This will all be anecdotal, and based on personal observations and experiences but I’d like to shed some light and thought on what I see to be an issue: The fear of ownership and accountability.
I consider myself a lucky person, and that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I was lucky that I got a job in my field. I was lucky when the chance to take on responsibilities arose. And I was lucky that I’ve had the stability needed to weather downturns (And I’m lucky that I have such a loving, caring, and devoted wife).
I started out working at an IT Service Desk and a manufacturing facility, right out of university. My main qualifier in my resume was that I had worked in a technical support call center throughout university, to pay for it, and was comfortable with my communication skills. The Service desk was a bit of a mixed role, handling ERP systems, AD, PI, Mainframe, and a lot of other various applications. I genuinely think that any good IT person needs to serve their time on the service desk to get an appreciation for the role, and get a wider view of an environment.
Shortly after starting on the Service Desk, the business had ran into issues, and as a result, much of the IT department left. I knew that there was only one person left to manage the network, and they needed assistance. I went and bought my CompTIA Network + and A+ text books, and went to work. Over night shifts I studied hard, and expressed my interest to my coworkers in taking on a Network Admin position, and it paid off, getting the promotion. There was, and still is, a lot of imposter syndrome.
Jump forward a few years, and I slowly grabbed more responsibilities, taking on the manufacturing networks, security, the domain, to now owning most of the environment.
Many in the work place feel lost, with no direction. They don’t know what they should be doing, and don’t know what is wanted of them. I never had guidance on any of the things I took over. I saw a problem that needed to be fixed, and if no one was doing anything about it, I would take on that role. Maybe that’s a failure on management, but there are also countless things to improve.
The trick is, the people making the decisions also have no idea what is wanted of them or what they should be doing. Everyone is just making it up on the go. Most of the time, a deficiency is found, and then a solution is made. You can find deficiencies all over the place, you need to find one you want to fix.
This is where accountability and ownership come in.
The biggest fear in the workplace is failure, or falling short of perfection. You will never progress if you don’t do something because you’re unsure if it will be perfect. Find the deficiency, put forth a plan to fix it, present it to your peers, take the critique and improve on it, and eventually implement it.
Everyone is scared to touch something because they might break it. Breaking is part of the process (try not to take down production though!). Always make sure that you know how to undo what you did, and you can fix any problem you make.
The More you do this, the more becomes your accountability, and the more you own. You’ll soon find yourself as the subject matter expert for more than you thought you’d be. Own your failures, admit what you don’t know, and always be learning.
If you’re the kind to do exactly what is requested, and are just working to get to the next weekend and the next pay day, there is nothing inherently wrong with that, but do try to support those that are trying to improve.
I always tell those seeking guidance to look at the environment around them, and identify their problems. No one else will fix them for you if you do or say nothing. Take action and progress.
Anyway, that’s the end of my ramble. If you made it to then end, then I appreciate it. Let me know your thoughts!
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