Funny, how things change:
A “stand up” brotha, now you sit down to aim.
Used to have a firm grip, now you droppin’ names…
—Jay-Z & Too Short
A “stand up” brotha, now you sit down to aim.
Used to have a firm grip, now you droppin’ names…
—Jay-Z & Too Short
That intro is from A Week Ago, a near-classic Carter ‘n’ Shaw collabo and great example of the CYA mentality that’s infected the business world. The song tells of a partnership done in when one of the men becomes a snitch—CYA in its basest form. At work, CYA is about making sure you never get blamed for failures and can at least share in successes, deserved or not. It’s about never being seen as a liability, even if you’re the biggest one around. CYA is about job security for people who arguably shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
Here’s a few common CYA tactics:
Office Politics
It’s Corporate America’s favorite pastime. Conniving, spreading rumors, backstabbing, hording information, secret alliances and agendas... It all goes back to the notion that doing the job right just isn’t enough. But truth is, if you need to scheme and politick to succeed, either you suck at your job or your job sucks. If you’re not good at your job, get better. If your job encourages and rewards office politics, get out. Otherwise, that garbage will eat you up. It always does.
Paper Trails
In business, nothing drives over-documentation like CYA. Sign this, CC so-n-so, BCC that, back-ups of back-up files, saved emails, phone call transcripts… I can’t tell you the number of meetings I sat thru where whole chunks were spent making sure our bases were in rows and our ducks were covered or whatever. And I can’t tell you the number of Friday night we drank away rationalizing it.
The best protection in business is to do your job and be honest and upfront about your capabilities every step of the way. If people were more focused on that and said “no” every once in a while, businesses would save hundreds of trees, cut carpal tunnel cases by 35% and recover millions in wasted time. (Might even have fewer alcoholics, too.)
Brownnosers
Brownnosing sucks—it’s a demeaning waste of time and energy. Be professional enough to work with people that are not your friends. Have enough dignity to not jock anyone with a little bit of power just because. And save your compliments and friendship for folks who actually deserve them.
Liars
Lying might be the most popular form of CYA around. Want to land that new client? Lie about your capabilities. Need to keep your boss happy? Lie about the status of a project. Want people onboard with your agenda? Lie about how well it’s going to work. When in doubt, lie.
But lying has one huge flaw: Most lies can’t stand up without the support of other lies. Once you start lying, you have to keep lying and hope no one catches on.
“I was in the room…”
Think about all the great success stories in business. Think about the great accomplishments in your company’s history. Few were actually the result of across-the-board teamwork and great minds thinking alike. Most came from one person or a small group who believed and pushed while many were against them. But fortunately, those against ultimately got out of the way or looked the other way while those few “this is crazy enough to work” types did their thing.
Next thing you know, a monster success is born: A simple commercial turns all-time catchphrase (Can You Hear Me Now? Whaassup?). An upstart suddenly dominates (Krispy Kreme). An obscure flick or trend turns global phenomenon (The Passion of the Christ, The Sopranos, hip-hop)…
Suddenly all those soft doubters, haters, and under-estimators come out of the woodwork to tell anyone who’ll listen that they were “in the room” when it happened just to share that spotlight and CYA. Why? Because the only thing worse than being seen as a screw-up is being seen as too stupid to tell a good idea from a bad one.
Here’s a few common CYA tactics:
Office Politics
It’s Corporate America’s favorite pastime. Conniving, spreading rumors, backstabbing, hording information, secret alliances and agendas... It all goes back to the notion that doing the job right just isn’t enough. But truth is, if you need to scheme and politick to succeed, either you suck at your job or your job sucks. If you’re not good at your job, get better. If your job encourages and rewards office politics, get out. Otherwise, that garbage will eat you up. It always does.
Paper Trails
The best protection in business is to do your job and be honest and upfront about your capabilities every step of the way. If people were more focused on that and said “no” every once in a while, businesses would save hundreds of trees, cut carpal tunnel cases by 35% and recover millions in wasted time. (Might even have fewer alcoholics, too.)
Brownnosers
Brownnosing sucks—it’s a demeaning waste of time and energy. Be professional enough to work with people that are not your friends. Have enough dignity to not jock anyone with a little bit of power just because. And save your compliments and friendship for folks who actually deserve them.
Liars
Lying might be the most popular form of CYA around. Want to land that new client? Lie about your capabilities. Need to keep your boss happy? Lie about the status of a project. Want people onboard with your agenda? Lie about how well it’s going to work. When in doubt, lie.
But lying has one huge flaw: Most lies can’t stand up without the support of other lies. Once you start lying, you have to keep lying and hope no one catches on.
“I was in the room…”
Think about all the great success stories in business. Think about the great accomplishments in your company’s history. Few were actually the result of across-the-board teamwork and great minds thinking alike. Most came from one person or a small group who believed and pushed while many were against them. But fortunately, those against ultimately got out of the way or looked the other way while those few “this is crazy enough to work” types did their thing.
Next thing you know, a monster success is born: A simple commercial turns all-time catchphrase (Can You Hear Me Now? Whaassup?). An upstart suddenly dominates (Krispy Kreme). An obscure flick or trend turns global phenomenon (The Passion of the Christ, The Sopranos, hip-hop)…
Suddenly all those soft doubters, haters, and under-estimators come out of the woodwork to tell anyone who’ll listen that they were “in the room” when it happened just to share that spotlight and CYA. Why? Because the only thing worse than being seen as a screw-up is being seen as too stupid to tell a good idea from a bad one.
