Source: The Internet

Do Not Become a ‘Dispensable’ Person

Good ability and strong professionalism are really just supplementary tools; people who are conscientious, good-tempered, sociable and have good attitude are the genuine ‘work family’. If a person does not know how to actively contribute to a team and the team always needs to make extra effort to co-ordinate because of him, then no matter how great his ability may be, he can only become an obstacle in the team’s progress.

A friend, being a computer engineer, was extremely upset when he was made redundant by his company due to manpower downsizing. He thought, “I haven’t done anything wrong!”  He asked his colleagues dejectedly, “Why did the manager choose to make me redundant?”

“It’s probably your lack of performance at that task.” Colleague A said, “Do you remember when he last asked you to support that department in operating its computers, you were found sitting there doing nothing?”

“What do you mean I was doing nothing?  It just happened that nobody had any questions at the time, so I went on the internet for a while, what’s wrong with that?  Wasn’t I still on standby as normal and wasn’t I immediately available as soon as somebody asked a question?”  the friend rebutted.

“That’s right!”  Colleague B agreed, “The other engineer, who was retained by the manager, helped a person from another department to repair a computer on that day. Even though she made the computer worse, the manager didn’t dismiss her, instead he dismissed you; that was unfair!”

“Have you offended anyone?  Perhaps someone from another department has talked badly of you.” Colleague A asked again.
“Could it be that time when the unreasonable factory director expressed his disappointment with your attitude?  Can you remember?”

Colleague B said, “He didn’t know how to use the computer but still tried to be clever and he later broke the computer. He even put the responsibility on you!”

“But the manager supported me that time, he understood it was the factory director’s fault.” the friend replied.

They discussed this in vain for over an hour. Colleague A finally said, “Ai, if you’re not convinced, go and ask him then.”

“But,” the friend hesitated and asked, “would this be alright?  I haven’t seen other people do it like this before ....”

“I also feel that it’s not necessary to shame yourself,” Colleague B concurred, “how can there be any other reason for redundancy?  What’s the point in stating the obvious just to embarrass everyone?”

“However, if you ask for clarification, just in case there’s a genuine mistake, you can do even better next time, isn’t that right?”  said Colleague A.

After the friend returned home, he thought over what Colleague A had said over a number of days. All the time, he could not help feeling dissatisfied and puzzled. He finally decided to go and talk to the manager personally.

“I just want to understand the reason for this redundancy. I know it’s inevitable that someone had to be made redundant, due to streamlining the company's structure. However, it’s difficult for me not to link the reason for redundancy with my performance.” In one breath, the friend spelt out everything that he had rehearsed for a long time, “If it’s really due to my poor performance, would manager please point this out, as I hope to have a chance to improve. At least, I won’t make the same mistake in my next job.”

After listening to what he had said, the manager was slightly shocked and showed signs of praise in his eyes, “If you’d been this proactive and positive last year, you definitely wouldn’t have been the one chosen for redundancy this time.”

This time it was my friend who was stunned and he looked at the manager not knowing what to do.

“Your work performance is very good. Amongst all the engineers, your professional knowledge is one of the best and you haven't done anything seriously wrong. One important weakness is that you’re too subjective with your point of view. Not everyone in the team has the same ability, but if everyone actively co-operates, even three mediocre people are better than one wise man, Zhu Ge-liang. If someone in the team doesn’t know how to contribute proactively and the team always has to make extra effort to co-ordinate because of him, even if this person’s ability gets much better, he’ll still become an obstacle to the team's progress.”

The manager asked him back, “If you were me, what would you have done?”

“But I’m not the type of person who is difficult to communicate with!”  the friend refuted.

“You’re right. However, if you compare your attitude with that of your colleagues, with ten points being full marks, how many points would you give yourself in terms of positive enthusiasm?”  asked the manager.

“I think I understand now.” my friend said. I’m actually a ‘dispensable’ member of staff.

 “You’ve the foundation of professional ability. If you’re positive, enthusiastic and understand how to work with others to enhance the power of the team, your contribution and achievement should be even better.”

For the next half an hour, my friend humbly listened to the suggestions given by the manager. He was extremely fortunate that he did not speculate on the reasons for his redundancy, otherwise he might have ended up hiding and grumbling against Heaven and laying the blame upon other people. He was also very happy because he overcame the embarrassment in asking and hence understood where his weakness was.

Not only that, the manager was very happy to see his motivated side. A few days later, the manager personally telephoned him to introduce another job role to him, which was far better than his original one.

We often forget the most precious resource amongst people is the relationship of co-operation ── the framework of our life tells us that we need to protect ourselves: ‘The more you do the more mistakes you possibly make, a lot of enthusiasm results in injuries’. As a result, we would rather sweep snow at our own doorstep, be more passive and even show indifference towards others.

A person can be extremely intelligent and have extraordinary ability. However, if he does not understand how to promote a harmonious working relationship through positivity and enthusiasm, then no matter how successful he may be, he requires twice the effort to achieve half the output.

Within an association, people who are not positive and enthusiastic will only complete tasks which are given to them. People who are willing to contribute, even with limited ability, can however drive the association forward, by gathering people’s power and enabling tasks to progress at double efficiency.

If the friend, after being made redundant, had hidden away and just grumbled against Heaven and laid the blame upon other people, he would not have been able to see his own weakness through his manager’s help. Luckily, he learned the first important condition of co-operation: To proactively be concerned with other people’s necessities.

When other people feel that they are being cared for, they in turn will give out equivalent kindness and share their resources. This is similar to the friend’s manager who was willing to introduce the friend to a better position. This is the biggest benefit in co-operation. To maintain a good working relationship can help you double the reward with half the effort.