“Be more likable” vs. “Be more knowledgeable”
It was always important how one “sells” the idea. So good presentation was always part of the success. But in general, there was always, at least some piece or the real “knowledgeable” engineering work which needed to be done to score actual success.
Is it still needed?
In the last years (or decades) we are seeing such an explosion of various coaching techniques, learning path and methodologies – many IT frameworks are putting more discipline in the “social” elements, than IT content itself. Does it mean, learning “social” skills is enough? Does it matter nowadays if we do engineering stuff good or bad…
It’s not either-or, but…
Ideally, one can have “social” skills and be “knowledgeable” engineer – but can we always act as both?
What if one needs to confront other people ideas with different idea? Or “better” idea? What if one has “better” ideas too often? Would that make that individual sufficiently “likable” no matter how nicely those “better” ideas are presented… Well yes, there would be those who would still appreciate the knowledge, but let's be honest, there will be those who would not. We are humans after all...
Bottom line, being right (too often?), might not be perceived positively at all. “I told you so” does not bring positive reactions. On the other hand, avoiding “I told you so” perhaps brings some internal unrest – accepting shared responsibility for something you truly believe was not your omission?
“If you avoid conflict to keep the peace you start a war inside yourself"
(Cheryl Richardson)
Looks like, being right, may not be right thing to do…
But wait, this is not (should not be?) really true… IT is an engineering discipline, but for many years – it is so much into everyday life of every individual, that social element cannot be neglected in the IT world... The team will always consist of different individual – some with more “analytical” some with more “social” skills (there are few other skills as well). Strong team, successful team, has wide range of skillets, and different skills are dispersed within different team members – that’s a fact, and let’s just embrace it!
Putting all team members to work together – well, this is the way to build real success!
How – that’s the real challenge…
My view
Look, from my perspective I can (I hope):
- Be nice to (almost) everyone
- Deliver on time
- Deliver in quality
Chose any two from the above[1], as I can do only two at the same time – but then it’s me – other IT professionals may have wider flavor of choices to offer… Perhaps…
[1] I guess we all heard about “Good, Fast, Cheap, Pick two” trilemma…
Acknowledgment
*) Intro photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
- SAP Managed Tags:
