Office : Why we are not proactive?

People in an professional set up, often managers have asked us this one question.

Why are you not proactive? Why don’t you take more projects and why is it that you don’t show interest on your own.

I have often wondered the same and a lot of reasons come to mind. Dilbert here certainly addresses a few

1) Fear of being mocked – Most times we wouldn’t like to bring up an idea cos it is not something we are sure of, we don’t want to be ridiculed or made fun of for bringing in a new idea. Maybe it is a stupid one but you are certainly not helping by making fun of it, you are further discouraging me from coming up with a brilliant idea the next time.

2) Recognition for the idea : More often than not we realize that the very idea we come up with has been passed off as the manager’s idea or the team lead’s idea since he has the direct access to the decision maker. But the idea is still mine, if it is my creativity which is getting someone else the credit, why would I actually do that? In other words, I am being deterred from coming up with the new idea cos there is nothing I am going to gain from it.

3) What does that mean to me? : Of course I came up with a new idea but if that means more work hours for me, more stress and more hard work, what is my actual incentive to do that? Is the mere feeling that it is my own idea sufficient? That too for so much hard work. Of course I do understand that we work for satisfaction but if that comes at such a huge price, then the first response is definitely to be a little more passive.

I guess probably I am overrating a few of these fears and maybe we have grown from a sinister level organization to a much flatter one but I guess when it comes to the threadbare, some things are still a concern. Most times I think it is not the lack of intelligence that hinders the best in someone, it is sheer lack of motivation.

And for a person leading the team, the idea is to be a little more understanding and sensitive than being a bit of a bully. Of course I say I might be overrating a few things here but most fears are overrated aren’t they? ;)