So it has been a long time since the last time I wrote. It was a tough day today. Working at a technology firm in a marketing role brought me quite a number of thrilling experience, the ones that people most often say about as pressure, some other may call them challenges or learning lessons. For better or for worse, I always believe it will shape me in the way I want it to be.
Surprisingly, even in the IT industry, the challenge that I felt most difficult to handle doesn’t come from the work itself but the people you are collaborating with, be it external or internal partners. It sounds really ironic in the first place but at the end of the day, I guess it makes perfect sense. My best friend always told me about how hard it is to deal with people, not machine. I used to doubt about it, not because I don’t believe it but because with my inexperience, I always wonder how it’s going to be. And now, amid the stress and ongoing projects I am working on, I’ve just realised that what consumes my energy isn’t the numbers I need to look at, neither the system I’m learning on, it’s the people that I need to handle. I think the core elements of the differences lies within predictability and controllability.
Machine is predictable whereas humans are way too complicated. If someone required me to master a new program/system/numerical analysis in a short period, I guess I can deliver them to a certain extent. It’s not the case when someone asks me to work or to get along with a stranger/business partner/agency. You will never fully, truly, wholeheartedly understand a person’s heart and mind. They both operate and function in unique ways that tell each individual apart from the others. And for each decision they make , it’s the combination of both mental and emotional processing, which can heighten the complex of any situations.
Machine is made by humans so in a way, it is controlled by human, by which I mean it’s a big problem if you want to “control” someone. The word doesn’t limit itself to its “influence” meaning, it can be anything referring to working with people, e.g.: collaboration, liaison, coordination. Understanding the others makes it easier to work with them, however, the more important question is how to understand a person. The obstacle is the same as above, the complexity of an individual, thus, there is no single method applicable to all.
Just some points I want to pour out before other challenges coming soon. So after all, interpersonal relationships are still the headache for anyone in the working world regardless of any industries. Apparently, it’s our job to cope with it.
Thao Tran 