The Software Architect Elevator

Chapter 27. Control Is an Illusion

It’s When You’re Told Exactly What You Want to Hear

Who’s in control here?

While working in Asia, I’ve become accustomed to sharing a few of my personal details before presenting to a group of people. I like the idea because it didn’t have the flavor of bragging about professional accomplishments; rather, it gives the audience an impression about the speaker’s background to better understand what shaped their thinking. In a presentation to a group of CEEMA (the Central-Eastern Europe, Middle-East, and Africa region) COOs and CIOs, I once opened with a slide summarizing my core beliefs in the form of the pin buttons that many people used to wear in the 1980s.

The one slogan that received immediate attention was “Control is an illusion.” Even more attention was paid to my explanation: “You feel that you have control when people tell you exactly what you want to hear.” Perhaps this wasn’t the kind of control these senior executives wanted to have over their business.

The Illusion

How can control be an illusion? “Having control” is based on the assumption that a direction set from top down is actually being followed and has the desired effect. And this can be a big illusion. How would you know that it does, if you are simply sitting at the top, pushing (control) buttons instead of working alongside the staff? You can rely on management status reports, ...