Snapshot: Ida Ideal- A Virtual Anthropologist

Meet Ida Ideal. Ida’s job is in jeopardy. She is an accountant in a management position. She is highly skilled. She is frequently embroiled in controversy and arguments at work. It has gotten to the point that, although she is in a key position and her work is highly valued, she is on probation.

Ida is conscientious, highly intelligent and has little patience with what she characterizes as ‘stupid mistakes that shouldn’t have happened’.

Ida: I’ve spent 10 years in that job and now they’re going to let me go because I refuse to sugar coat things?

Diane: I gather that’s true.

Ida: That’s the problem with Americans, nothing personal but Americans are never straight forward. They pussyfoot around problems and don’t just say what they mean. God forbid they should ever be critical! How do they manage? Well I guess they don’t. The incompetence is rampant. If they were just called on the carpet for stupid mistakes, they’d get it together.

Diane: I gather where you grew up a more ‘straightforward parenting style’ was common.

Ida: Yes. We didn’t get away with anything. And, we had to do well. Why not? We weren’t stupid.

Diane: Tell me about ‘stupid’. What’s it refer to in your experience?

Ida: Well, you’ve been told what to do and you don’t do it. How many times should one have to tell people what to do? 

Diane: That’s a good question. Maybe it’s a more complicated question than it would seem. I know with some things, like using my camera, I’ve had to be taught how more than once. With other things, like how to file documents, i might just have to be shown once. Is that true for you?

Ida: Well, I had a camera I couldn’t figure out how to use for the life of me. I threw it out. Now I have an easier one. What were they thinking making it so complicated? It’s so stupid to make a camera no one can figure out.

Diane: Maybe some folks could figure it out.

Ida: Are you saying I’m stupid?

Diane: No. It may be however that you’re very good at some things and not so good at other things. I know that’s true for me.

Ida: Ya. Maybe. Ya. You are right.

Diane: I would go so far as to say that, at this point in my life there are things it seems I can’t learn. Might that be true for you?

Ida: I don’t know. Maybe. But who wants to learn what’s hard for you anyway?

Diane: Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we have to learn things that are hard for us to learn; maybe at work for example.

Ida: Ya. We use a new computer system now and it was hard to learn. But I had to so I did. These other guys they don’t want to do it. I did it.

Diane: Maybe they want to do it but it’s hard for them.

Ida: They should work harder or do it on their own time. They’ve got to do it.

Diane: Some folks learn computer systems easier than others. It has to do with, how they think, how they’ve learned in the past.  

I’ve noticed as I've given thought to how we all learn, that each of us has unique skill sets. As we acquire a given skill set we create a platform for learning some new things easily and other new things, not so easily. That has nothing to do with ‘stupid’, I assume you want to keep your job?

Ida: Ya.

Diane: I think we have a potential win-win here. The question you posed; ‘how many times should you have to tell a person?’ is a good one. You could explore this as you think about particular co-workers. Maybe one or another, for any number of reasons, will need to be told more than once or in different ways. It would depend upon what they’ve had an opportunity to learn in the past and how they have learned. That has nothing to do with stupid.

It has everything to do with personal histories. It may be that as you look at your co-workers a little differently, and take into account their differences, you will tap your own creativity and think of more ways to be of help to them. You might also enjoy thinking in these terms. Having grown up in another country you can become a virtual anthropologist with a better understanding of how culture shapes us than most of us have.

Ida: Ya. it is interesting.

Written by Diane Kern, owner of Phenomenal Mind Studios. Phenomenal Mind Studios is dedicated to working with Mind, not against it. Classes create a platform for mobilizing Mind Power to accomplish extraordinary things. The next six week Power Up Your Mind Basic Class Series begins September 19th. www.phenomenalmind.com.