More than 20 years ago I watched the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with Jack Nicholson for the first time. If you haven’t watched it, I recommend you do. I remember that I sympathised with Nicholson’s character R.P. McMurphy. He seems to be rebelling against a system that is oppressive. He is also charismatic and appears to be looking after his mates. However, when I watched the movie again recently, I didn’t feel the same. I quickly recognised that something was off with his approach. First, he confronts and irritates authority directly. Second, he lets his emotions get the best of him.
Starting with confronting and irritating authority. I am not saying you should never stand up to authority, sometimes it has to be done. Questioning authority should be something you always do. But in a work or career-related context, confronting authority directly will most likely backfire. Questioning and confronting are not the same. In the previous blog I told the story of how I communicated my idea to the executive officers of my company in a way that could have been interpreted as slightly confrontational. Imagine if I would have said the same thing but in a less direct manner, agreeing with some of the points people were making and adding my ideas as another suggestion that could be considered. My feeling is that my idea could have been welcomed. There is no need to come on too strong!
That was not the only time I was confrontational with other people in positions of authority in a work context. I have been confrontational at university with some of the teachers that I felt were giving me unfair grades, I have been confrontational with supervisors, and I have been confrontational with bosses. In the end, being confrontational never worked. It always backfired, even though I may have been right. In most cases, the relationship was damaged. Damaging the relationship with someone you are working with will never help your case, especially if they are the authority. Nowadays, I take the approach of trying to influence authority, which means I try to be on their same side and make suggestions for how things could be done in a different way. I always question authority, but I try not to confront authority.
While R.P. McMurphy confronted authority directly and ended up being broken, the Chief listened, watched, and escaped the system. In a work context, we have the option to try to influence authority or do what the Chief did, escape in silence. Directly confronting authority will damage the relationship and most likely backfire. In the next blog we will discuss the other characteristic of R.P. McMurphy, his emotions. In the meanwhile, think about how you plan to deal with authority next time you feel something is not being done right.
Make an impact,
Pablo