Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Some of us don’t want to stretch things at work. Stretching can create tension, and tension is, well, tense. It is okay. Go ahead and do it.

I wish I remember where I was when I first heard or read the statement,

You don’t need permission to do your job well.

I am pretty sure it came from Larry Constantine. (Google search on, you don’t need permission to do your job well Larry Constantine, as it reveals a number of places that Constantine wrote it and others qouted him).

Some people (used to) call this “guerilla tactics” at work. We know we could do better if we had someone’s permission to make changes. No one wants to commit to change. So, just do it anyway, because we don’t need permission…and so on.

I have been trying this for several decades. It usually works—no guarantees, but it usually works. Just do it.

Something that helps me: “If those people who are authorized to authorize changes in what I do were to understand what I understand, they would authorize me to try…” And then I try it. I don’t tell anyone about what I am doing differently. Perhaps someone will notice the different work product, but probably not.

A key to having this change spread is that people have to see that I am happier at work.

When they ask, “Why are you happier?” I have an answer.

If I am not happier at work by doing things differently, why did I do them differently?

Rats, it all comes back to me. This is tougher than I thought.