Saturday, March 14, 2015

HR, we have a problem

A reader who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons has a little situation:
I go to put my office Google account on my phone, but it won't set up right. So, I log in to gmail via chrome to check my work email briefly... and forgot to log out. [We shall omit the gory details, but suffice it to say that logging out would have been desirable.]

My first thought is to ignore this issue. There's a lot of web browsing we have to do. But yeah, I think: don't draw attention to a problem that may merely be overlooked. Then I think, better to go to the girl above me, and without giving details, explain [the situation]. This way I can control the narrative, show a little shame, and maybe they'll say they won't even look at that history.
I have no interest in the various mistakes or moral failings that occurred here, what I find both telling and problematic is the instinctive response. To preemptively try to fix a situation you don't even know is an actual problem yet is a very Gamma response. "This way I can control the narrative" is the key phrase that identifies that dangerously sub-optimal way of thinking.

The truth is that the reader is likely to do precisely the opposite, and not only fail to control the narrative, but create a situation that is beyond his boss's ability to overlook. Moreover, it assures the worst case scenario, which is that relevant people at his place of employment find out.

This goes to the lack of confidence at the heart of the Gamma. Instead of assuming that there will not be a problem, he assumes the worst and then seeks to make it happen. He does this because the insecurity of not knowing what may or may not happen is psychologically more painful to him than the consequences he is seeking to avoid.

I think every Gamma, or Delta with Gamma instincts, should watch the TV show Suits. Louis Litt embodies Gamma, and it is tragicomical how his constant efforts to preemptively fix problems he has created and control both the narrative and the flow of communications invariably makes things worse.

Don't be a Louis Litt. Don't try to fix things unless you are certain they are broken. Don't try to control the narrative, relax and let yourself flow with it. Wu-wei is very, very difficult for the Gamma, but most of the time, potential problems tend to sort themselves out without any action from those who foresee or imagine them.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good advice. It's not a problem until it's a problem.

The emotional basis of Leftism is becoming increasingly clear. This is a fun time to be an intellectual busybody of mediocre intelligence.

Anonymous said...

These gamma posts are great. Would have helped me immensely when I was a full blown gamma my first couple years in college and still have some gamma instincts.

Unknown said...

Sh-t happens. As long as it doesn't blow up the company it shouldn't be a problem.

It is another good tale as to the suffocating nature of HR or women in charge. Not only do they look to make problems to justify their position...after a while people get so scared of them that they think everything is a problem.

mmaier2112 said...

Does this not make any sense to anyone else? It's so vague as to be 100% useless.

How can he get in trouble for using his office email account?

Rek. said...

Honestly why the fuck would anyone care about what HR might find. Let these morrons obsess over minutiae. Get fired, dont get fired. Just find another job. Better yet become your own boss. Any red pill aware man should work on becoming financially independant.

On the matter of Suits and Louis Litt, since becoming a partner at Pearson Spencer, he has slowly started acting Delta, owning up to his failures and insecurities.

I really like the show its the only one i have on my list with True detective. Watch it primarily for the visual lesson that is seeing fictional Alpha Harvey interact with men and women. Mike I believe is a Beta (due to his smarts and good-looks), although his unorthodox approach to life gives him a hint of sigma, which he would be if he werent trying to make it, in the conventional sense.



Anonymous said...

>How can he get in trouble for using his office email account?

Security breach. Important information that was supposed to stay internal to the company is now external. Imagine, for the sake of concreteness, that he was looking at a list of clients' usernames and passwords for the website, and then left his smartphone on a subway bench.

Possible consequences unknown. Maybe nothing, maybe big problems.

Unknown said...

I'd place more weight on a person owning up to personal failures and insecurities. That's really the cog that makes life run better.

If that's the biggest difference between a 'Gamma' and a 'Delta'...that's a major breakthrough.

Markku said...

Since he is talking about "looking at that history", I think instead that what he did after checking the email was to browse sites that one would do well to browse in the current corporate culture. And otherwise nobody would have known who accessed those sites, but since he was logged in to Gmail while doing it, they can now immediately tell that it's him, if/when they notice those sites in the server logs.

VD said...

It's not that difficult. If you are logged into Google and Chrome, your web history is searchable by anyone who logs into your Google account unless the history is turned off. If it is a corporate Google account, someone else logging in can see where you were.

MATT said...

Rek, depending on the city hes in, his job title, and his field, its not so easy to just "find another job". If youre a construcrion worker in Manhattan, then yes its relatively easy.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that's different. Apologies and reconciliation are definitely off the table. If a female saw it, only social dominance can save you now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv5fqunQ_4I

maniacprovost said...

If it wasn't during work hours, and he's Highly Competent, he's ok. If he's a 70 percenter, it depends. If he's OTC Personnel, they may use it as an excuse to sack him.

Rek. said...

@MATT

Obviously. I was doing an exercise in perspective. Last weekend I was talking to one of my very close alpha friends who recently got into an argument with his gamma boss. Thats exactly what he told me, "worst case scenario, ill just find another job." (from a guy who just had his first infant child).

Gammas are insecure but are not willing to acknowledge or face this fact. Deltas have accepted most of their insecurities but are not willing to do the hard work to become awesome. Alphas simply have no insecurities (job, women, ...), if they do and u bring it up theyll punch u in the face. Betas I dont really know where they fit in.

S1AL said...

Rek - I'm guessing the beta mindset is "well yeah, everybody has insecurities." And that's it.

Eric Jimenez said...

When the gamma posts end, can you break down a delta Vox?

mmaier2112 said...

OK, that makes more sense. Though I always assume everything I do online at work is being watched and I'm caught as soon as I go to a site.

Though I've had a few moments where I click on something (usually from Heartiste's blog) and immediately go "OH SHIT!" as soon as the page comes up. Luckily, no one's ever called me on such clickings.

Rek. said...

@S1AL

Something like:

Gamma: "Insecurities dont exist."
Delta: "I am insecure."
Beta: "Everybody is insecure. No big deal."
Alpha: "I am not insecure."

??

Sigma:"who cares about insecurities?"
Lambda - omega

??

maniacprovost said...

I would posit that since Sigmas are slightly more introspective than Alphas, they would acknowledge their weaknesses to themselves and strive to overcome them... But what is "insecurity?"

A gamma might sit in front of the computer eating Cheezits and posting to his Live Journal about how he's struggling with his weight issues, and insecure about his body... He knows there's a problem and just doesn't have the willpower to make a decision and live with it. Exercise, or get fat.

An Alpha or Sigma would pick one and go for it, or try to have the best of both worlds by carb loading on brownies...

A Beta would exercise more or less regularly, because that's what he's supposed to do.

A delta might or might not be successful. It's hard to say he would definitely start exercising and then quit 2 weeks later, but the possibility is there. Obviously most Deltas choose to watch TV and drink beer, and end up with the body genetics gave them, but there are a lot more factors than social personality type.

Arvind said...

embarrassed to say that this has literally happened to me. the worry and fear majorly outweighed the possible consequences. gamma's live in fear of what might be. they do everything except live. they cannot stay in the moment at all.

Ron said...

This "pre-emptive fix it" occurred to me when I had a problem with the credit card company. By over stressing and assuming it would all fall apart, I took a relatively simple problem to fix, and turned it into a major hassle.

So it seems the rule is: don't disqualify yourself.

Ron said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rek. said...

@ Ron

Not so much a question of disqualification.

The one major difference between Harvey Specter and Louis Litt (and I think they are doing a bang up job at presenting realistic characters) doesnt lie in their professional capabilities. Both are top of the top in their respective legal fields and know it.

Louis is always trying to make a point, show how great he is and when offered the possibility to prove himself he either cracks under pressure or goes behind ppl's back.

Louis so wants to feel like he belongs. He thinks that the only way to be loved by his team is to impress them, which he is always expecting from his interns. What he needs to realize is that they already love him, he should just focus on being awsome at what he does and stop trying to one up ppl who are better than him at other things. And also this: face his challenges like a man.



maniacprovost said...

What he needs to realize is that they already love him

Yeah, after Season 4 I dunno about that... The thing about being an insecure, whiny d-bag is eventually, people really will hate you.

Anonymous said...

I'm still missing what a "Gamma" actually is (beyond some neurotic type of person you seem to hate in your own mind).

But preemptively fixing problems is called being intelligent and responsible. It's why cars have seat belts. I would guess a lot of "alpha" males die in car accidents due to their own stupidity and arrogance? "I don't need seat belts! I'm an alpha male! The laws of physics shall submit to my authority ..." Hahaha.

Anonymous said...

I'm still missing what a "Gamma" actually is

That's obvious. But whatever you do, don't let your complete ignorance of a topic keep you from pontificating endlessly about it to people who have been studying and discussing it for years. That would just be silly.

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