#BlogElul Day 8: Hear

It’s an understatement to say that working in the world of Information Technology means that sometimes – perhaps many times – you need to fight to make yourself heard. This is a normal experience, part of the give and take of ideas and teams of people wrestle with technical issues until a solution is found.

So what happens when you aren’t heard? Not like, you were speaking softly or the other person wasn’t paying attention.

What happens when you speak your mind clearly and concisely, and nobody responds?

And then, what happens when that same thought is stated by another person – perhaps just minutes afterward, but maybe much later in an email or a different context? And when THAT person says it, people respond! They discuss, debate, agree, or whatever.

What would it be like to live as an IT persona non grata?

If you’ve worked in IT for any length of time, you should be aware that this isn’t a hypothetical situation for some people. Women & minorities experience this on a regular basis.

If you haven’t noticed this, your first reaction might be a variation of #NotAllMen, #NotAllCompanies, or #NotHere. But if you haven’t noticed it, the statistics are against it being due to it not happening.

To hear someone, sometimes you must first ask a hard question and be ready for an answer which makes you uncomfortable.

To hear someone, first you must stop talking.

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