The importance of unimportant things

There's something about us office workers that makes us react strangely to things when we're at work. Ordinarily, we would claim that nothing would make us happier than somebody reducing our workload. Why, then, do we get defensive or upset when there's someone out there trying to do more (the consequence of which is us doing less)?!?! The answer, in a nutshell, is ego. Letting the ego get in the way oftentimes creates 16-hour workdays. Ignoring it has the potential to pay huge dividends.

Just the other day I had a colleague come to me and say, "Jack wants to pull a pitch together to deliver to Client X. Apparently he has a great relationship out there." So far in the conversation I'm failing to see the problem. The guy goes on, "He doesn't know a damn thing about the debt structuring needed. Surely he should get us involved!" And then came the all-emotive, "...after all, that's our space!"

So Jack knows the client; knows him well. And Jack wants to prepare a pitch book. There's alot of work involved in pitching debt restructuring plans - I should know - I've been working on these things for years! So as far as I'm concerned, Jack can do it! I for one have enough work to keep me busy (or at least looking it!). Now I know Jack couldn't tell debt from his wrinkly Aunt Maude if his life depended on it. So there are two likely outcomes here:

1. Jack pitches and it gets nowhere, or
2. Jack gets the gig.

If it's #1, I'm disinterested. If it's #2, Jack will likely get us involved. See, the thing is, Jack is a pretty senior guy, heading up his own specialist team. Last thing he wants is the client thinking he's a total schmuck, nor does he want the papers plastering his name in the headlines with a real-world example of how he single-handedly brought his client to the brink of bankruptcy. So Jack will be reasonable and we should get a decent crack at doing the work. So where's the problem?

The problem is my colleague. He wants to be a hero: wants to win the work and tell his friends. Which is fine, I guess, but has him spinning his wheels on trying to outdo Jack. I say, let Jack do his thing and my colleague should find another client to pitch to. There are plenty of companies out there with dud debt structures, so surely everyone can be happy.

I'm just happy to have my job and collect my pay cheque every month. Don't need glory, just the salary...

Freud's diagrams from 'The Ego and the Id' (1923)