Then I cashed out of my high-rent corporate job, started my own business, and things got really busy.
You know how that goes. Best intentions and all that.
And that Staind song is running through my mind, right now. "It's been awhile, since..."
Wait - no - that song is about a completely different set of conditions. The song is about messing up your life and coming back to apologize. I'm happy to report, I have very little that I need to sincerely apologize for, from the past 12+ years. At least, not in the way Staind talks about.
So, never mind about Staind.
This post is coming from a far happier place, I'm happy to report. I'm back, not because I messed everything up before, but because, well, CycloPraxis is back on my radar.
For those who don't know me, I work at a Very Large Technology Company that's going through a lot of changes internally, as two formerly massive companies combine to create an even more massive entity. As we go through our gyrations and peregrinations around roles, responsibilities, and all that fun stuff, a lot of folks are wondering (and justifiably so) where they fit. Or if they fit. People are being tossed together in highly demanding situations, with the intention of producing work that's viable and beneficial to a very large number of internal and external customers. And it's bringing up a lot of questions for people about their roles, others' responsibilities, and what the future will bring, after the initial drama (and dust) has settled.
We're figuring it out. This isn't our first merger rodeo for a lot of us, so there are literally decades, even centuries, of experience behind our moves and decisions. It's coming together, the way things do when people decide to buckle down and get the job done.
Of course, any change is challenging for most people, no doubt about that. And when you've got thousands of really invested people looking for where they fit in the new order, things aren't always straightforward. In many ways, what we're doing is unprecedented, with so much being revised, removed, or invented from scratch. So, there aren't a lot of super clear markers along the path to show us where we fit and why we fit there.
Which is where CycloPraxis comes in. For the uninitiated,
CycloPraxis identifies the natural working preferences of employees according to the lifecycle stage of a business.
Much has been written about evolutionary stages of firms, disruptive technologies, new ventures, and high technology marketing, but it seems that large firms continue to experience difficulty in deploying the necessary new products and opening new markets necessary for top line growth and employees continue to wind up with assignments for which they are poorly suited. CycloPraxis explains this behavior and prescribes novel approaches.
Source: OVERVIEW: CycloPraxis http://www.djhome.net/cyclopraxis/The classic match between worker and job is function: operations, manufacturing, marketing, finance, sales, development, etc. Certainly it is important to match job function to an individual's preferences. There is another equally important dimension to the fit between workers and their jobs: CycloPraxis.
You see where I'm going with this?
The typical approach to fitting people into positions is about what they do. But CycloPraxis is about how they do it. And if you prefer to work in certain modes, even if you've got a degree in a certain discipline, slotting you into a position with a company that matches your area of expertise that doesn't match your praxis -- your preferred mode of working -- the fit won't be exact. It might even be terrible.
For example, if you're an Author/Inventor type, and you graduate with a degree in accounting, you're going to be absolutely miserable in an established, process-bound consulting firm that's all about Extending the relationships they have with a select few clients. But you'll likely thrive in a startup, where you get to re-invent the wheel and build a better mousetrap multiple times a day.
Likewise, if you're a Capitalizer type with a design degree, you're probably not going to love going to work each day at a company on the brink of going public, because everything at that stage is going to be about Building out what works and stabilizing things. Your employer probably won't be in a position (yet) to turn itself into a money-printing machine, because it still has to build out the infrastructure that'll make that possible. You'll chafe. You'll struggle. It won't be fun. And everyone around you will tsk-tsk over how you're just not appreciating what a great opportunity you've landed.
The Employee Praxis-Employer Business Cycle dynamics aren't the only phenomena that CycloPraxis helps explain. It's also hugely helpful in understanding the dynamics in established companies -- especially large ones. When you've got cross-team collaboration between people with different praxes who are all vying for dominance, not only does the work product suffer, but the company suffers, as well. And everybody's confused about why things aren't working out swimmingly, like they should be.
I've seen it repeatedly, over the past 30+ years I've been in the 9-to-5 workforce. Builders and Authors/Inventors "going at it" during projects, Thunderdome-style, dragging out the timeline of a mission-critical project that can't afford to launch late. Dates are missed. People are pissed. Nobody knows why it's happening, 'cause on paper, everything looks ducky. Capitalizers show up on initiatives with Builders, and screw everything up... or they trash-talk the Extenders they work closely with, because they're screwing up the KPIs and preventing the orderly, predictable pursuit of process perfection.
I've also seen it in the world beyond the corporate sphere: conflicts between journal publishers and researchers... copyright battles that actually end up costing people's lives... music industry drama around who gets paid, and how much... even politically (which I won't get into, if I can at all help it), where long-established residents try to prevent newcomers from arriving and integrating.
Knowing about CycloPraxis doesn't change the behavior or modes of others. Authors/Inventors are gonna author and invent. Builders are gonna build. Capitalizers are gonna capitalize. And Extenders are gonna continue to do everything in their power to keep their existing customers happy, 'cause, well, that's what they do. Everybody's comfortable in their own praxis, and this world tends to skimp on comforts, so you take what you can get. But understanding why someone is doing what they're doing certainly takes the sting out of it.
I've also seen CycloPraxis principles work extremely well, when applied practically. Like when I was a sole proprietor, neck deep in podcasting platform code, and I needed to get connected with a contract job with some real-live people I could interact with on a daily basis. I revised my resume with Builder terms and keywords, and I looked online for jobs that matched my Builder inclination. I found a job within days. It was a great fit, too. It was almost like it was made exactly for me. And I firmly believe I connected with it all because I structured my whole search around my Builder preferences.
So, yeah. CycloPraxis comes in handy. It helps explain the reasons why people do the cockamamie things they do. And it can help us work better with others, as a result. It fosters compassion, emotional intelligence, empathy... all the qualities that are now so prized in the workplace.
It makes sense. And it works. I've been actively using it for over 10 years, and it hasn't failed me yet.
So, yeah. It's been a while, but CycloPraxis is back in my life in a very big way. And I'm gonna write about it here.
I hope you'll join me. It'll be fun!
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