Watching the fall

I was waiting in line at the pharmacy and had some 50 people in front waiting ahead to fill prescriptions. The inventory robot had misfired and they had to process manually while it was rebooting, repairing itself or plotting in its downtime to conquer humanity.

The pharmacists looked stressed, even though there were many of them. It is funny how quickly we begin to rely on technology.

I was coming from lunch with a friend whose company needs someone but they are struggling to find the right person. When he heard the job he thought of me and put my name into the hat.

The company has already interviewed quite a number of people but they obviously haven't quite matched the requirements. This is not uncommon in Finland where there is a need for technical and social requirements as most people are one or the other and often don't overlap.

One of the things I loved at Steemfest was the overlap, so many very technical people still were able to have decent conversations outside of their specialty and so many social people were able to understand technical aspects. This gives me more reason for hope here because it means that the discussions are less likely to be past each other and instead there is a meeting of minds across blurred lines. It also means that people are less bound to their field and more likely to engage.

If I had to posit the reason why candidates for the job had underwhelmed selectors, experience tells me it would be that they focused on the technical details without engaging the audience. Just like in Steem, engagement in the real world is important because it builds relationships.

My last work in Australia was for a retail office supply company selling and managing a team in the business machines area. Every day new products came in and went on display to sell. The company developed a cheat sheet of specifications that served both seller and customer that we would have a read through and learn, but it never sold a product.

Anyone is capable of learning benefits add specifications at that level but what sold products was personality. The customers that had specific needs had generally already searched and picked the product, the ones that didn't required a saleperson's guidance however, it was the feel of the discussion that made sales, the quality of relationship.

In an interview trial situation, it is difficult for many people to relax, be themselves, have a little fun. They feel stressed and pressured and the more they want it, the harder it becomes. It is not a very good indicator of how they will do in the field.

Yet, it is a good indicator of where they will focus their learning and when people needed to deal with people focus heavily on product knowledge, it brings into question whether they understand their audience at all. Someone can be the smartest person in the room but if no one listens to them, all they know goes to waste and, if they require the audience to buy and don't adjust, there status as the smartest person in the room comes into question.

For me personally, I am just me and have a bit of a take it or leave it approach. Of course I adjust to the environment but not to the point I am unrecognizable in the approach. Often people in their quest to fit expectations lose themselves in a kind of parody of a role, it is unnatural and by default, unbelievable as most people aren't that good at acting.

In some way, it is an uncanny valley problem where the audience doesn't necessarily know specifically what but, something is off, something can't be trusted. Humans are hardwired to notice these things in face to face interaction.

However, just like the pharmacists under stress when the robot said no, we have spent so much time interacting through screens that our skill as presenters and audience have been hijacked. We can't perform at the levels we once could and we are more likely to be fooled by bad acting. A strange position that sets up a lot of mismatch and conflict in communication.

I said that I am interested in the position but I am still unsure if I want to do it. Yes, I can learn the technical information and present to whomever I must but, for the last 15+ years I have been a freelancer and wonder if working for a company is going to be my thing.

Of course, economic need answers the question and like it or not I can manage anything but it is interesting. I will take an interview if they offer though and see where it leads as I believe that opportunity in random interaction is very valuable.

Again, this is why I am positive on Steem as the possibility for interaction by those who choose can bring very unexpected results. Chance relationships form and new doors open. I wrote in my last article about creating environments that suit our future goals and for me, Steem is definitely one.

It is unlikely to be that for everyone however as it is going to depend on perspective and view of the future. At the moment as price drops heavily, those who have chosen to live off an experimental social community will be feeling it and I hope for their sake the price increases. For those who are looking long though, I hope it decreases so they have more chance to buy in for the future.

If I am able to get some fiat together by working in a job that might not be completely suited, I know that I am going to use it to create an environment that leads to where I want to be. It may or not be possible but it gives any job meaning when the some of the proceeds go toward investing into our own future. There is a control aspect to the process and that in itself provides stability.

Prices may fall but we need not.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
_{(posted from phone)}

33€ for vitamin tablets for our daughter. That is almost 100 Steem.... painful