Shortcut guy

Shortcuts just never work in the long run.  Shortcuts can get you to a destination sooner, but when you get there, you still have to have the back ground to be successful there.  As attractive as shortcuts are there is just no substitute for plain old hard work.  

The people who take shortcuts don't always jump out at you.  If you are new to a group or organization, they most likely don't look like shortcut people at all.  They can be smart people who know how to talk to people.  They seem confident, articulate and in most cases charming.  They don't stick out like a sore thumb, they look like they not only belong there, they look like they flourish there. 

It starts to fall apart for the shortcut people because of what they need to do to stay successful.  They need to find and be apart of the ideas and work that they did not contribute to in any meaningful way.  It takes people getting burned a couple of times to get oriented to the shortcut people.  Idea's and work get harder to take because the people doing the work become wary of the shortcut guy.  Not everyone see's the shortcut guy at the same time so they can maneuver through the organization for longer than you would expect them to. 

Shortcut guys are slimy in the worse way.  Slimy that is articulate, charming, and well dressed is especially repugnant and hard to forgive.  The feeling that you have been taken advantage of, lied to, or used stays with people.  

You know why people forgive your mistakes, missteps, and misses?  It is because when they were in your shoes they made the very same mistakes.  People are generally really good at recognizing when you are working hard at something.   Successful people tend to want to reach out to you if you are the hard worker.

You know why those bosses, supervisors, decision makers find the shortcut guy so offensive?  It is because they were you and when they were coming up, they dealt with there very own shortcut guy.  Like you, they did not immediately pick up on the fact that these guys were shortcut guys.  Everyone has a shortcut guy story, most of us have a lot more than one shortcut guy story.  No one finds it easy to get over the feeling that someone has taken advantage of you or lied to you.

When I find a shortcut guy, I don't spend any extra cycles on them.  I know from experience these guys end up imploding.  They end up finding way to late about those six degree's of separation, it really is a small world.  Sad thing, these shortcut guys often find out that the hand they pooped in, is the one they eventually have to eat out of.

Love Dad