19 May 2021
Go Fetch Context
Today, a well-meaning colleague wants to get over-involved in an idea. I try to implement a “go fetch” with some success.
If you’ve worked in business, you’ve probably been there; you’ve chewed over an idea for days and are finally clear on what you need to do. You’ve fleshed out how you need to go about implementation. Just as you begin, another person with skin in the game, who isn’t your manager, gets involved. They begin to take over the “how” of what you’ve agonisingly thought out, and suddenly your idea begins to decompose.
"Go Fetch" History
You cannot deliver your idea because managing the micromanagement takes up time otherwise spent on the outcome. And yes, it happened to me today. Frustratingly, I rang my manager and vented. I asked if he had any ideas for, what I call, a “go fetch”.
Don’t worry; he gave me that puzzled look you’re probably wearing at the moment. A “go fetch” is a diversion. For those of you who own dogs whom you have to exercise, you may understand the term. It’s the throwing of the stick, or ball, for the dog to chase. It makes the dog happy and lets you do something while he’s chasing the object.
“Go fetch” is also a technique you can use on children – go see what insert name of person furthest away from you in the house is doing; they might be doing “insert kids’ favourite activity here”, which could buy you enough time to get in the car and go to the shops without them.
Thinking back to my school years, it’s what the science teachers used to do to this poor, beautifully naïve girl. Sometimes, the teachers would send her to the different departments to obtain things like, at the time, a non-existent tin of spotted paint, a jar of skyhooks or a couple of long or short ‘waits’.
Juliette was incredibly good-humoured when the joke eventually dawned on her. At least the Art Department took pity and put some spots on a can of paint for her to take back to the Science Department.
Go Fetch Applied in the Business World
A practical example to illustrate “go fetch” in business goes like this: my project needed to move data from one old website management system to another. There was no easy way to port the data across, and the business needed to get its’ rewritten content approved. The customer became nervous when I mentioned we missed setting up a routing element* and it would need to go into the next sprint cycle – not far away. Needless to say, the issue got escalated, and the molehill became a mountain.
Luckily, I advised and fortified my management before the issue got to them. Investigating the business’s approval process by simply asking discovered the customer’s process would take twice as long as for us to set up the routing element. Having the routing in place would not help the business since there was no approved content to move across.
My management could go back to the customer and say, come back to us once your content is available. This pushback style is what I call a “go fetch”; the ball or the stick is the customer’s approvals they need while we’re busy setting up the routing.
* It was all too technical for me to remember. I only remember what I need to remember at the time I need to remember it. Once a project finishes, most of the technical details wash away, simply leaving concepts behind.
Go Fetch & Micromanagement
Smithy was under pressure to produce, and micromanagement described as “control over every part, however small, of an enterprise or activity.” When I told him about my idea, Smithy was excited about it. Smithy just wanted to help; they were helping too early. To get where Smithy can help, I needed to get a product suitable for him to work with.
The situation got worse the more I explained my idea to Smithy (not real name). Smithy then began to tell me how I could better progress the idea. I needed visuals, and I needed them now to show how my concept would work rather than tell. Oh wait, that’s what was happening when Smithy rang! Suddenly, invites arrived on how to work with XYZ product, which our area doesn’t use – even if the product looks great.
So, then the implementation of my idea got hijacked. I contacted my boss for a go fetch when I was unsuccessful in diverting the well-meaning attention of Smithy.
“Dear Boss”, do you have a go fetch or a delay tactic because I need time to get what I’m trying to achieve down? Once I got the idea down, Smithy would be engaged, and at that point, his input would be beneficial – just not yet.
Hallelujah! My boss had both. He was away for a week, and he needed to be in the meetings. The boss then produced work done before Smithy was on board that Smithy was required to be across before discussions could progress. The documentation contained background. Yippee! The go fetch would work beautifully. That was until Smithy organised a meeting to discuss the background document, which didn’t need my boss. 🤔
Okay, I give up, “Next!”.
Today's Cards
The Cards - Analysis
Carry Over Cards
One card carried over from yesterday; Beyond Illusion was in Feelings and moved to Future Energy.
Cross
Change is in the Now position influenced by Mind. Mind is about confusion and things becoming confused. Wow! It matches my day with little massaging.
The Goal position has The Outsider; this is me trying to distance myself using “go fetch”. I was aiming (Goal) to be out of the conversation.
Morality in the Distant Past says that I’d done the morally right thing at some point, but it is now coming back to haunt me. It haunts me when I had finished evolving my idea in the Recent Past and brought it to Completion.
Beyond Illusion is the card of the chrysalis and sits in the Future Energy position, indicating something beautiful will emerge from the cocoon.
Base
Hmmm, it appears my Feelings encompass a degree of Celebration. My guess is the Celebration has to do with the change to an idea coming to fruition and working.
Others’ Views has the card of Control. I’m confident that Smithy would see me as wanting Control over my idea with the tactful yet firm pushback he encountered.
The Hopes & Fears position has Awareness. Awareness is the recognition of something I’ve previously ignored. In amongst the pressure, I realised there’s also an internal shift. I hope that the inner change shows me I’ve grown; the fear is that it is so subtle it is unidentifiable.
Finally, the Outcome position has Ordinariness. Is this the cards having a bit of fun with me, in saying, “it’s just another day”? You know, me tending the herds or ploughing the fields.
References
- Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
