Ok – bear with me on this.
Anyone can act like a twat, and because it’s easy lots of people act like twats. All. The. Time.
But to actually be a bonifide twat, to be legitimately classified as a twat, you have to earn that right.
Which leads to the question – what do you classify a real twat? (Yes, in case you hadn’t already noticed this post will have obscene amounts of the ‘t’ word in it) #sorrynotsorry.
So let’s give some examples: To be a twat about project management (and show true project management twatiness (PMT)) you would have been a project manager for a number of years, have been through a number of project deliveries, screwed up a bunch, experienced a range of different scenarios and be a well seasoned practitioner of project management. Therefore you can be a twat about project management because you’ve lived it, you’ve been there and done it (or something very similar). You have permission to show your hard earned twatiness in all its glory.
Let’s take agile, and people who have demonstrated the ability to work with agility; leading scrum teams; getting groups of individuals to become self organising teams; coaching others on best practice and principles. Not once. Many, many times. Different companies. Different sectors. If this is you, when people around you talk about agile, feel free to be a twat about it. That’s your privilege.
Having read a few blog posts and liking a picture of someone’s avocado on toast on Instagram doesn’t give you permission to be a twat about nutrition and to ‘advise’ your colleagues on what they should and shouldn’t eat. So stop acting like a twat.
When talking about Brexit, lots of people have been acting like twats. None of us have been through this before. None of us can say what the impact will be. Like the situation or not, we have to just accept the decision of the majority and move forward. Together. To state strong opinions about the future or to generalise about the people who voted remain as posh London dicks out of touch with the rest of the country or the leavers as ignorant bigots and racists is just plain stupid. People made a choice based on their own beliefs and their own judgements so there was no right or wrong answer. We need to open our hearts and minds and embrace the change as best we can. Very few people qualify as being allowed to be twats about this topic, so don’t act like one.
I know nothing about Glastonbury. I’ve never been. So if I have a strong opinion about that, and engage in conversation (read: talk as if I’m knowledgeable about it) then I’m just acting like a twat. Feel free to call me out on it.
But this post isn’t about Brexit. Or Glastonbury.
It’s about twats. And about earning your right to be one.
Next time you feel like you might be being a twat, just take a moment to check if you’ve got a ticket to do so. If not, reign yourself back in. Be compassionate with yourself for acting like a twat, but stop.
If you notice someone else demonstrating twat like behaviours, then consider whether they are qualified to do so, or whether they are just acting like a twat. If they are a real life twat, then listen in, and soak up what they have to say. If they are in fact a pretender and just acting like a twat, then walk away as soon as you get the chance.
I’m happy to be called a twat on some things. There’s a small number of things where I feel I’ve earned that title.
I’m also happy to have twats in my life, as annoying as they can be, where it’s clear that they deserve the credibility of having gained their fully fledged twat status, I can accept that, and I’ll gladly listen to what they have to say.
As for those who just act like twats, sorry, you don’t deserve my time and attention, and on that note, I’m out.