December 2, 2017 at 01:21Latent parasites
Over the years, the IT Director, among managers at different levels, made one observation - a funny difference in the approaches to setting goals and monitoring their implementation.
There are normal, adequate formulation and control, which lead to the solution of the problem, move forward and improve the state of the company.
And there are strange, funny, sometimes unpleasant ways that lead to an increase in the manager’s ChSV, the destruction of the team, the deterioration of the state of the company, intrigues and civil strife.
What is the difference? Let's try to figure it out.
Imagine this situation. A woman asks a man to fix a faucet (faucet) in the bathroom. The faucet works, but when you open the water, it leaks a little. And sets a deadline - before the end of the week.
The man understands that the task is not very urgent and not at all important - the crane works, and most of the time does not flow. The woman, of course, also understands this.
So day after day. A man does not fix a tap. Most likely, I completely forgot about this task.
What is important - a woman does not remind a man about a crane, does not even give a hint.
The deadline is due. The tap is leaking. What does a woman do?
What will happen next?
Moreover, this will also be the case if the man immediately after the first picture runs and repairs, even if it takes a minute.
Now is just the opposite example.
A man sets his son the task of cleaning the courtyard of the house. The deadline is until the end of the week. Explains why this is important: if you clean the yard - we can play football, you yourself have long wanted. It adds motivation - you, says, wanted to have a picnic with friends, to fry barbecue. You yourself understand that while the yard looks more like a cattle yard, you cannot call friends, and when you take it away, I will help you organize everything, buy it, cook it.
Mentioning resources - if, he says, something is missing (tools, for example) - immediately say, find or buy.
The next day, if the business is not moving, the man comes up and asks how are you. Is everything clear, can he change his mind or disagree with something, or help is needed.
When the son is already doing the cleaning of the territory, the man will definitely come, cheer, praise, help.
As a result, the task is likely to be completed ahead of schedule.
It is understood that the examples are very refined and hyperbolic. It is also clear that in the place of the task director in both examples there can be a man, and a woman, and a grandmother, and a brother.
The first approach is parasitic. The second approach is symbiotic.
We recall the school biology course. Symbiosis is a mutually beneficial existence of two organisms. In our case, the head and subordinate, or, if we look more broadly, the employee and the company.
When an employee is taken into the company, the only true model of existence is assumed - symbiosis. It’s kind of like the basis of everything. In life, of course, this is far, and often instead of symbiosis slavery occurs, or, I apologize, pimping, as in bad franchises. They just say so - “sell an employee for six months” . But for now, let's agree that we are good, the company is good, and everything will be fine.
Will be until the parasites meet on the way. Parasitism is the exact opposite of symbiosis when one organism uses the resources of another, often harming it. The parasite is concerned only with one thing - its survival, prosperity and reproduction.
Parasites almost always carefully hide - these are the conditions for their survival. Therefore, it is so difficult to get rid of them - even to find out about their presence, you need to perform many unpleasant and time-consuming actions. Yes, and it's dumb, embarrassing for adults to take children's tests for parasites.
So it is in business. Only explicit parasites must be removed - for example, those who steal adhesive tape from a warehouse. Or a freshener from the toilet (these are real-life examples ). Implicit, and the most harmful parasites are always in the shadows, and are able to disguise themselves as the right ones, living according to the principles of symbiosis.
A separate, special type of parasite is latent, i.e. not aware of their parasitism. Such people can sincerely believe that they are right and good, and honestly try to do their job as best as possible. But the parasitic nature of their approaches does not disappear, even if it is unconscious.
So, in our case, parasites are those who do not serve the goals of the company, the goals of their leader, the goals of common sense, the goals of society and the world. Only his own. But - at the expense of the company.
For consideration, let us take only one type of parasite - managers who set tasks guided by their own interests (as in the first example). We will deal with other parasites later.
So, back to our examples and the approaches expressed in them. We define them as follows:
• Symbiotic approach -as to pose the problem, and to control the process, so the task was performed ;
• Parasitic approach - so set the task and manage the process so that the task is NOT completed .
With the symbiotic approach, everything is clear. And why does the parasitic behave this way? What is the purpose?
Everything is very simple. For a parasite, an unfulfilled task is more valuable than a completed one because “creditor debt” appears and, as a result, the possibility of manipulation.
This question already belongs to the field of psychology of manipulators, which is very extensive and is not included in the scope of this publication. I note only the main thing: the purpose of the manipulator is to get an object and a reason for manipulation. This target is a parasite and pursues.
What is important: a reason for manipulation, i.e. an unfulfilled task will live a very long time. The parasite will seek to reuse this occasion, reminding the object of a perfect error, to extend the dependence of the object and its own pleasure from manipulation.
Well, that's enough about the manipulators. Let's look better at how parasitic and symbiotic approaches are manifested in management practice. And if you want, look at yourself in similar situations through the prism of these approaches.
The parasitic approach . Give a minimum of information, do not ask questions, especially suggestive ones. Do not give materials and links (he will ask when he finishes, and it will be too late, bugag). If he asks questions - answer “look for yourself”, “you are an expert”, “what should I still teach you?”, Or simply “I don’t know”, “I don’t remember”.
Try to create guilt even at the stage of setting the task.
Symbiotic approach . Explain the task taking into account the knowledge of the performer. Understand that the responsibility for understanding lies with the explanatory. Focus on points whose complexity or importance is not obvious at first glance. Give all the materials that are at the moment.
Answer the questions. Ask leading questions to make sure that a person understands, and at the same time make his brain work.
The parasitic approach . Deadline must be required. If there is no deadline, the moment of transition to manipulation is unclear.
The term should not be short, because it can provoke a person to go and do. “Go and do” is an evil for the parasitic approach. Procrastination is much better.
The current workload of a person can and should be taken into account in order to choose a time period in which the probability of completing a task is lower.
Symbiotic approach . The term is either short or none. Instead of the deadline - the strategy "as soon as possible." Even better - Scrum and sprints to control.
If necessary, quickly redraw the priorities of tasks still outstanding.
The parasitic approach . Either do not give resources, or give the wrong ones. It is better, of course, not to give, but to act, as with questions when setting the task - to induce feelings of guilt and inferiority. Hint or say bluntly that an intelligent performer himself will find all the resources.
Symbiotic approach . Giving necessary and sufficient resources, within reason.
This, in my personal opinion, is the most interesting and characteristic.
The parasitic approach . Do not control the process. At all. Do not stutter about him. It’s better not to cross with a person at all.
Because - remember the goal - it is necessary to make sure that the task is not completed. Or, at least, it was executed with delay, sometimes it’s even better.
If you talk with a person, you will have to answer questions or ask them, provide assistance. Especially if the conversation takes place in the presence of strangers, and among them there will be people with a symbiotic approach and a higher position. Trite can be suspected of incompetence, emotionality and moodiness. If such a situation develops, we must quickly say, “let's meet separately and discuss.”
We just wait for the deadline to end; we are offended by the carpet.
Symbiotic approach . Be sure to control the process - this is part of a systematic, regular management.
If the task is managed by deadlines, then break the execution period into control points and be interested in the state of affairs. The first point should be the day after setting the task - you need to make sure that the person correctly understood the task.
If the task is managed by Scrum, then everything will happen by itself - you can learn about the status of the task every day at the rally.
The parasitic approach . The possibility of a postponement depends on business processes and, in general, the attitude in the company towards postponement.
If the postponement of the term is considered the norm and is not prohibited, but it can be refused, it must be refused.
If the postponement is considered something out of the ordinary, then we must agree, with all our might pretending to be a very, very big jamb. The reason is the same - the creation of guilt. Even if he does everything perfectly, and meets the new deadline, the stigma is already in the cannon, because there was a delay, and the parasite showed indulgence.
Symbiotic approach . If the task is managed by deadlines, then the transfer depends on the real criticality of this deadline. Real criticality is verified by a simple formula: the deadline is critical if after it the task can no longer be solved.
If the task is managed by Scrum, then the question of postponing dates should not arise.
The parasitic approach . To accept the results as formally as possible - technical specifications, functional requirements, specifications. Do not show positive emotions, even if you like the result. Even a task completed on time and on time can be accepted in such a way as to induce a sense of guilt in the performer with his coldness, let him think that he did something wrong.
If there were jambs in the process, such as delays or postponements, it is imperative to mention them with a phrase like “this is all, of course, wonderful, but, remember, you ...”.
Symbiotic approach . Check the essence of the task, achieving the goal, ignoring unimportant trifles.
The parasitic approach . Either do not give feedback, or give negative. Do not give - this is when everything was done efficiently and on time. Feedback is appropriate with the phrase “ok” or “approved”.
And if there were shoals, then you can write a whole essay. No positive, smoothing corners, trying to get constructive or learn something from mistakes - you still have to work with this person.
Symbiotic approach . Give quality feedback, even if the contractor did not ask, because it is a useful exercise for both parties. To mention the shortcomings of the process in a positive connotation - as the experience gained in solving problems.
I listed the main points of application of the parasitic and symbiotic approaches in management and tried to convey to you, as I saw them in my practice. Of course, there are many more points, but then you can, if you wish, be able to simulate the behavior of the characters yourself in different life situations of the business.
Even better - if you observe yourself and others through the prism of parasitic and symbiotic approaches.
If you decide to observe, I will remind you of the main key that helps to understand the state of the situation and the actions of a person:
• If a person performs actions that help solve the problem - this is a symbiotic approach;
• If a person performs actions that interfere with the solution of the problem - this is a parasitic approach;
• Well, the state Z. If a person commits actions that can be called “leads his game” or “pursues his own goals”, then this is also a parasitic approach.
The most interesting thing in this practice is to observe yourself. If you see that you are acting within the framework of a parasitic approach, then you need to seriously talk to yourself - am I consciously doing this? It is my choice? Is my choice to be a parasite ? Because in your use of the parasitic approach there is one muck.
A separate branch of the parasitic approach is the use not for manipulation, but for self-affirmation.
Manipulating, in general, is not such a bad thing. In some situations, it helps to achieve faster or, conversely, long-term results.
But self-affirmation at the expense of others is a negative action, anyway. Moreover, for both sides. With the person at the expense of whom you asserted yourself, everything is clear - he will be disgusted. And it will be good for you, but not for long and not for real, because self-affirmation at the expense of others is an illusion. Your value in this world is determined by hundreds, thousands of metrics, and self-affirmation gives a positive difference in one metric relative to one point. You are programmers, then you will decide for yourself what the increase in one variable in a complex power polynomial is worth. It’s not worth a damn.
And here again the plug. If you believe in this illusion, then your self-affirmation actions can be justified - just as they justify the behavior of schizophrenics. If you do not believe in illusion, but continue to assert yourself, then you, unfortunately, are a shit. I am sure that this is not about you. This is about me - that’s exactly what I was called by a person a few years ago, who noticed that I was engaged in conscious self-affirmation. For which I am still grateful to him.
What is the most disgusting in this muck - of all the people I watched, it is most often found among programmers.
For example, the experienced sets the task to the inexperienced, guided by a parasitic approach. To set such a task is not difficult, especially taking advantage of the fact that the beginner does not know the context - the subject area, new modules, client, legislation, and bottlenecks of the project.
Inexperienced can not cope - with quality, time, or all at once. Or even put the server.
The self-assertion of the experienced occurs automatically. How? Already guessed for yourself, probably.
An experienced would do better and faster. Everyone is sure of this, no doubt. An experienced one may not even say a single bad word if there are spectators and witnesses around. And everyone will come to the same conclusions, helping the experienced one become an even bigger shit or schizophrenic.
It was enough to apply a symbiotic approach, and the result would be useful for all participants, including business.
I cannot but mention one more phenomenon that is quite widespread - cool managers. This is not a term I coined, they call themselves that.
Cool managers formulate their approach as follows: “set tasks, set deadlines, and blame them for not fulfilling them” (this is a quote).
This is a parasitic approach in almost pure form. I watched a lot of these guys. They are willingly hired because they give the impression of a strong-willed, purposeful, result-oriented, without snot and unnecessary reasoning.
In the first months of their work, the positive impression only intensifies, because nasty things like the ones described above happen. The cool manager in this period often repeats the key phrase: "some morons around, even though you do everything yourself." The central filthy idea is constantly repeated and strengthened - a tough manager can do everything, the rest can do nothing. True, a tough manager does not try to do something on his own, but this is still unimportant. It simply poses tasks that people cannot handle. Intentionally, and precisely for such a purpose - that they could not cope. Why and why - you already know.
And then the plug. Or the awareness will awaken from the higher ones, and they will see that the only result achieved is the disproportionately increased metric of “self-affirmation”. Alas, this metric does not play any role in assessing the state of a business. Fortunately, if during this period the business seriously dipped in normal terms, then the shit will fly out quickly and beautifully.
If awareness does not wake up, then the tough manager will sit for a long time. It will reduce the activity of self-affirmation, and most likely will begin to use a more refined parasitic approach - for the purpose of manipulation.
Take a look, are there any cool managers in your environment? If you want, of course.
Finally, I’ll mention: according to my observations, when working on Scrum, there is practically no room for a parasitic approach.
There are simply no suitable roles and situations in Scrum. There is no concept of "setting someone a task." There is no entity "deadline for completing a task." There is no “postponement." There is no boss who has the right to everything - only a flat structure with a distribution of roles. This is if we talk about pure Scrum.
BUT. Our Russian reality, with its fiction, also learned to find a place for parasites in Scrum. This is not a mass phenomenon, but unpleasant trends are slipping.
For example, linking the motivation system to the volume of tasks performed in the sprint can provide a loophole for external parasites - a person will strive not for the result, but for avoiding guilt for a low KPI (you know who the guilt is).
Another example is replacing Scrum roles with traditional posts. The concept of flat teams is very slowly entering the heads of traditional Russian management - they still need "one person from whom I will ask the time and result." Well and dryuch. You understand how the appearance of such a person will affect the team.
Take care of Scrum if you still have one. And don't forget to re-read pages 54-55 of Jeff Sutherland's book sometimes.
The topic, as you see, will never be fully disclosed. The parasitic and symbiotic approach - these are principles, abstractions, philosophy - which can only be understood and applied in practice. And the practice is endless.
Finally - the most unpleasant. There are people with the nature of parasites, but there are few. There are people who a priori build a symbiosis around themselves, but there are even fewer of them. And in those and others, the approach is a personality trait, a character trait. Well, man is a parasite, and everywhere he behaves just like that. These are bad movie characters. Not those with whom girls fall in love, but those that are created as a complete antipode to the protagonist, and they are unpleasant to everyone. As worms, I apologize.
Most people do not have the “parasite” personality trait, but there is a parasitic approach at certain points in time. It happens that a person in one job was in symbiosis, moved to another - and became a parasite.
It happens that in the morning a person sets tasks so that they are completed, and in the evening - so as to get later a reason for manipulation.
It happens that a person is in symbiosis with two colleagues, and parasitizes on the other three.
See what I'm leading to? All, without exception, are sometimes parasites. And you, and I, and they. When we consciously parasitize, we are real Parasites, with a capital P.
When we are not aware - latent. This is the most unpleasant. It can be a shame for this - it’s true only if you notice that you have a little "parasitism". I am ashamed not only in front of another person, but also in front of ourselves - we sincerely consider ourselves good guys, and here it is. How some obsession found, insanity. After all, he knew that he could not cope, but still could not stop and set the task exactly that way.
In order not to be a parasite, you need to maintain awareness as much as possible. Keep track of your motives and goals, words and actions. Because the desire for self-affirmation and manipulation sits deep and firmly in the subconscious, and can play a cruel joke with you at the most inopportune moment.
Better to be the master in your head.
There are normal, adequate formulation and control, which lead to the solution of the problem, move forward and improve the state of the company.
And there are strange, funny, sometimes unpleasant ways that lead to an increase in the manager’s ChSV, the destruction of the team, the deterioration of the state of the company, intrigues and civil strife.
What is the difference? Let's try to figure it out.
Imagine this situation. A woman asks a man to fix a faucet (faucet) in the bathroom. The faucet works, but when you open the water, it leaks a little. And sets a deadline - before the end of the week.
The man understands that the task is not very urgent and not at all important - the crane works, and most of the time does not flow. The woman, of course, also understands this.
So day after day. A man does not fix a tap. Most likely, I completely forgot about this task.
What is important - a woman does not remind a man about a crane, does not even give a hint.
The deadline is due. The tap is leaking. What does a woman do?
What will happen next?
Moreover, this will also be the case if the man immediately after the first picture runs and repairs, even if it takes a minute.
Now is just the opposite example.
A man sets his son the task of cleaning the courtyard of the house. The deadline is until the end of the week. Explains why this is important: if you clean the yard - we can play football, you yourself have long wanted. It adds motivation - you, says, wanted to have a picnic with friends, to fry barbecue. You yourself understand that while the yard looks more like a cattle yard, you cannot call friends, and when you take it away, I will help you organize everything, buy it, cook it.
Mentioning resources - if, he says, something is missing (tools, for example) - immediately say, find or buy.
The next day, if the business is not moving, the man comes up and asks how are you. Is everything clear, can he change his mind or disagree with something, or help is needed.
When the son is already doing the cleaning of the territory, the man will definitely come, cheer, praise, help.
As a result, the task is likely to be completed ahead of schedule.
It is understood that the examples are very refined and hyperbolic. It is also clear that in the place of the task director in both examples there can be a man, and a woman, and a grandmother, and a brother.
The first approach is parasitic. The second approach is symbiotic.
We recall the school biology course. Symbiosis is a mutually beneficial existence of two organisms. In our case, the head and subordinate, or, if we look more broadly, the employee and the company.
When an employee is taken into the company, the only true model of existence is assumed - symbiosis. It’s kind of like the basis of everything. In life, of course, this is far, and often instead of symbiosis slavery occurs, or, I apologize, pimping, as in bad franchises. They just say so - “sell an employee for six months” . But for now, let's agree that we are good, the company is good, and everything will be fine.
Will be until the parasites meet on the way. Parasitism is the exact opposite of symbiosis when one organism uses the resources of another, often harming it. The parasite is concerned only with one thing - its survival, prosperity and reproduction.
Parasites almost always carefully hide - these are the conditions for their survival. Therefore, it is so difficult to get rid of them - even to find out about their presence, you need to perform many unpleasant and time-consuming actions. Yes, and it's dumb, embarrassing for adults to take children's tests for parasites.
So it is in business. Only explicit parasites must be removed - for example, those who steal adhesive tape from a warehouse. Or a freshener from the toilet (these are real-life examples ). Implicit, and the most harmful parasites are always in the shadows, and are able to disguise themselves as the right ones, living according to the principles of symbiosis.
A separate, special type of parasite is latent, i.e. not aware of their parasitism. Such people can sincerely believe that they are right and good, and honestly try to do their job as best as possible. But the parasitic nature of their approaches does not disappear, even if it is unconscious.
So, in our case, parasites are those who do not serve the goals of the company, the goals of their leader, the goals of common sense, the goals of society and the world. Only his own. But - at the expense of the company.
For consideration, let us take only one type of parasite - managers who set tasks guided by their own interests (as in the first example). We will deal with other parasites later.
So, back to our examples and the approaches expressed in them. We define them as follows:
• Symbiotic approach -as to pose the problem, and to control the process, so the task was performed ;
• Parasitic approach - so set the task and manage the process so that the task is NOT completed .
With the symbiotic approach, everything is clear. And why does the parasitic behave this way? What is the purpose?
Everything is very simple. For a parasite, an unfulfilled task is more valuable than a completed one because “creditor debt” appears and, as a result, the possibility of manipulation.
This question already belongs to the field of psychology of manipulators, which is very extensive and is not included in the scope of this publication. I note only the main thing: the purpose of the manipulator is to get an object and a reason for manipulation. This target is a parasite and pursues.
What is important: a reason for manipulation, i.e. an unfulfilled task will live a very long time. The parasite will seek to reuse this occasion, reminding the object of a perfect error, to extend the dependence of the object and its own pleasure from manipulation.
Well, that's enough about the manipulators. Let's look better at how parasitic and symbiotic approaches are manifested in management practice. And if you want, look at yourself in similar situations through the prism of these approaches.
Formulation of the problem
The parasitic approach . Give a minimum of information, do not ask questions, especially suggestive ones. Do not give materials and links (he will ask when he finishes, and it will be too late, bugag). If he asks questions - answer “look for yourself”, “you are an expert”, “what should I still teach you?”, Or simply “I don’t know”, “I don’t remember”.
Try to create guilt even at the stage of setting the task.
Symbiotic approach . Explain the task taking into account the knowledge of the performer. Understand that the responsibility for understanding lies with the explanatory. Focus on points whose complexity or importance is not obvious at first glance. Give all the materials that are at the moment.
Answer the questions. Ask leading questions to make sure that a person understands, and at the same time make his brain work.
Deadline for solving the problem
The parasitic approach . Deadline must be required. If there is no deadline, the moment of transition to manipulation is unclear.
The term should not be short, because it can provoke a person to go and do. “Go and do” is an evil for the parasitic approach. Procrastination is much better.
The current workload of a person can and should be taken into account in order to choose a time period in which the probability of completing a task is lower.
Symbiotic approach . The term is either short or none. Instead of the deadline - the strategy "as soon as possible." Even better - Scrum and sprints to control.
If necessary, quickly redraw the priorities of tasks still outstanding.
Resources
The parasitic approach . Either do not give resources, or give the wrong ones. It is better, of course, not to give, but to act, as with questions when setting the task - to induce feelings of guilt and inferiority. Hint or say bluntly that an intelligent performer himself will find all the resources.
Symbiotic approach . Giving necessary and sufficient resources, within reason.
Execution Control
This, in my personal opinion, is the most interesting and characteristic.
The parasitic approach . Do not control the process. At all. Do not stutter about him. It’s better not to cross with a person at all.
Because - remember the goal - it is necessary to make sure that the task is not completed. Or, at least, it was executed with delay, sometimes it’s even better.
If you talk with a person, you will have to answer questions or ask them, provide assistance. Especially if the conversation takes place in the presence of strangers, and among them there will be people with a symbiotic approach and a higher position. Trite can be suspected of incompetence, emotionality and moodiness. If such a situation develops, we must quickly say, “let's meet separately and discuss.”
We just wait for the deadline to end; we are offended by the carpet.
Symbiotic approach . Be sure to control the process - this is part of a systematic, regular management.
If the task is managed by deadlines, then break the execution period into control points and be interested in the state of affairs. The first point should be the day after setting the task - you need to make sure that the person correctly understood the task.
If the task is managed by Scrum, then everything will happen by itself - you can learn about the status of the task every day at the rally.
Postpone deadlines
The parasitic approach . The possibility of a postponement depends on business processes and, in general, the attitude in the company towards postponement.
If the postponement of the term is considered the norm and is not prohibited, but it can be refused, it must be refused.
If the postponement is considered something out of the ordinary, then we must agree, with all our might pretending to be a very, very big jamb. The reason is the same - the creation of guilt. Even if he does everything perfectly, and meets the new deadline, the stigma is already in the cannon, because there was a delay, and the parasite showed indulgence.
Symbiotic approach . If the task is managed by deadlines, then the transfer depends on the real criticality of this deadline. Real criticality is verified by a simple formula: the deadline is critical if after it the task can no longer be solved.
If the task is managed by Scrum, then the question of postponing dates should not arise.
Acceptance of Results
The parasitic approach . To accept the results as formally as possible - technical specifications, functional requirements, specifications. Do not show positive emotions, even if you like the result. Even a task completed on time and on time can be accepted in such a way as to induce a sense of guilt in the performer with his coldness, let him think that he did something wrong.
If there were jambs in the process, such as delays or postponements, it is imperative to mention them with a phrase like “this is all, of course, wonderful, but, remember, you ...”.
Symbiotic approach . Check the essence of the task, achieving the goal, ignoring unimportant trifles.
Feedback
The parasitic approach . Either do not give feedback, or give negative. Do not give - this is when everything was done efficiently and on time. Feedback is appropriate with the phrase “ok” or “approved”.
And if there were shoals, then you can write a whole essay. No positive, smoothing corners, trying to get constructive or learn something from mistakes - you still have to work with this person.
Symbiotic approach . Give quality feedback, even if the contractor did not ask, because it is a useful exercise for both parties. To mention the shortcomings of the process in a positive connotation - as the experience gained in solving problems.
Summary
I listed the main points of application of the parasitic and symbiotic approaches in management and tried to convey to you, as I saw them in my practice. Of course, there are many more points, but then you can, if you wish, be able to simulate the behavior of the characters yourself in different life situations of the business.
Even better - if you observe yourself and others through the prism of parasitic and symbiotic approaches.
If you decide to observe, I will remind you of the main key that helps to understand the state of the situation and the actions of a person:
• If a person performs actions that help solve the problem - this is a symbiotic approach;
• If a person performs actions that interfere with the solution of the problem - this is a parasitic approach;
• Well, the state Z. If a person commits actions that can be called “leads his game” or “pursues his own goals”, then this is also a parasitic approach.
The most interesting thing in this practice is to observe yourself. If you see that you are acting within the framework of a parasitic approach, then you need to seriously talk to yourself - am I consciously doing this? It is my choice? Is my choice to be a parasite ? Because in your use of the parasitic approach there is one muck.
Muck
A separate branch of the parasitic approach is the use not for manipulation, but for self-affirmation.
Manipulating, in general, is not such a bad thing. In some situations, it helps to achieve faster or, conversely, long-term results.
But self-affirmation at the expense of others is a negative action, anyway. Moreover, for both sides. With the person at the expense of whom you asserted yourself, everything is clear - he will be disgusted. And it will be good for you, but not for long and not for real, because self-affirmation at the expense of others is an illusion. Your value in this world is determined by hundreds, thousands of metrics, and self-affirmation gives a positive difference in one metric relative to one point. You are programmers, then you will decide for yourself what the increase in one variable in a complex power polynomial is worth. It’s not worth a damn.
And here again the plug. If you believe in this illusion, then your self-affirmation actions can be justified - just as they justify the behavior of schizophrenics. If you do not believe in illusion, but continue to assert yourself, then you, unfortunately, are a shit. I am sure that this is not about you. This is about me - that’s exactly what I was called by a person a few years ago, who noticed that I was engaged in conscious self-affirmation. For which I am still grateful to him.
What is the most disgusting in this muck - of all the people I watched, it is most often found among programmers.
For example, the experienced sets the task to the inexperienced, guided by a parasitic approach. To set such a task is not difficult, especially taking advantage of the fact that the beginner does not know the context - the subject area, new modules, client, legislation, and bottlenecks of the project.
Inexperienced can not cope - with quality, time, or all at once. Or even put the server.
The self-assertion of the experienced occurs automatically. How? Already guessed for yourself, probably.
An experienced would do better and faster. Everyone is sure of this, no doubt. An experienced one may not even say a single bad word if there are spectators and witnesses around. And everyone will come to the same conclusions, helping the experienced one become an even bigger shit or schizophrenic.
It was enough to apply a symbiotic approach, and the result would be useful for all participants, including business.
Cool managers
I cannot but mention one more phenomenon that is quite widespread - cool managers. This is not a term I coined, they call themselves that.
Cool managers formulate their approach as follows: “set tasks, set deadlines, and blame them for not fulfilling them” (this is a quote).
This is a parasitic approach in almost pure form. I watched a lot of these guys. They are willingly hired because they give the impression of a strong-willed, purposeful, result-oriented, without snot and unnecessary reasoning.
In the first months of their work, the positive impression only intensifies, because nasty things like the ones described above happen. The cool manager in this period often repeats the key phrase: "some morons around, even though you do everything yourself." The central filthy idea is constantly repeated and strengthened - a tough manager can do everything, the rest can do nothing. True, a tough manager does not try to do something on his own, but this is still unimportant. It simply poses tasks that people cannot handle. Intentionally, and precisely for such a purpose - that they could not cope. Why and why - you already know.
And then the plug. Or the awareness will awaken from the higher ones, and they will see that the only result achieved is the disproportionately increased metric of “self-affirmation”. Alas, this metric does not play any role in assessing the state of a business. Fortunately, if during this period the business seriously dipped in normal terms, then the shit will fly out quickly and beautifully.
If awareness does not wake up, then the tough manager will sit for a long time. It will reduce the activity of self-affirmation, and most likely will begin to use a more refined parasitic approach - for the purpose of manipulation.
Take a look, are there any cool managers in your environment? If you want, of course.
Scrum
Finally, I’ll mention: according to my observations, when working on Scrum, there is practically no room for a parasitic approach.
There are simply no suitable roles and situations in Scrum. There is no concept of "setting someone a task." There is no entity "deadline for completing a task." There is no “postponement." There is no boss who has the right to everything - only a flat structure with a distribution of roles. This is if we talk about pure Scrum.
BUT. Our Russian reality, with its fiction, also learned to find a place for parasites in Scrum. This is not a mass phenomenon, but unpleasant trends are slipping.
For example, linking the motivation system to the volume of tasks performed in the sprint can provide a loophole for external parasites - a person will strive not for the result, but for avoiding guilt for a low KPI (you know who the guilt is).
Another example is replacing Scrum roles with traditional posts. The concept of flat teams is very slowly entering the heads of traditional Russian management - they still need "one person from whom I will ask the time and result." Well and dryuch. You understand how the appearance of such a person will affect the team.
Take care of Scrum if you still have one. And don't forget to re-read pages 54-55 of Jeff Sutherland's book sometimes.
PS
The topic, as you see, will never be fully disclosed. The parasitic and symbiotic approach - these are principles, abstractions, philosophy - which can only be understood and applied in practice. And the practice is endless.
Finally - the most unpleasant. There are people with the nature of parasites, but there are few. There are people who a priori build a symbiosis around themselves, but there are even fewer of them. And in those and others, the approach is a personality trait, a character trait. Well, man is a parasite, and everywhere he behaves just like that. These are bad movie characters. Not those with whom girls fall in love, but those that are created as a complete antipode to the protagonist, and they are unpleasant to everyone. As worms, I apologize.
Most people do not have the “parasite” personality trait, but there is a parasitic approach at certain points in time. It happens that a person in one job was in symbiosis, moved to another - and became a parasite.
It happens that in the morning a person sets tasks so that they are completed, and in the evening - so as to get later a reason for manipulation.
It happens that a person is in symbiosis with two colleagues, and parasitizes on the other three.
See what I'm leading to? All, without exception, are sometimes parasites. And you, and I, and they. When we consciously parasitize, we are real Parasites, with a capital P.
When we are not aware - latent. This is the most unpleasant. It can be a shame for this - it’s true only if you notice that you have a little "parasitism". I am ashamed not only in front of another person, but also in front of ourselves - we sincerely consider ourselves good guys, and here it is. How some obsession found, insanity. After all, he knew that he could not cope, but still could not stop and set the task exactly that way.
In order not to be a parasite, you need to maintain awareness as much as possible. Keep track of your motives and goals, words and actions. Because the desire for self-affirmation and manipulation sits deep and firmly in the subconscious, and can play a cruel joke with you at the most inopportune moment.
Better to be the master in your head.