I Don’t Care If I’m Right But This Is Ridiculous

I once worked with a guy who had to be right.

I don’t mind. Really, I don’t.

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
– Harry Truman

I’m a pretty good team player in that respect. I believe as a team lead you take the blame and give away the credit. If your team looks good, you will look good. Measure a man by the results, not the accolades.

So, working with Travis didn’t bother me. Travis REALLY wanted to be right. And since he was my supervisor, who was I to argue?

There was just one problem.

Travis, while very smart, wasn’t always right. When he was right (which was often,) I had no problem acknowledging even supporting his answers. But, there were times when I was right and he was wrong.

Now what?

I don’t care who is right. But, when talking to the client, it’s important to not be wrong.

My solution?

Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve found it works best let the issue resolve itself. I knew I was right. And eventually that would be born out. It’s certainly not the most efficient. It would be much more efficient to simply be able to have a dialogue. To each be confident enough in our position to simply say, “You were wrong on this one. ” Or, “I was wrong on this.”

Sadly, it doesn’t always work that way.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren. Order Miscellany III A Collection of Holiday Short Stories, an anthology including his latest short story, “You Can Call Me Dan” here

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