So I came home yesterday. I thought the day was never going to end. Every minute seemed to bring its small share of pain. I realized a few things , beause, yes, I consider myself the "learning" type. I understood that:
-If someone gives you something to do, it's always your call in the end, but be sure to be balanced overall. If you become a "yes person", or a "no person", it will be used against you.
-Never trust anyone, and I mean anyone. Before you know it, even your best friend will be kicking you on your way out. This lesson I had already learned before though, but it's another story.
-When working in a team, the discussion shouldn't be between Titles, but the actual People behind them. It's just unnerving to have 10 people in a meeting room, watching a three-way conversation for an hour, and taking notes. You might as well stay in school and write down valuable things. This is especially important in situations where titles (and their corresponding job descriptions) are violated daily. It only adds to the irony of it all.
-Two days ago, we were reviewing a draft for a 100,000$ report that is due next week. Believe it or not, in the pompously named "Marketing Strategy" section there was written, and I quote: "Blah Blah Blah". Conclude what you will, but I, for one, was disappointed by the whole of mankind at the very moment the slide appeared. Maybe I'm just a perfectionist, huh?
-Leadership should mean thinking ahead, not smiling and talking "the talk". There shouldn't be any other definition of it. Communication is a tool of leadership, not the actual thing itself. Always keeping your interests in mind is one thing, but when it shows it's not leadership, it's ridiculous.
-Perhaps the most important realization today was that no one really cares about the job. People are interchangeable, and 90% of them don't actually enjoy what they do.
-Why is this last point so important? Because it goes to show that you shouldn't sweat the small stuff (ie your work), and that in this world, there is no need for you to choose a job that you like. In turn, what you're really left with are office politics. Backstabbings. Rumors. Continuous deception. I was ASTONISHED by the amount of effort people put into seeming rather than actually being. If that makes any sense.
- That is why some of you may have seen on Twitter that I was being pushed towards entrepreneurship. Because I am definitely one of these people who care about doing exactly what they want with their lives. And I certainly don't want to cope with any office politics. Jut 2 months of it wore me down. (one month to go) And I was never even a real target.
Yesterday redefined hectic, but only until today, when the bar will really be set high. Imagine two days, from 8h30 to 18h, walking in 47C from building to building to approximate their floor plates' areas by PACING!!. 3o times per day. There. That's why it looks like I'm complaining.
And now to explain why I (seem to) always complain. I have a strong set of values. Integrity is one of them, Passion is one of them, Responsability, Respect, Justice and Equity are also among them. Yesterday, almost all of them got transgressed, one way or another. Usually these values come together, in what is roughly referred to as "Ethics". Social ethics, work ethics, etc. I believe they are essential, that's just the way I am.
And by the way believe it or not, I'm not a "hippie", nor left-wing on the political side. In fact I am more of a "conservative", as Americans would have it. A "liberal", in French terms. Just debunking a few common misconceptions here.
I have come to realize, after 19 years, that I was the only person I knew who actually never cheated once on a test. Well to be honest, I did try once or twice, but turning myself in each time, after class was over. I didn't get the points, but I got respect from my teachers. To me ethics are of utmost importance, because I know first hand that they will earn you respect from your peers. Hopefuly, it will inspire them to be ethical as well.
Now look back on a time you remember saying or thinking "Thibaut sure complains a lot". Consider the situation carefully and look at the values above. Understand now? Good, you've decrypted the Why.
The How is something I need to work on. When I am revolted by something and want to share it with others, and try to make them understand how important an issue poor ethics can be, I should strive not to give the impression that I am complaining. Frankly, I don't personally care if the tests aren't the same for different people in a same class. I don't really mind if poor marketing and organization can be resolved ever so easily and make our school twice as good at it is now. I don't mind when someone in a position of leadership makes the wrong decision, or doesn't take the best.
What really bothers me most is that people seem blind to the simplicity of improving things. I am strongly growth-oriented, it's in my very nature. I cannot understand how people can bear with a non-optimal status quo, and put up with all these things that don't only defy essential values but also common sense, when they are sometimes merely a step away from the best situation possible. That's what really frustrates me. A lot.
Some say I'm a Perfectionist, but I'm really an Idealist (by the way this has been confirmed by multiple tests: I'm an INFP). Maybe it looks the same and none of these two is particularly better than the other.
But the major difference is that, as an Idealist, I NEVER "complain" per se. I only speak up when things can be improved. Think about it. Last time you thought I was complaining, didn't I say stuff like "They could've...", "It would be so much better if...", or other things along this line? Chances are I did repeatedly.
I try to keep it as constructive as possible. Granted sometimes I fail to make my approach very clear. It is a communication issue I'm not exactly fine-tuned on yet. But I'm still young, and as I said, I am a learner.
