Sometimes there are early signs that things aren’t going to work out, if only you recognize them or take them seriously. If you see them soon enough, you might use them as a sign it’s now time to get out or make changes, if you can. Or at least use them to feel better about whatever happened, so you don’t get caught up blaming yourself or others when something at work doesn’t work out.
Think of these signs as warnings. Take note of them, if only to put them on a shelf in your mind as a signal to pay special attention that there may be problems ahead. If there are, you are forewarned, though you may not be able to do anything about them at the time. But afterward, you might use these signs to help better understand what went wrong, notice organizational problems, or show why you don’t want to take a particular job or work with a particular group.
That’s what happened to Alan when he went to an introductory training session for a new job. Everything seemed so perfect. He was changing careers, and he was enthusiastic about joining a regional sales team for a company that sold management training programs around the United States. After training, his job would be to set up sales presentations at companies in his area to introduce the company’s new product line, which featured a series of management training modules. Then, after each presentation, he was to send back meeting reports describing what happened. He was especially enthused because the company’s project director had selected and hired him by only looking at his resume and at some sales reports and programs he had created as an MBA student. So he felt flattered by their seemingly high level of trust to hire him without even a telephone interview. Though he didn’t know much about the company’s programs or sales approach, just a brief description of the major components, he felt it was reasonable not to get this information, given the company’s concern with confidentiality and secrecy. Thus, he thought it made sense that he would learn the details at the sales training, and since the company had hired him so quickly, well, that must mean the chemistry was just right. Or was it? In effect, the company management had created the conditions for future failure, without recognizing it themselves, and then blaming Alan for this failure when it occurred. But Alan just didn’t see the early signs portending workplace doom.
The first sign of problems ahead, though Alan didn’t think anything of it at the time, was when he helpfully found the flight times offered by different airlines and suggested a preferred flight. But Danny, the project director, sent him a confirmation for another flight that left about the same time, though it arrived slightly later at night and had a shorter connection time in the hub airport. At once Alan asked about changing it, wondering whether the 35-minute connection time would be long enough to make the connecting flight. But Danny quickly said no, sending an e-mail to say: "The other flight costs $500 more, so is it okay to keep that flight?" Of course, Alan said yes, feeling that if he objected, it would mean he wouldn’t get the job.
When it came time to take his flight, however, there was an unexpected delay, since the flight crew discovered at boarding time that they were missing one crew member, and by the time a replacement got to the airport, the flight left 25 minutes late. As a result, Alan ended up spending the night at the connecting city, with the airline footing the bill. "No, it’s not your fault," Danny assured him, even offering to pay for the room if the airline did not. "Just come as soon as you arrive," which is what Alan did.
Unfortunately, when he arrived about two and a half hours late, the training was already underway, and the newly recruited sales management team was gathered around a demonstration of how to present the program at each company. Though Alan had expected an introduction to the group or a short explanation to bring him up to speed, everyone was concentrating intently, so he simply called out a "Hello," which most ignored, and he went over to join the group. As he did, he felt fairly disconnected and alien, not sure what was going on.
Then, though he had no introduction to the sales technique just demonstrated, he was supposed to team up with a partner to role play the demo himself. He felt relieved when his partner Sandra suggested that she start off doing the presentation, after which they could alternate doing the different segments. But even after observing her initial presentation role play he still felt unsure of what to do.
Still, Alan thought Danny might explain more about the training during the lunch break, as Danny had said he would during their airport conversation. But Danny was busy setting up for the afternoon equipment demonstration, and told him: "You can read up on the details in the training folder," flipping quickly through a folder to show him that everything they had gone over in the morning session was right there. "Well, it would still help to know who’s in the group," Alan said, and quickly Danny reeled off a list of names and cities, before running off to prepare the demo.
After lunch, as Danny described the equipment they would use to put on their presentation—a mix of cameras, projectors, and tape recorders— and described the lengthy sales pitch in more detail, Alan began to review the numbers in his head and project what his likely earnings might be. The more Danny spoke, the more hours Alan realized would be involved— from recruiting companies to participate in the program to putting on the presentation and writing up detailed sales reports so the company could refine the program. And then any payment would depend on any sales. But would there be any and how many? Alan began to wonder if the project was even feasible and cost effective. Yet here he was in the company’s plush corporate headquarters for the training, where everyone else, much more experienced than he, seemed to believe in the project’s great potential, which was one reason it was so hush-hush.
Still, despite these growing reservations, Alan pushed aside his concerns and focused on paying attention to the equipment demonstration. But his many unanswered questions about the program, the prospects for recruiting participating companies, and questions about how to work the equipment, send in reports, and what to do if the equipment didn’t work nagged at him. So from time to time, he asked them, and generally Danny gave helpful answers, though occasionally Danny pointed out that something had already been covered or would be. Danny also responded sharply a few times when Alan wondered why something was being done a certain way, thinking that there might be a simpler, easier, and faster way. "That’s not negotiable," he said abruptly, with obvious annoyance. So Alan didn’t press that point, but a few minutes later, he had other questions, as did other new members of the sales team, though not as many.
Then, suddenly, when Alan least expected it, during a coffee break, Danny asked him to get his things and come with him. Moments later, Danny told him firmly and brusquely: "This isn’t open to any discussion or negotiation. I don’t think you can succeed in the sales management program. You don’t have the skills to do so." For a moment, Alan became defensive, wondering what he had done wrong. "Was it because I came late?," he asked. "Was it because I asked too many questions?" "Can you tell me what I need to do to fix whatever’s wrong?" But Danny didn’t want to explain, telling him only: "The decision is final and not negotiable. These things sometimes don’t work out, and you don’t know until you have a chance to meet each other personally."
So that was it. Over. Danny escorted Alan to get his bag and then out of the building to get a cab, so he could make an early flight at the airport. Oddly, however, instead of feeling upset or disappointed as one usually does in getting fired, Alan felt strangely relieved and free. He didn’t have to take the job he realized he didn’t want but that he wouldn’t have backed out of himself, because he felt he had made a commitment, and because the company had paid for his training. But now that Danny had said no, he felt he was off the hook. The only thing he regretted was not knowing or acting sooner to turn down the project; then he wouldn’t have had to spend three days flying back and forth on what turned out to be a useless trip. "Just think of all the other things I could have done instead," Alan thought to himself as the plane took off, though he was relieved he didn’t have to take the job.
What Should Alan Have Done?
Here are some possibilities. In Alan’s place, what would you have done and why? What do you think the outcomes of these different options would be?
- Learn more about the sales program before taking the trip for the training; if the project director can’t tell you more, don’t go.
- Ask to take the flight with a longer connection time, and turn down the job if the project director won’t make the change. That’s a sign the employer is likely to take advantage of employees and doesn’t think through the likely consequences of his or her actions.
- Cancel the trip once the flight is delayed, because it’s likely you won’t be able to make the connections—or even if you do, consider the delay a warning sign that maybe you shouldn’t take the job.
- Ask for introductions and an update after arriving late, because you can’t properly do a role play when you don’t know your role.
- Tell Danny that he is requiring more of the sales management people than expected, and therefore you don’t want the job.
- Other?
As Alan’s story illustrates, at times signs all along the way indicate that things are wrong, such as when someone else has created a difficult, even unworkable situation, but you aren’t aware of these problems at the outset. For example, here Danny and his team had set up a situation where Alan was bound to fail, though they attributed it to Alan’s lack of skills for the job. One problem was that in trying to save money for the flight they created a situation in which it was likely that Alan might miss the connecting flight if there was the slightest delay, which there was—a common occurrence in airline travel today. Second, the project director didn’t take the time to welcome Alan, introduce him to others, and fill him in so he would know what was going on. Instead, he was thrown into a setting where he wasn’t prepared with the necessary skills for the follow-up role play. Another problem is that because of the company’s concern with secrecy and confidentiality, the project director hadn’t fully filled in Alan about the expectations and time commitment involved in the job. And he didn’t recognize that Alan’s many questions were due to his effort to get informed, because the project director hadn’t done his job, not because Alan wasn’t competent to do his. Alan walked into a situation already set up for failure, and he was justified in feeling relieved to be out of it; though ironically, Danny both set and sprung the trap.
Yet, did Alan have to get caught in the trap in the first place? Perhaps he might have avoided it had he seen some of the early warning signs along the way, and considered some of the problems that might occur. For instance, when Danny first proposed the flight plan with the short connection time, maybe Alan might have urged the more expensive flight because of the potential connection problems, even if this meant not getting the job. Then, when Alan learned the flight was going to be delayed, maybe he could have realized the likelihood of the missed connection and seen that as a sign not to take the flight and to turn down the job. Or perhaps even earlier he might have asked for more information and asked more questions about what was expected, rather than feeling flattered he was hired so quickly. For with this extra information, he might have realized the extensive time required to set up and give sales presentations that might be hard to arrange, resulting in low commissions or even no commissions—and then he might not have signed on for the training in the first place.
In short, as they say, "Look before you leap," and that means looking for signs that maybe you shouldn’t leap at all. Or if you do, once you think about the signs you missed along the way, you blame yourself or feel regret, because you can’t work in an unworkable situation that isn’t right for you. Instead, view whatever happened as a learning experience letting you know that you have to pay closer attention to signs of problems ahead in the future. Then you will be less likely to take an illadvised future leap. You will be less likely to step off the cliff, because you will see the drop-off ahead.
Today’s Take-Aways:
- If you encounter a setup where future problems or failures arelikely, don’t walk onto the set. Or if you do walk on, walk off as soon as you can.
- To see the warning signs of future difficulties, watch for them on the road ahead—just like you do when you look for signs when driving.
- It’s easy to miss the signs of problems if you’re moving ahead too fast. So slow down and take more time to look around to make sure of a clear path ahead.
- Even experts may not see the signs that they have created a setup for failure; so look for the signs yourself.
- The more signs of problems you see, the more it’s time to sign off.
- Signs are like smoke signals that indicate where there’s smokethere’s fire and the possibility of a conflagration—or a whole lot of trouble—ahead.