Head Tale

This isn’t really advice I was given by someone but more of a personal observation I’ve made after seeing it repeatedly over the years.  Whenever there is something decided, especially when its some sort of major decision, there’s usually an overt reason people give for the decision but also a covert reason they may or may not share (or may or may not even be aware of if it’s subconscious.)

Here are some examples:

* Someone leaves their job.  The overt reason they tell everyone is they want to move to a more exciting, busier branch.  But the covert reason that they share with a trusted coworker is they hate their manager.

* A manager asks you to fill out a spreadsheet that’s overly complicated and highly detailed.  The overt reason they give you is that these stats are useful for the annual report but the covert reason that they’re not really conscious of (or are they?) is that the manager is struggling and thinks that reams of data will cover up their struggles to their own superiors.

* Everyone is surprised that a very inexperienced manager is hired.  The overt reason is that they were the best person for the position and that their youth will be an advantage in connecting with younger staff but the covert reason is that the first three preferred candidates all said “no” for various reasons so the organization’s first choice was actually their fourth choice.

Again, almost every decision that gets made, especially major ones, will have covert and overt reasons for being made.

Oftentimes both the overt and covert reasons are valid.  But it’s always the covert reason that gives you the best explanation of what is happening and why.  So that’s the one you should try to understand.