Unusually, I got a call from my manager on my personal mobile phone. It was for an important reason - after about four years of working together, it was time for us to no longer continue at the same company; he quit.
Little did I know what the consequences would be with the new manager. The discussions have become very difficult, disagreements have become personal, and it has become incredibly hard to find a way forward.
The advice I got? Do not emotionally attach myself to the projects or the company.
"How do I ship world-class work without getting emotionally attached?" That question took spotlight in my head. I kept asking this to colleagues who I respect. Finally I found my answers.
Let's zoom out a little bit. Meaningful projects get you from point A to point B. So when you propose an idea, the intention is always to find a better state.
Whether I realized it or not, the proposal is a hypothesis that I (tricked myself into) believing will succeed.
This is usually how I build the hypothesis:
I gather information from customers, the community, product managers, engineers, or managers to understand the problem.
I’m always evaluating solutions that feel promising.
Finally, piecing everything together builds a hypothesis - the idea I bring to the table.
I put in so much work. I wrote documents and brought both data and intuition together. Now, I need to get approval to move forward; only, I feel my idea is being shot down.
Behind the scenes, I found myself so emotionally invested in this hypothesis (idea) that it pushed me into convincing others, rather than helping them understand why. It's that need to convince that leads to fights, arguments, dissatisfaction, and becomes a source of apathy towards work.
This needed to be fixed. The problem was...
I failed to properly test my hypothesis. That, right there, is where I needed to dig deeper.
To properly test to hypothesis:
I needed to seek out dissent before emotionally attaching myself to the hypothesis. These include differing opinions, disagreements, and alternative perspectives, especially those that challenge the prevailing consensus. Trust that this reduces risks and offers valuable course corrections toward success.
Don’t react, but reflect. Tell the dissenters that you are taking notes, and circle back with them again. Reflect on where they may be coming from, especially if they are in a different line of work than yours.
Finally, adjust the hypothesis.
Failing to seek out dissent led me to become emotionally invested in my original hypothesis. An emotionally invested hypothesis feels uncomfortable to adjust. But isn’t adjusting the hypothesis the most important part?
Once I realized the root cause was the need to adjust the hypothesis, I found my answer.
But uncovering the answer might be only 20% of the journey; the substantial 80% of progress comes from experiential learning-actively applying knowledge with each opportunity I get.
More on that another time.
See you.
About Saif Ali Shaik
Hey, I'm Saif. Writing is one of my favorite habits. I journal about my learnings for the world to read. Some appreciate it if that adds value. This page you are seeing is my only social media. Welcome to my World of shower thoughts!
