I found the reading on the Captain of Industry very interesting because it felt very similar to my personal journey and echoed actual thoughts that I have had in my head the past few months. It is crazy to see words written so long ago speak intimately to me!
Veblen says that before becoming the captain of industry, he or she is an adventurer in industrial enterprise. This person is of insight – perhaps industrial insight – and of initiative and energy. Most people around my age that received a degree in engineering all agree that our degrees did not help prepare us at all for the industry. Maybe that is common for all degrees. Either way, while my degree did not help prepare me for my industry, I eventually recognized that I was able to succeed at my role because I held strong insight, initiative, and energy.
As I expanded into the technical nature of my job, I looked for better technical solutions to impact my career and help make the jobs of my co-workers easier. However, as my initiative kept pushing me to find better technical solutions, I started to get frustrated that my management was not listening to my ideas. After all, they were clearly the right thing to do! I started to probe my boss to understand why my ideas were not taken into account, and soon I was sailing into the sea of business. I realized that my solutions were not taking into account the business needs. I was thinking small picture when I wanted to be thinking bigger picture. So I have now found myself learning more about the business side and even contemplating getting a business degree (wow I have come a long way). At the moment, I am required to keep hold of my technical knowledge AND this business knowledge. However, it is really starting to drain me. Veblen talks about this in greater detail by explaining that eventually, the captain of industry becomes a captain of business. They then start to pass off the name and rank of captain of industry to the next person.
What I have noticed of late, is that my understanding of business seems to come at a cost to my previous co-workers. Business feels like a big picture type scenario, but for my co-workers, their picture is what is most important to them. They do not care about large scope because the stresses and frustration they feel are very real to them. This is challenging to me because I am driven by helping others. On one hand, I recognize that what helps the business truly does help these co-workers, but on the other, it gains no love or support from my previous co-workers. They no longer put the crown on my head so to speak, and that is truly a difficult thing for me to accept. I have tried to bring them into the business waters and make things more visible, but it might just make it worse for some. Therefore, now I must rely on getting the crown from my upper management. I have not yet decided how I feel about this. After all, I originally started on this path to help those around me. What happens if I continue going down the current path? Do I feel like I have failed my co-workers? Is it purely a part of my ego that doesn’t like the idea of losing followers?
Maybe this is also related to another idea I have had about ‘credit’. Part of me is concerned about leaving my company because I do not want to restart my credit. Similarly, by transitioning from the captain of industry to the captain of business, I feel that I am giving up all of the credit that I originally worked for. However, maybe the credit in the captain of business is more valuable? What I do know is that I believe the right path is to continue moving into the captain of business. I think it opens up the potential to impact more than just my little department. By expanding, I impact more but I might not share the intimate bonds with the colleagues in the same way. I guess that is just life! Nothing should stay the same, otherwise, life would be boring!
How does bitmoji not have a pirate costume!
Comments:
Connor,
I love that you got to learn new things at work and got to rethink some of your understandings of business. Getting into the workforce is the best way to learn and evolve our careers. School teaches us a lot but being in the workplace tend to differ and open up more opportunities to learn from real life experiences. I believe my experience at work was much more beneficial to my career as it helped me build trust between me and my coworkers and shape up my reputation within the organization.
Me:
I 100% agree. Not only based on what you said, but I also feel like being in the workforce helped me to learn how to… well learn! Part of my pursuit of higher education is to see how different I would be as a student than I was in undergrad!
Classmate:
Hi Connor, I work in an engineering office and over the years, I notice the engineers that eventually get promoted to management also understand business/project management. If a big picture position is what meets your interests and needs, I would completely recommend learning more about business and project management.
Also like discussed in class, just laying low for a while may be best to help others forget any tension. I would recommend focusing on exceling on your own work, expanding your business skills and waiting for the perfect positions to come along in a few years.
Me:
Amber, this is beautiful advice, I truly appreciate you the supportive messages! I think that they are very important for me to just sit down and really figure out what I want. Then just go for it! Sometimes it is easy to get lost in thinking about how it impacts those around me. Empathy is a great strength, but it also keeps me back a little too!
Classmate:
Connor, I believe your analysis is spot on and your journey away from technocratic leadership is a common one. From my experience, as you climb the business ladder your success tends to be less about your technical skills, and more about your charismatic skills. Can you inspire action? Can you communicate an idea clearly? Can you motivate and drive results? It might seem counterintuitive but I believe this transition is necessary to progress away from being an individual contributor.
Me:
The challenge for me, is that I never want to forget where I came from. The issues and struggles of those that were where I am at will continue on. Mostly, I am perceptive of patterns. And I do not like seeing patterns that at least appear negative. To me, if I follow the cycle that has always been there, part of me feels that I become the hypocrite. That is definitely harsh on myself, and I understand that it is more complex than that. However, I struggle with letting go of my connection to these grounded issues.
The irony is that I want to be different, but the more I read passages like this, I guess I learn that there is a reason for why the world is the way it is.. maybe it is the same path because it is the best path!
Classmate:
Connor,
Great post, in particular your sentence “Business feels like a big picture type scenario, but for my co-workers, their picture is what is most important to them. They do not care about large scope because the stresses and frustration they feel are very real to them.”
As a fellow engineer, and an aspiring leader, I have noticed this very issue in the siloed nature of departments. Technical, or for that matter, support departments, are deliverable and task focused, both of which have a myopic view of the “business picture”.
For these technicians, it is the ivory tower dwellers who provide a direction that is in line with the “big picture”, but for the technician, the “big picture” is ignored either because it is out of reach or not desired.
Me:
I love the idea of the ivory tower! That is how it feels. I have people that say ‘you don’t remember what it’s like.’ That is tough to swallow, especially for me. It also has created a destructive cycle because now I am frustrated with them and they are frustrated with me. I used to have the crown that they gave me, but because I now sit in the ivory tower, the crown is gone. There is a lot at play, but in the end, that is where we are at.
It seems like it’ll be a lot of work to try to push us back in the right direction, and I know that I will not be able to rely on their full participation. I guess it takes trying to get management involved. But if they do not bite, the. There might not be much that can be done. I wonder if the solution is that I would need to dive back into the technical side to prove that I still should hold the crown.
Seems like a lot of extra work though!
Classmate:
Hiya Connor,
You are a remarkably self-reflective and people-purpose oriented engineer! It is so charming, and yes, please get the MBA or whatever because the world needs you. I agree with Pram about silos (hard to fight them, but know they exist) and with Isaac about inspiring action as a litmus for crossing over into business and management. I’ve seen you do that already! I think you are already looking backward. You see the big picture.
Regards : )
me:
I have had many suggestions lately telling me to pursue the MBA. Each one really helps me to consider it fully, so I appreciate it!
Classmate:
I guess most of us that are engineers or work in an engineering field can relate to Connor’s statements. When I worked in aerospace, the focus was certainly on engineering and building planes, rockets, etc. We were much less concerned about the business or bigger picture aspect. To Isaac’s comments, I observed that most of the senior executives at the company I as working at were not the technocratic but more the charismatic leaders. This seemed odd to me being that we were an aerospace company but in hindsight, from a leadership perspective, it makes sense.
Me:
What I find interesting is that I view my GM as a very technocratic person, and all of his leaders are more neutral because of that.
Classmate:
Great post, Connor! I really enjoyed reading your reflection on your current job and weaving in the readings along with it. It can be tough to make the transition from a more technical area to more business. I used to work in a hospital lab which required a lot of technical skill and certifications (with very limited possibility of advancement) and have since transitioned my career into HR business analysis. It took a lot of re-tooling and I would definitely still describe myself as leaning more technocratic based on my education and prior work experience, but this class has taught that the charismatic side is necessary in order to make some career moves. In my current industry, charisma seems much much more valued as a leadership trait than technical skill. You can be the best technically savvy person, but you have to really talk up your own accomplishments, build connections not just laterally but vertically, and have a positive attitude.
