I’ve always liked being sneaky. It used to get me into tons of trouble, being sneaky, for what sneaky things can a kid in high school (or middle school, or elementary school) do that aren’t also frowned upon by the parental establishment? And there aren’t a heap of sneakiness opportunities in a relationship that won’t get you into trouble with the Other. Now that I’ve assumed the responsibilities of an adult this is even more true, and there aren’t any safety nets like being bailed out by my folks or being tried as a juvenile. What does that leave?
Work. One can be sneaky at work. In fact, one probably should be sneaky at work. Not sneaky at work in the sense of doing things that will get you summarily fired, like stealing equipment or sleeping your way through the steno pool or other obvious gaffes, but sneaky in ways that might get you fired or help your company or both.
“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.” — Howard Aiken
One of the problems with corporate culture: all the ramming. Especially the “it came from Senior Management,” BOHICA (Bend Over Here It Comes Again)-style directives that our horribly skewed American Corporate Culture is so fond of. Equally problematic are the low- and mid-level employees who decide that they have the answer and decide to do a little ramming, since their ramming is likely to be louder and closer to your cubicle, amybe a little harder to ignore.
But wait! you say. I do have the answer, you complain. Shall I be ignored? Will I never be allowed to spread my good thoughts? Never fear. There is an alternative to ramming. Be sneaky. Be quiet. Do little things, let them be known through the grapevine. Don’t promise anything, merely deliver. Set off information bombs in your organization. Make an internal work blog, or a wiki, or publicize on an invite-only email list interesting but neglected pieces of information, or work the network to gather info that should be gathered but isn’t, or… the possibilities are endless. And powerful. And they might get you fired. But the next employer will love you for the possibilities and know-how you bring.
