Don’t Fall Victim to the Humblebrag; Just Go On and Brag
Technical professionals are rarely perceived as great self-promoters. They (which, in this case, might mean you) work hard and deliver results, often under trying circumstances, yet they rarely bandy their accomplishments about. On the one hand, this means they risk being overlooked when opportunities for advancement come around. On the other hand, at least they’re not guilty of humblebrags.
A “humblebrag” (what a great word!) is the essence of false modesty, aptly capturing the notion of bragging while appearing to be humble. So if I were to say, “Gee, I just hate it when five clients want me for the same date,” that would be a well-crafted humblebrag. Or if a manager were to tell his fellow managers, “What a disappointment! We completed the project only three months ahead of schedule instead of six,” he’d be humblebragging.
Clever though it is, a humblebrag is often not the way to go because any manager who completed a project ahead of schedule might be better served by outright bragging. As Payson Hall points out in his article “Why You Should Take a Bow When You Deserve One,” people sometimes view their accomplishments too analytically, as in “That’s what we were supposed to do, so we did it.” In the process, they overlook the political dynamics of the organization.
The point is that major projects routinely come in late (sometimes by years) and over budget (sometimes by millions). As a result, your ability to deliver is viewed against the backdrop of both the high-profile IT projects that fail and get front-page headlines and the smaller projects that sometimes fail in your organization.
So, bragging about successes is not out of place; it’s a vital way to show both what you’ve accomplished and that you’ve accomplished. If bragging feels uncomfortable, think of it as publicizing. When you’re fortunate enough to have success—even if that success is simply accomplishing what you’re supposed to accomplish—make sure your higher-ups know. Touting your successes, whether for yourself as an individual or for the group responsible for the success, should be a key step in bringing a project to a close.
If you’re fortunate, word will get out and others will do the bragging for you. At a company I once consulted to, IT service delivery was abysmal. Over the course of a year and with diligent effort, the division made significant improvements. At a meeting with customers at the end of that year, a customer vice president who’d been vociferous about IT failings just as loudly touted their new ability to deliver. “Just look at what they’ve accomplished,” he told his peers.
No need to humblebrag. Just report what you’ve done. You’ll be helping your team, your organization, and yourself.
