Earlier this week, I received, and immediately started to read, Nine Lies About Work, following an Instagram-acquaintance posting about reading it. (Yes, I can read 'regular' books despite being registered blind - I have extremely good pattern recognition, and 40% useful vision in my left eye - fortunately, that is central field vision. Older books I can sometimes struggle with, as they're often printed a lot smaller than I can read, and I really struggled with Steven Bartlett's 'Diary of a CEO', because he'd chosen to go with a less common font - fortunately, he has a podcast for just such an eventuality! As long as the font size and style are tolerably 'normal', I can read most things - I read noticably slower than many people, I have to hold the book a LOT closer (I will never be able to do that Arthouse Vibe wandering-along-the-street-whilst-reading-a-book-at-arms-length thing), I am physically incapable of reading while in motion, or in low light/heavily shadowed interiors, I have to stop after 3-5 pages (depending on text density, font size, font design, print colour), and I have to really focus in order to keep my place in the text...In 10yrs time, I probably WON'T be able to read, at all...but, for now, I mostly can, and I cling to that like grim Death.) It seems I may have found a few more of my (seemingly very small) tribe - thank you, random Instagram acquaintance!
Reading Nine Lies About Work made me remember who I was before I let "business as usual" absolutely destroy me - and it set ablaze the passionate fire of a determination to become that person again.
I'm not going to do any major spoilers, but one point of synchronicity between my thinking, manifested as action through my consultancy business, The Productive Pessimist Ltd, and that of the authors of Nine Lies About Work, proven through their research, and the research findings of others, is that "working on your weaknesses, to become a well-rounded person" is f-king pointless.
What does a 'well-rounded' person do? They just roll along, inoffensively bumping things as they go, and eventually come to a crashing halt when they encounter a barrier.
A person honed to a sharp point, however - a narrow focus of supreme excellence - can take flight, pierce through barriers, find gaps where none appeared to exist... and the great thing is, two, ten, twenty, two hundred people will almost never have the exact same 'sharp point'. Which means that, with a team that is as diverse in its range of 'sharp points' as it is in its gender, race, physical ability, neurotype, orientation and identity, there are almost no limits to what can be achieved by just letting your sharp, pointy people be sharp and pointy. (Oh, okay, I'll say what I mean - spiky. Let your people be spiky.)
In polite, professional society, this sharp-pointy-ness, this 'spikiness', gets referred to as "your strengths", and has spent decades being ignored, feared, mocked, and chastised in favour of "building on your weaknesses so you become a more well-rounded person."
My weaknesses are not skills gaps - if I have a skills gap, and I can access the material, insight, instruction, etc which will bridge that gap - I go and bridge the gap, if the gap is getting in the way of me achieving my goals, or is annoying someone who controls whether I can afford to have food and sufficient heating by getting in the way of me doing what they want me to do.
My weaknesses are not really transformable, no matter how hard I work on them.
My strengths, though? The things I never needed to study or work on, the things I do excellently as naturally as breathing? They'll take any team or organisation I work for a long way. They'll take me and my business a long way - if I let them, and if I'm given a clear runway for them.
So, what are these strengths of mine?
. Written communication
. Analysing complex commentary
. Research, both formal and informal, short form and deep dive
. Failure analysis
. Physically demanding routine labour
Reading Nine Lies About Work made me remember who I was before I let "business as usual" absolutely destroy me - and it set ablaze the passionate fire of a determination to become that person again.
I'm not going to do any major spoilers, but one point of synchronicity between my thinking, manifested as action through my consultancy business, The Productive Pessimist Ltd, and that of the authors of Nine Lies About Work, proven through their research, and the research findings of others, is that "working on your weaknesses, to become a well-rounded person" is f-king pointless.
What does a 'well-rounded' person do? They just roll along, inoffensively bumping things as they go, and eventually come to a crashing halt when they encounter a barrier.
A person honed to a sharp point, however - a narrow focus of supreme excellence - can take flight, pierce through barriers, find gaps where none appeared to exist... and the great thing is, two, ten, twenty, two hundred people will almost never have the exact same 'sharp point'. Which means that, with a team that is as diverse in its range of 'sharp points' as it is in its gender, race, physical ability, neurotype, orientation and identity, there are almost no limits to what can be achieved by just letting your sharp, pointy people be sharp and pointy. (Oh, okay, I'll say what I mean - spiky. Let your people be spiky.)
In polite, professional society, this sharp-pointy-ness, this 'spikiness', gets referred to as "your strengths", and has spent decades being ignored, feared, mocked, and chastised in favour of "building on your weaknesses so you become a more well-rounded person."
My weaknesses are not skills gaps - if I have a skills gap, and I can access the material, insight, instruction, etc which will bridge that gap - I go and bridge the gap, if the gap is getting in the way of me achieving my goals, or is annoying someone who controls whether I can afford to have food and sufficient heating by getting in the way of me doing what they want me to do.
My weaknesses are not really transformable, no matter how hard I work on them.
My strengths, though? The things I never needed to study or work on, the things I do excellently as naturally as breathing? They'll take any team or organisation I work for a long way. They'll take me and my business a long way - if I let them, and if I'm given a clear runway for them.
So, what are these strengths of mine?
. Written communication
. Analysing complex commentary
. Research, both formal and informal, short form and deep dive
. Failure analysis
. Physically demanding routine labour
What do you have to tolerate in order to get all of these strengths brought into the service of your organisation's goals?
. A dark, but not deliberately offensive, sense of humour
. A pessimistic outlook, but with an ability to remain productive
. A strong preference for working in isolation
. Direct communication (I don't "lack empathy" - I just know to keep it in its proper place, which is typically NOT "the middle of crisis management at work.")
There are adjustments and accommodations you'll need to be able and willing to make in order to get access to my strengths, too:
. 90% remote working - this allows me to have the computer set up, lighting levels, and breaks I need to function as someone with my particular visual impairment. I can work on-site (if a taxi is paid for, or it's on a bus route), and I appreciate the functionality of doing so for group problem-solving, initial getting-to-know-each-others, but I can't do my best computer-based work at someone else's premises.
Working remotely also means I can work as late as I need to - night blindness means that, in the winter, I'm having to at least think about stopping for the day at around 4pm latest if I'm on-site, otherwise I won't be able to safely get home.
Finally, remote working allows me to also be available for spousal care responsibilities I have, and to address my need to task-switch to "grass-touching-work" every once in a while.
. Material provided by email, black text on white background, 16pt bold Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, NO images or videos, with a heads up in plain text at the start of the email that there will be hyperlinks - I can easily miss links if I'm not focused on looking for them, I can't always process images, and I really struggle to see the detail in video content. Sending written material as plainly and un-frothedly as possible by email means I can use a screenreader if I'm having a bad day with getting the half an eye I have that works to co-operate, adjust the display, etc.
. If there must be a slide presentation, email me the slides ahead. I can then take the time and space to become acquainted with them, and make my own notes on them. If you're referencing images or videos - narrate these as they're presented. This doesn't mean "talk through it word by word" - it means "give me the pertinent points as quickly and as simply as possible".
I won't be able to see a link in your presentation - email it to me as you're showing that slide. Likewise, I won't be able to see the image of the "correct" site you're telling people to "find through Google", where there will be multiple options.
. I run my processes and projects in a Word document. You can take that information and put it into whatever project management system you like. I have never met a project management system that wasn't a pain in the arse to get a screenreader to talk to, and that didn't cause more confusion for everyone involved. And for the love of the sacred and profane, do not expect me to use Excel! It can barely co-operate with Microsoft's own, native screenreader, never mind anything more elaborate, it's horrible at the magnification I need, I keep having to basically plant my nose on the screen to try and find where they've moved relevant shortcut buttons to... Use Excel if you want, but you'll be transferring my commentary from Word.
. Do NOT ask me "if we can have a quick chat" with zero context. This is an accommodation for anxiety and paranoia, and helps keep me as calm as I ever am. (Which is usually exceptionally calm, in a crisis situation, as it happens.)
. I prefer a minimum 24hr notice of things. "Things" being meetings, deadline/priority shifts, etc. This gives me time to identify and arrange the accessibility hacks I need, plan any travel, identify relevant resources and at least skim them ahead of time.
. Respect that my preferred communication style is written communication. If you have accessibility needs yourself which make written communication difficult for you, I will communicate in the way that is most accessible for you if I possibly can.
. A pessimistic outlook, but with an ability to remain productive
. A strong preference for working in isolation
. Direct communication (I don't "lack empathy" - I just know to keep it in its proper place, which is typically NOT "the middle of crisis management at work.")
There are adjustments and accommodations you'll need to be able and willing to make in order to get access to my strengths, too:
. 90% remote working - this allows me to have the computer set up, lighting levels, and breaks I need to function as someone with my particular visual impairment. I can work on-site (if a taxi is paid for, or it's on a bus route), and I appreciate the functionality of doing so for group problem-solving, initial getting-to-know-each-others, but I can't do my best computer-based work at someone else's premises.
Working remotely also means I can work as late as I need to - night blindness means that, in the winter, I'm having to at least think about stopping for the day at around 4pm latest if I'm on-site, otherwise I won't be able to safely get home.
Finally, remote working allows me to also be available for spousal care responsibilities I have, and to address my need to task-switch to "grass-touching-work" every once in a while.
. Material provided by email, black text on white background, 16pt bold Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, NO images or videos, with a heads up in plain text at the start of the email that there will be hyperlinks - I can easily miss links if I'm not focused on looking for them, I can't always process images, and I really struggle to see the detail in video content. Sending written material as plainly and un-frothedly as possible by email means I can use a screenreader if I'm having a bad day with getting the half an eye I have that works to co-operate, adjust the display, etc.
. If there must be a slide presentation, email me the slides ahead. I can then take the time and space to become acquainted with them, and make my own notes on them. If you're referencing images or videos - narrate these as they're presented. This doesn't mean "talk through it word by word" - it means "give me the pertinent points as quickly and as simply as possible".
I won't be able to see a link in your presentation - email it to me as you're showing that slide. Likewise, I won't be able to see the image of the "correct" site you're telling people to "find through Google", where there will be multiple options.
. I run my processes and projects in a Word document. You can take that information and put it into whatever project management system you like. I have never met a project management system that wasn't a pain in the arse to get a screenreader to talk to, and that didn't cause more confusion for everyone involved. And for the love of the sacred and profane, do not expect me to use Excel! It can barely co-operate with Microsoft's own, native screenreader, never mind anything more elaborate, it's horrible at the magnification I need, I keep having to basically plant my nose on the screen to try and find where they've moved relevant shortcut buttons to... Use Excel if you want, but you'll be transferring my commentary from Word.
. Do NOT ask me "if we can have a quick chat" with zero context. This is an accommodation for anxiety and paranoia, and helps keep me as calm as I ever am. (Which is usually exceptionally calm, in a crisis situation, as it happens.)
. I prefer a minimum 24hr notice of things. "Things" being meetings, deadline/priority shifts, etc. This gives me time to identify and arrange the accessibility hacks I need, plan any travel, identify relevant resources and at least skim them ahead of time.
. Respect that my preferred communication style is written communication. If you have accessibility needs yourself which make written communication difficult for you, I will communicate in the way that is most accessible for you if I possibly can.
(Telephone calls are generally...not great for me, because I also have Auditory Processing Disorder, as well as a mild level of actual hearing loss - but I can do a face-to-face conversation, and can usually manage Zoom/Teams calls better than I can telephone calls.)
This means that I personally derive far greater benefit from emails over meetings. If I don't absolutely need to be in the meeting - send me an email about it. Send the agenda ahead of time by email, and I can email you my contributions and insights on items listed on it.
I definitely recommend reading Nine Lies About Work. It's helped me refocus, and become a lot calmer in the face of current government unconsidered reactionism in spheres which currently directly impact me and my household, and a lot more able to genuinely and sincerely take the position of "not my circus, not my monkeys."
I'm going back to the life I had before I allowed a previous government, going through the same ill-considered kneejerk reactionism as the present lot, to railroad me into a course of action which, over the ensuing decade, has done nothing but land me in one dysfunctional, high-stress failure after another.
Watch this space!
I definitely recommend reading Nine Lies About Work. It's helped me refocus, and become a lot calmer in the face of current government unconsidered reactionism in spheres which currently directly impact me and my household, and a lot more able to genuinely and sincerely take the position of "not my circus, not my monkeys."
I'm going back to the life I had before I allowed a previous government, going through the same ill-considered kneejerk reactionism as the present lot, to railroad me into a course of action which, over the ensuing decade, has done nothing but land me in one dysfunctional, high-stress failure after another.
Watch this space!
Comments
Post a Comment