poor decision. Fighting a fight that you cannot “win.” But what is “winning”? I’d argue that making your organization better isn’t a journey to a destination – it’s the journey itself. So even if you don’t get everything you want, you can still effect some change, rejecting the status quo, and making yourself a little happier in the meantime.

Success at change has to measured by your deltas, not your destination or current location. People tend to lose sight of the fact that between where you are, and where you ultimately want to be, there are many, many better places.

Keep that in mind as you drive change.