Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Stay connected to the people who work with you. It is that simple.

There is a phrase that was kicked around a lot a few years back in the software field. The phrase was about going dark. That phrase meant that a programmer would stop talking to everyone else. You didn’t know if the programmer was flying or sinking because the programmer wouldn’t tell anyone any thing.

Most often, going dark meant that the programmer wasn’t accomplishing anything. Three weeks later, the rest of the programmers discovered that their project, and their paychecks, were lost. Here is a post that discusses going dark among programmers.

Programming is not the only endeavor in which people go dark. It happens in every field where more than one person is involved in accomplishing work.

• Stay connected to the people who work with you.
• Stay connected with every person who works with you.
• Yes, I mean that person, too. You know the one, the person you would happily not speak with often. Yes, that person.

How many persons can you afford to waste? I mean, does every person have a large salary? Surely, you can waste the low-paid persons on your team. Right?

No, you can’t. If a person is on your team, they are doing something worthwhile. You can’t afford to lose anything that is worthwhile.

I won’t go into stories about people who I allowed to go dark. I won’t tell stories about people who went dark on projects. The outcome was always the same and the outcome was bad.

One rule of thumb:

Talk to every person every day

Ask them about the weather, and ask them about the work. Don’t accept answers like “fine and “okay.” Pry a bit; be respectful, but pry. Ask to see tangible results.