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Monday, September 20, 2010

Simon Says Syndrome

How long has it been since you played Simon Says?

Do you remember how?

It's a game about waiting on permission to follow often barked orders.  People fall into the habit of doing what someone else tells them to do, and when they forget to ask permission, they're out of the game!

It's a lousy game to play.

Ostensibly it teaches good manners, but that habit of asking permission to act or execute a move doesn't promote success or profitability in the workplace.

It doesn't promote that oft quoted boast:  "I'm pro-active."

Like other buzz word phrases the claim to be pro-active is not the same stance as taking charge of learning what you need to know and doing it whether anyone tells you it's okay or not.

In the workplace, people are often divided, rather casually, into different groups: passive or (pro) active, perfectionists and people who are not perfectionists, and the go-to people and the ones you can't find when you need to go to someone.

People who are still playing Simon Says at work fit that latter category.  They are often invisible, polite, well-meaning people who are waiting on other people to tell them to become pro-active.

Today's lesson is simply that:  Do you think you are a pro-active person?  Prove it.

Answer the logic question in the preceding entry about how to choose the right music to play in the workplace.

If you are waiting for someone else to post an answer first before you commit yourself, think again:
working isn't playing, and most likely the only people playing Simon Says will be the ones who make less money.


  1. I am not as pro-active as I would like to be, but I am trying more and more to be involved in different things. Communicating with other people and not being afraid to make a mistake teaches you to make less mistakes in the future. I try to learn by experiences. By volunteering to help at a local state park I can gain important job skills that can be related to my field: environmental science. I hope to become a park ranger some day and by starting with such a simple activity as volunteering I can work my way to my ultimate goal.

  2. I make it a point to ask others about current issues in the workplace. That way I can try to pro-actively find or suggest solutions to the issues.