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Behaviorally Speaking: Predictions for the Coming Year

Written by Bob Aiello

Tuesday, 31 December 2002 16:00

Many are wondering what the New Year will bring. We enter 2003 after a tough year and a half. Yet, tough times often bring out the best in all of us. There is certainly fear of World War, Terrorism and continued tough economic challenges. Many readers know that I am an orthodox (Italian) Jew and that I spend a lot of my time doing public service work, especially in Police Community Relations. Last night we began an expanded Muslim Civilian Patrol with the news that a Pakistani Muslim had prevented a Jewish Synagogue from being burned in the Brooklyn area and assisted in arresting the arsonist. The coming year is certainly shaping up to be a year of challenges and heroics at many levels.

Tough Times

The challenges of today’s work environment include doing more work with fewer resources. Downsizing, layoffs and tighter budgets have meant that technology professionals have to work harder with little in the way of additional rewards. Many technology professionals have had to suffer long periods of unemployment or reduced compensation. The coming year appears to hold much of the same challenges.

A little perspective One of the reasons that I love doing community service is that I remember what is important. Please remember that I really enjoy my computer work! However, I also love getting out and helping other people in my community. I ride as an EMT for a volunteer ambulance corp. and I use my skills and training in applied psychology to help improve relations between ethnic communities and the NYPD. A good deal of my work involves supporting Civilian Patrols and Auxiliary Police. We’ve worked to get Jewish and Muslim kids playing basketball together to cut some of the tensions that were playing out (violently) in the schoolyards in Brooklyn. We also worked to train and assist volunteers who wish to help the police patrol the Brooklyn area.

Several times, I was able to help provide security for our elected officials. During one of these events, Mayor Rudy Guiliani stopped and turned to say, “The city is safer because of people like you.” I felt a little like an imposter. How much was I really helping? At 5’4”, I’m not exactly Rambo. I have been in many arrest situations and believe me I have ALWAYS been scared.

Trust and people skills Fear can cause people to overreact causing more problems than are necessary. In my volunteer work, I often hear that Muslims are afraid of the police and law enforcement authorities. Some Muslims are afraid of being mistaken for a terrorist. They are afraid of being assaulted by Americans who somehow think that everyone who wears a Turban is a member of the Taliban. Many are also afraid of the new immigrant registration process. The Jews are afraid that the Muslims will stick together and support the terrorists and the police are afraid that the Muslim Community is not telling them everything that they know. Fear was everywhere in 2002 and appears to be a central theme of 2003 as well.

In the workplace Many are afraid of being laid off. We are afraid of making less money and thereby not being able to pay our bills. Many of us are being asked to fill in for colleagues who have been laid off. Staff shortages place many challenges upon the remaining employees. Looking for a job, often at less pay, is very challenging during these tough economic times. Unemployed professionals feel the fear of not being able to land another job and that they have somehow personally failed by being unemployed.

There have been numerous high profile examples of senior executives who have betrayed the trust of their investors, employees and colleagues. With all of these challenges, how do we manage to be productive and effectively do our jobs?

Honesty, integrity and random acts of kindness Regardless of how I feel about my employer, my paycheck and the work environment, I must do my best. Honesty and integrity are skills that must be practiced and finely tuned. I put my heart into my work, because anything less would truly be a tragedy. My colleagues are professionals. We all work hard and do our best, because we are proud of our work. The coming year will be challenging along many dimensions. In preparation for this article, I read many economic and business forecasts. The predictions were conflicting and varied. There is no guarantee that the coming year will be any easier. Each of us can resolve to work harder to add value to our organizations and work hard because of our own integrity.

Focus on the positive Tough economic times can also mean challenges that are more interesting and opportunities to expand our skill sets. Facing these challenges can teach us a great deal about ourselves. As a basketball coach (who can’t even do a lay-up!), I have learned to enjoy the friendship between the Jewish and Muslim boys who form our league. My own sons have a different perspective on life and brotherhood as a result.

Taking on drug dealers and gangs Last night we started the newly expanded Civilian Patrol. The patrol is called UMMA and was founded by Eddie Powell, who is the Captain and coordinator of the patrol. UMMA is the Arabic word for neighborhood. It is a Muslim value that problems in the UMMA are a reflection upon all of us. It is not a coincidence that my Rabbi told me the same thing a long time ago. My partner, last night, was a young fellow named Ahmad Razvi from the Council of Pakistan (COPO) on Coney Island Avenue. To my chagrin, Ahmad wanted to patrol the high crime areas of the neighborhood that I have always avoided. I was glad that I had put on my bulletproof vest. He started talking about getting a store on every corner of the neighborhood to help prevent crime. The NYPD has a “Safe Haven” program where storeowners agree to allow someone to stop in and ask the owner to call the police. The “Safe Haven” sign means that they will help someone in danger. (There have been numerous case histories of bystander’s ignoring a victim’s calls for help.) If the community is united, the criminals can’t succeed. I began to feel excited, in a way that I have not felt in a long time. Was it possible that we could further reduce crime in the neighborhood where drugs and crime were still all too common?

I am not sure if we will be successful. However, I do know that out of adversity we are a group of people who choose to love and care for one another. Many of my friends think that I am crazy for actively working to help Muslims form a Civilian patrol. I’m excited now. Just this week, a Pakistani Muslim stopped some disturbed person from setting fire to a local Synagogue. My partner and I chatted about this as we cruised past the spot where numerous shootings and stabbings have occurred. We obviously don’t scare easily and (with G-d’s help) we may be successful.

The Workplace

The workplace will be very challenging this coming year. As CM professionals we play a vital role in preparing for disaster recovery by securing the code as well as build and deployment procedures. In the event of a staff reduction, we secure the company’s software assets. This is a difficult job. We are being asked to do more work with fewer resources and often less compensation. We are also being asked to be more flexible in our technical skill sets. It can certainly be scary to be forced to work outside of our comfort zone. I’ve known colleagues who tried very hard to stay with the technologies that they had already mastered for fear of a technology disaster. Well at least IT professionals don’t (usually) need a bulletproof vest! We also need to be more proactive at developing our technical, and people skills, often without the benefit of formal training. This does sound like quite a challenge. I am getting excited now. 2003 is going to be a great year!

Bob Aiello is a Senior Contributing Editor for Crossroads News and an Associate Director at Bear Stearns & Co. where he is engaged in Software Process Improvement on a large scale basis. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Organizational Development Network of Greater New York (ODNofGNY) and a member of the Steering Committee of CitySPIN in New York. Mr. Aiello has a Masters in Industrial Psychology and a BS in Computer Science.

You can reach Mr. Aiello by email at raiello@acm.org

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