My week--already projected to be insane--got off to a truly terrible start on Monday afternoon, when I found out that I'd been passed over for a promotion. It would've only been a temporary assignment, but it would've let me travel somewhere exotic for two weeks this coming winter, and I was really invested in the project. The rejection stung, in a way I haven't felt in years.
Now, at the end of the week, I find I'm... okay with it. It still not happy with the outcome, but I'm feeling a calm resignation. Understanding that feeling, however, is proving a challenge--I'm not sure whether this is a mature composure, or if it's a naive delusion.
The Prince likes to tell me that I'm too optimistic. He's definitely a Murphy's Law kind of guy. Any time we come up against a bureaucratic road block, or technological snafu, he likes to say "What'd I tell you? You should expect things to go wrong." He predicts, and therefore is equipped to deal with, unfortunate outcomes. Come to think, that's probably a quality you'd want in a CEO who's responsible for vast sums of other people's money. If disaster strikes, you'll know that he can handle it--even if he blows up at the person responsible.
I see his point. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed optimism is not a valuable trait in the business world; it can be downright irresponsible. That being said, a can-do attitude is expected of people in service delivery roles like mine. If I were to tell the Prince, or any of my faculty, "What you want isn't really possible," then it looks like I'm unwilling to try. According to my job description, I am not in a position to make negative strategy decisions at that level--I am supposed to make my bosses' wishes a reality. This is not the same thing as developing contingency plans for failure: rather, I should go above and beyond to ensure failure doesn't happen in the first place. That kind of stance demands unlimited hopefulness.
But more and more, I'm finding that I'm expending my "hope reserves" fulfilling my supervisors' requests, without much left over for my own personal projects. This means I need to develop better back-up plans for myself, in anticipation of things not working out. After applying for a job I really want, I shouldn't then waste my time mooning over it until I get a response. I should be doing what I can to create new opportunities.
The Prince does this really well. He's got irons in a dozen fires, and somehow doesn't lose focus on any. (That's where it helps to have an exceptional mind.) He tackles Item 1, then moves on to Item 2 immediately, while he's waiting for the Item 1's other participants to respond. And so forth down the line to the Nth Item.* If one doesn't pan out--well, he's got a bunch of others.
Though I can't operate at that level quite yet, I've decided to start applying this approach to my broader professional goals. Waiting for job applications to be processed? Then work on this blog. No post ideas? Then do some background research for my long-form pieces. Look at syllabi for courses to take this fall. Update my resume. Write a book review.
In short, stop sitting on my butt. That's the surest route to disappointment.
*This strategy isn't really multitasking, he'd say. He doesn't believe in that. Rather, it's giving your undivided attention to each task, until your responsibilities have been executed. You just work on something else while the other, less efficient folks on the project do their part.
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