‘We’ and ‘They’: Expand Your ‘We’ and Watch Your Career Accelerate
I’m reading the book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Author Dr. Yuval Noah Harari writes, “Sapiens instinctively divide humanity into two parts, ‘we’ and ‘they’.”
**
The concepts of “we” and “they” have powerful implications for your success.**
For most of my career, I maintained a very small “we.” Only a few select people were part of my “we”— everyone else was a “they.” That was a limiting belief that hindered my career.
Do you have this same limiting belief? If you want to keep your group small and never push beyond that, you’ll struggle to find abundance.
It’s likely that you’ve classified yourself and a few coworkers as “we” and everyone else as “they.” Why? What good does that do anyone?
If you work at a large organization you likely have a corporate mission statement and a set of shared values. You might dismiss them as just window dressing— but think about them and how you fit into the equation. Even if you don’t resonate with the mission and vision, you’re a part of it.
Do you want to try to accomplish that mission with just a few people or do you want the entire organization to pursue it? Which scenario would be less frustrating?
Actively work to expand your “we” and you’ll see your career grow exponentially.
Do you want to find the kind of connection that boosts your happiness and satisfaction with life? Do you want to find your next job before you need it? Do you want to make a big difference in others’ lives? Then change your definition of “we” to include more people.
Accepting more people into your definition of “we” is how you will escape the crush of what feels to be a dead-end job— you connect with more than just yourself. Your tasks and responsibilities become more and more critical. You see your value in the organization and how your work (no matter how minute you perceived it to be in the past) impacts the overall goals of your organization.
Even if you have a great department and you truly consider all of your technology teammates as “we”, why do you think of other departments in the same organization as “they”?
“They caused this issue,” and “they are being totally unreasonable,” are things I heard regularly in the corporate world. But these folks are all working for the same organization! Why fight each other? It’s madness that we’ve all succumbed to occasionally.
As I think about getting together with a team I had several years ago I see how those “us versus them” walls have broken down. Those factions don’t matter much now— and looking back on them they didn’t mean much then either. It was all unnecessary noise that distracted us.
Keeping your “we” small is human nature— but humanity has evolved by breaking free of primal tendencies; so, resist the urge to stay small.
I encourage you to expand your “we.” When you do, you will see greater success and personal fulfillment.
Who could you add to your “we” group today?
I’d love to hear from you as you expand your “we”. Please email me with your stories big or small.