Meandering Mind - Eva Dillner [47]
When I interviewed with Swedish companies for project management and logistics positions, I frequently ended up at a personnel consultant for a battery of tests. It is standard practice to test interesting applicants for personality characteristics. Because of the results shown on my resume, they were interested in me. My achievements were, to say the least, above average. Then the personnel consultant took a look and came back with, “she does not fit the profile you are looking for.” To clarify, I was interviewing for management positions in heavy industry, positions that were not traditionally filled by women. You may find this surprising, I did. How can a country where such a high percentage of the women work and the education level is so high, not have women managers? Certainly there were women engineers, in a higher proportion than in other countries. Part of the answer lies in the liberal maternity leave, part of it lies in tradition. It is assumed that women will have children, therefore they are not considered for the heavy management jobs in industry. Unlike in politics and the service sector, where women are well represented.
The assumption in heavy industry is that to be successful, you need to be assertive, almost on the verge of aggressive. I was told more than once that to be able to “pound my fist on the table” as the Swedish expression goes, was a prerequisite for getting a job as far as they were concerned. It seemed to be of no consequence to them that I had achieved far better results than the “table-pounders” they traditionally hired. As they had not seen women in these roles, they could not fathom how I would cope in them. I would point out that the job I was interviewing for was essentially the same as I'd had in the United States, and I had done just fine, thank you. They couldn't see it.
Sweden has a very high immigration rate. Statistically, it has one of the worst track records of assimilating its immigrants into the work force and society. The people who come here are for the most part highly educated and skilled professionals like engineers and medical doctors. I can see how difficult it is. I'm Swedish and I can't get a job here, because I don't have Swedish experience, I don't think like a Swede (thank God and thanks to thirty years of Americanization), and I didn't go to University here. If I had they would “know” me. I'm considered too foreign to fit in.
One of the main problems in organizations is that we tend to look for people to fit predetermined boxes, characteristics, education and experience, instead of looking at results and how one goes about achieving them. If we would think about it with more flexibility, we would have better organizations and get better results. Thinking outside the box, taking a chance on someone you may not normally hire, whether they are “over-qualified” or lack experience, or comes from a different background, can give you far greater gains than you imagine. You have to risk in order to grow. If we always go for the safe bet, we wouldn't have any new inventions, we would not progress.
Organizational dilemmas
The organizational dilemma for inventors is a big one. When you start a new venture, you don't know how to set it up for optimal functioning. You may be good at product development and sales, but weak in production or logistics. You may be really excellent at inventing and sorting details, but not know how to market your product. I've known several inventors and I can see that it's hard to know how to structure the venture from the start. After a few years, with experience and know-how gained along the way, it's a lot clearer. Being able to renegotiate contracts and organizational structure is imperative when you start something new.
Ask yourself, if I were starting this organization from scratch, how would I structure it? What role(s) would I want to fill? How do I want to set up my interaction with others? These are important questions for any venture, and apply equally to big organizations and romantic partnerships. Organizations need diversity.