the most misused word
by Vinay Kamat
Perhaps the most misused word today is proactive. It’s all around you: your boss may ask you pen a proactive letter to a customer; your wife may ask you to be proactive with your neighbour; and you may decide that thinking out of box is proactive.
Was Carly Fiorina, HP’s former CEO, proactive because she was aggressive? Does podcasting sum up teenage proactivity? Are hedge funds proactive investors?
Nothing in business literature has been so commoditised, so victimized, as proactive. It’s a trait that bosses would pay top dollar for; it’s a value that colleagues expect in a leader; and it’s something that you would readily trade off for a hefty increment. It’s not easy to be proactive. You can be active, reactive, but proactive? What’s that?
Well, if you want an idea of proactivity, you should read the fascinating story of a small company that made its customers happy in a mega crisis. The company: Mississipi Power, whose power lines were demolished by Katrina. Yet, reports USA Today, the company relit people’s homes in flat 12 days, showing its crisis-management skills, lateral thinking, and good practices. “One crew chief (even) stripped a generator of an ice machine to get a substation working.” But what drove the team was a true inspiration: Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and his “be proactive” mantra.
The first habit of highly effective people, writes Covey, is being proactive. In his 1989 book, which is still a best-seller, Covey explains the feeling from every angle: emotional, rational, and strategic. It’s perhaps the most elaborate definition of a word that we frequently use without understanding it.
“Reactive people are often affected by their physical environment,” says Covey. “If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn’t, it affects their attitude and their performance. Proactive people can carry their own weather with them. Whether it rains or shines makes no difference to them.”
People often mistake proactivity with being aggressive, or filling the vacuum. Some call it vacuum management: If you spot a void in the organization, you simply rush to fill it, thereby creating a space for yourself. In Covey’s book, proactivity is a responsible action that must be wedded to values: “Many people wait for something to happen or someone to take care of them. But people who end up with the good jobs are the proactive ones who are solutions to problems, not problems themselves, who seize the initiative to do whatever is necessary, consistent with correct principles, to get the job done.”
Proactivity is the sincerest form of humility. For, it will spur a boss to accommodate divergent views, exercise subtle controls, and learn from mistakes. Here’s Covey’s tip for bosses: “The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it. This literally turns a failure into a success. Success, said IBM founder T J Watson, is on the far side of failure.”
If only companies were run on proactivity, rather than by Six Sigma, TQM, EVA, or Reengineering, the organization would be a fun place. After all, great organizations are run on principles, not results. They are peopled with responsibilities, not deliverables. That’s what proactivity is all about.
Perhaps the most misused word today is proactive. It’s all around you: your boss may ask you pen a proactive letter to a customer; your wife may ask you to be proactive with your neighbour; and you may decide that thinking out of box is proactive.
Was Carly Fiorina, HP’s former CEO, proactive because she was aggressive? Does podcasting sum up teenage proactivity? Are hedge funds proactive investors?
Nothing in business literature has been so commoditised, so victimized, as proactive. It’s a trait that bosses would pay top dollar for; it’s a value that colleagues expect in a leader; and it’s something that you would readily trade off for a hefty increment. It’s not easy to be proactive. You can be active, reactive, but proactive? What’s that?
Well, if you want an idea of proactivity, you should read the fascinating story of a small company that made its customers happy in a mega crisis. The company: Mississipi Power, whose power lines were demolished by Katrina. Yet, reports USA Today, the company relit people’s homes in flat 12 days, showing its crisis-management skills, lateral thinking, and good practices. “One crew chief (even) stripped a generator of an ice machine to get a substation working.” But what drove the team was a true inspiration: Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and his “be proactive” mantra.
The first habit of highly effective people, writes Covey, is being proactive. In his 1989 book, which is still a best-seller, Covey explains the feeling from every angle: emotional, rational, and strategic. It’s perhaps the most elaborate definition of a word that we frequently use without understanding it.
“Reactive people are often affected by their physical environment,” says Covey. “If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn’t, it affects their attitude and their performance. Proactive people can carry their own weather with them. Whether it rains or shines makes no difference to them.”
People often mistake proactivity with being aggressive, or filling the vacuum. Some call it vacuum management: If you spot a void in the organization, you simply rush to fill it, thereby creating a space for yourself. In Covey’s book, proactivity is a responsible action that must be wedded to values: “Many people wait for something to happen or someone to take care of them. But people who end up with the good jobs are the proactive ones who are solutions to problems, not problems themselves, who seize the initiative to do whatever is necessary, consistent with correct principles, to get the job done.”
Proactivity is the sincerest form of humility. For, it will spur a boss to accommodate divergent views, exercise subtle controls, and learn from mistakes. Here’s Covey’s tip for bosses: “The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it. This literally turns a failure into a success. Success, said IBM founder T J Watson, is on the far side of failure.”
If only companies were run on proactivity, rather than by Six Sigma, TQM, EVA, or Reengineering, the organization would be a fun place. After all, great organizations are run on principles, not results. They are peopled with responsibilities, not deliverables. That’s what proactivity is all about.
posted by vinay kamat at 5:33 AM
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