How to fail miserably on the job

We all want to do well on the job, right? But how often do we get ourselves into a real pickle – instead of being thought of as a go to person, stay away from me is tattooed on our forehead.

“Nobody wants to be in that category,” best-selling author and business consultant, Bruce Tulgan says, “but so often people with great technical abilities lack insight into the human dimension of working with others. And, at one time or another, we have all said or done something that had the potential to harm our reputation.”

In his new book, The Art of Being Indispensable at Work, Tulgan gives readers the keys to the castle. He reveals how go to people think and behave differently, are valued, highly thought of, in short, become indispensable.

Tulgan isn’t offering a “quick fix” for personality issues or communication problems we might have. Read his book and I’ll bet you will see some of your own weaknesses discussed, as I did. If our lives are jigsaw puzzles, Tulgan shows us how to better assemble the pieces that will make us happier, respected, and an MVE, a Most Valued Employee.

A Recipe for Failure

I asked him to turn the question of “How to succeed at work” upside down. Of course, by definition, if you know what will make you fail, there is a good chance of avoiding it completely.

1 – Think that you must say yes to everyone and everything until you are drowning.

Consequences: You end up over-committed, start failing, creating unnecessary problems and delays which will undermine your relationships, your reputation, and leading to siege mentality. Then, you will start saying ‘no’ not because you have a bad attitude, but because you are drowning!

The key to being indispensable is in realizing that you have limited productive capacity and can’t say yes to every request.

2 – When you don’t have authority, try to use influence.

Consequences: You will undermine your real influence, people will think less of you and here’s why:

Conventional thinking says, “If you do not have authority, you have to use influence – find a way of getting people to do what you want when you can’t require it of them.” This can appear innocent, such as baking brownies for the staff.

But it can become unethical influence peddling: setting up a quid pro quo, badgering, or extorting, by saying, “If you don’t help me with this, then don’t count on me when you need my help.”

We need to think of influence as a noun and not a verb. It is an asset you build, not an action you do to people. Real influence is more powerful than authority because it is your reputation in the hearts and minds of others, when people want to do things for you, want to work with you, and want you to work with them.

3 – Be so busy that you are juggling – Bouncing from one task to another.

Consequences: People who are always juggling end up bottlenecked in organizations. Collaborative projects stop as the juggler has not finished critical tasks and is seen as having dropped the ball.

It’s ok to have a long ‘to do’ list, but juggling is a step away from multi-tasking which is a fiction. Research has shown the brain to be much less efficient when shifting back and forth from one task to another, often none of them completed on time or correctly.

Jugglers over-commit out of fear of not giving the impression they can accomplish anything. Reluctant to delegate work, they are their own worst enemy, and often the reason projects are not completed on time or within budget.

A common example of a juggler – the multitasker–is someone writing emails during meetings and not paying attention.
4 – Fake it ‘till you make it. Pretend that you know how to do something you don’t.

Consequences: You are likely to set false expectations for your colleagues and customers, and will not be able to make a good prediction about outcomes. You will be reinventing the wheel, and in the end, you are not likely to do a competent job.

The proper conversation should be, “That’s not my specialty, but I am happy to look into it. I’ll get back to you with an idea of what I will need and how long it will take to

Concluding our interview, Tulgan offers this insight for anyone wanting to become an MVE – A Most Valued Employee which I think applies equally well to our lives at home, with family:

“The way to become indispensable is by being service minded. Listen. By taking the time to understand someone’s needs you are showing them respect and building confidence. Know when to say no. Don’t waste your yesses.”