Blowback is a term coined by the CIA. It intends to highlight unintended consequences of our actions.
In the IT context, a blowback would be – getting fired for doing a great job. Sometimes doing a good job can have “blowbacks”. We discuss this phenomenon today.
True story …
Ravi was a good techie. He was curious, a self starter, a learner and all things good. Unfortunately for him, he was better than most around him i.e. his peers, leads and managers.
As things turned out, Ravi landed with a manager, who wasn’t bright. As usual, he did great work and was well appreciated. While doing so, he became an object of envy for many around him, including his manager. But, Ravi remained happily unaware.
He took all the glory himself and left nothing for his teammates. While people with a healthy self-image might’ve been able to handle it, his manager could not. ( Ravi’s disagreements with the manager did not help, but that’s another story )
Silently, the manager passed Ravi’s negative feedback for the silliest of things. After a while, the company had to let people go. Among the many poor techies, was a fabulous one – Ravi was fired.
What the heck !
What really happened ? Wasn’t Ravi giving his best ? Aren’t all of us supposed to ?
The answer lies not where we look, but where we don’t. Ravi being fired had less to do with his work, and more to do with Power.
Power ? Authority of one over another.
Let’s see whether these resonate …
Is it usually the same person ? My guess is that he is a power center i.e. a parent, boss etc.
Subordinates don’t pick it, and bosses pick it naturally.
Are those folks the power center of the group ?
Why ? Does it have something to do with power over us ?
Above is how power shapes our daily lives. If you understand these ( and I bet you do !), then you already know what power feels like.
Coming back to our story … Ravi unintentionally disturbed the power equation in the system, and suffered the consequences.
Let’s elaborate …
Firstly – Everyone has insecurities. Everyone.
When we show our talents to the world, we stir up resentment and envy and many other forms of insecurities.
Truth be told, those below you that are envious – who bloody cares. But, those above you – we bloody make sure we care !
Secondly – Masters want to appear better than their subordinates.
If the subordinate is able to do all the work, then the master becomes more of the rubber stamp. He kinda loses his authority, his power over you. The situation becomes very dishonourable and shameful for the master.
Few masters have a healthy self-image to handle this. But many don’t, and that is where the danger lies.
Combining the first and the second factor, we have a master who is envious; a dangerous cocktail. This is what Ravi ended up creating, and faced consequences.
Techie’s language
As techies, think of power when …
The higher node has more power.
JVM has the power over the thread’s lives.
Each looking to get more power.
The application no longer has power.
While technology operates inside a computer, humans operate outside one. Regardless, studying humans like studying technology is important.
All-present
Do you get the feeling of “What happened to Ravi was wrong” ? Ravi was good at his work. The manager did wrong by passing his poor feedback. Do you believe so ?
In that case, I have a question for you. If Ravi were the manager, and someone else the subordinate, then what would’ve happened ?
My take – exact same thing ! Ravi would’ve got his subordinate fired.
Power affects everyone.
To prove the point, let’s take a rare example from an unrelated field.
The Ant group saga is well known by now. For those unaware – Ant group, the internet finance giant was about to release its IPO in China. The offering would’ve brought in billions of dollars. The IPO was estimated to be worth more than the Saudi Aramco. It was a big deal and had the world buzzing.
But, right before the deal was about to go through it was suspended by the Chinese government. Of Course the reasons were technical. But they might’ve had something to do with Jack Ma, the founder of Ant group, criticising the government sometime earlier.
Read more at : NY Times
Ma tried to outshine his master. Like Ravi, he disturbed the power equation and paid for it. One again, let’s invert the characters. Had someone below Jack Ma stood up to him the same way. What would’ve happened ?
My take – exact same thing. Ma would’ve fired his subordinate.
The Ravi episode had less to do with him and his manager. It had everything to do with the “rules of Power”. And the rules apply to EVERYONE.
Amoral
Power is amoral. Meaning it doesn’t care about the rules of morality. ( different from ‘immoral’, which means wrong or dishonest ).
This might be difficult for some of us to accept. But, for us to learn – We need to see things as they are, not as we’d like them to be. So, don’t look at power through the morality prism.
Power is neither good nor bad. It surely does not have the same standards you and I do.
“Power is a game, and in games you do not judge your opponents by their intentions but by the effects of their actions.”
– Robert Greene
What Ravi’s boss did was wrong. But his wrongdoing doesn’t change the fact that Ravi was let go. This despite Ravi doing a fabulous job. Therefore, dismissing power as bad or not-important will be silly.
Power is important and affects all.
What to do ?
Power gods need honouring. We need to ensure that our superiors viz. lead, manager, architect, CTO, CEO, do not feel insecurity from us. They are used to dealing with us in certain ways i.e. they have control over the relationship. If we do something that reduces that control, they will resist.
Don’t get me wrong – They love us and want good for us. But their first priority is themselves, not us. They love us the way we are, NOT the way we might become. So,
Give our superiors incentives to see us grow.
After any achievement, share credit with the team. This, ensuring that the superiors are always appreciated. I don’t recommend flattery as it’s easy to be caught as ass kissing. Instead selective truth is a safer bet. e.g.
– You have bigger responsibilities.
– Couldn’t have happened without your guidance.
– Your broader perspective helps …
– bla bla … you get the point.
Since the above will be true of most bosses, it won’t be misunderstood as flattery.
Our bosses usually don’t have any incentives to see us grow. When we share credit, we give them incentives to see us grow viz. My success is your success !
Hide our abilities
Some of us are brilliant. We can make others insecure by being ourselves. In case we are brilliant, our supervisors might appreciate us overtly. But covertly, work to replace us with someone less threatening.
In these cases we need to ensure that our abilities are muted. So…
Allow some of your mistakes to be seen.
Allow him to feel contributing.
Any recommendations can be taken up “later”.
While he might be friendly, he is not your friend.
Appearing less than you are is always a safe bet. Since we are no longer a threat, no ‘corrective’ action needs to be taken against us.
⚠⚠ Decide for yourself ⚠⚠
Let’s be real – I am not an expert, and this is just a blog. You own the responsibility to think and act for yourself. My intent was not to give you a clear action plan. Instead it was to make you aware of the forces around your job.
Consider the advice as guidelines and not rules. So,
Most of all, I hope that you see the force of power around you.
In Conclusion
A Devdutt Pattnaik, the famous Indian mythologist, interview comes to mind.
During the interview, Devdutt explains that Lord Krishna was the most brilliant of people during his times. In our context, he was someone who could make others insecure just by being himself.
But Krishna was smart. He ensured that he never ‘looked’ too threatening. To achieve that, he dressed differently. He wore yellow silk, wore a peacock feather, had henna on his hands and alta on his feet.
Such behaviour was feminine by those time’s standards. However, it helped the kings and courtiers believe that he was supposedly “soft”. Therefore, not a threat. The pretence allowed Krishna to do his work without too much resistance.
Let’s look at few of his feats:
(Illustration: Devdutt Pattanaik )
With these and more, Krishna virtually ensured Pandav’s win. These achievements were not despite looking soft, but because of looking soft.
If Lord Krishna found the principle important, then we earthlings should take it seriously. Power gods bless those that pray to them, and punish those that don’t.
Be smart. Avoid blowbacks.
Idea conceived and help from book: 48 Laws of Power
Write back, in case you have an opinion. Like what you read – do like, comment and share.
It was well written and well said.
Thankyou !