The Problem with Deltas
There is more to life and success than simply doing your job well
We correctly praise Deltas a lot here; most men are Deltas and they are the salt of the Earth upon whom civilization depends. That being said, much of the modern decline of the last 50 years is the direct result of the decline in the quality of society’s Deltas; the average Delta today is observably inferior to the Delta of 1950. Now, this is obviously not the fault of the average Delta, there are macrosocietal factors ranging from demographic change to foreign subversion and geopolitics involved, but since we concern ourselves with the What rather than the Why, and on changing individuals rather than societies, our focus is not on explanation and justification, but rather, personal improvement.
And one of the most important things we can do to restore society is to improve both the quality of its Deltas as well as their societal situation.
In this context, therefore, consider this informative perspective from a reader on working with Deltas. This is extremely valuable information for the Deltas here to keep in mind, because it may help explain what is keeping your career on a plateau as well as why you’re not seen as leadership material inside your organization despite your undeniable competence.
If I have a number one complaint about Deltas, it’s that they complain to talk and talk to complain. It’s so exhausting over hours and hours of working with them. Also, they constantly complain about how stupid everyone else is and how everyone else does everything wrong. If they don’t understand why someone did something, they’re stupid. If they are only 90-percent clear on why something is to be done a certain way, they will complain endlessly about how stupid it is and how stupid the person who made the instructions is.
Takeway: If you are someone who complains constantly: stop it. Secondly, you don’t have to understand everything to complete tasks.
If you can’t tell, I worked with a couple of Deltas all day today and my brain is fried from all of the complaining and “that’s so stupid” talk.
A fellow reader commiserated:
I have had much the same experience, I find Deltas exhausting. Gammas may annoy me more but they don’t exhaust me in the way Deltas do; probably because Deltas come in groups. The most frustrating situation with them I’ve experienced is when there’s a group of them, they have no alpha/bravo to direct them, and none of them are willing to step up, and so they end up spinning their wheels endlessly.
What I would recommend for a Delta who wants to improve his perceived status is to absolutely eradicate the word “stupid” from his vocabulary. I would also recommend asking a friendly co-worker to let him know each time he complains about something, in the interest of becoming more aware of when one is going down that particular channel and learning how to stop doing so.
I could be completely wrong, but my impression is that the constant complaining is the Delta way of attempting to raise his own perceived status among his fellow Deltas; after all, if you’re the one complaining, then you must be the competent one, right? And since Deltas are, by and large, varying degrees of competent, the fact that their posturing is based on the truth would presumably make it effective.
The problem, of course, is that negativity from non-authorities is intrinsically status-lowering behavior to higher-status men. To put it simply, the ranks are expected to grumble, the officers are expected to be relentlessly gung-ho. So, if you’re always grumbling and complaining, you’re regularly sending out a signal that you’re just another grunt in the ranks.
I suggest substituting the young officer’s can-do spirit for the ranker’s grumbling. It would be interesting to hear in a few weeks from the Deltas who are able to put this into practice, to see if it has a positive result in the way they are perceived in their organizations afterwards.
It may be helpful to consider the way in which one West Point graduate sums up how the Duty component of the university’s Duty, Honor, Country motto was drummed into him. It should not be hard to see how the preparation for these young leaders is very different from the observed Delta behavior.
Duty: Taking action based on our assigned tasks and moral obligations.
Partially done is not done.
Go beyond what you are told to do and do what needs to be done.
If not you, then who?
Don’t wait for someone else to do it.
When you see an issue, fix it.
Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.
Why didn’t you help your classmate?
If your roommate couldn’t get it done, it’s your responsibility to help him.
You must complete the mission – no excuse.
Disgruntled deltas in an adjacent hierarchy can be extremely useful. While they're grumbling about their boss, workload, etc., they're happy to help out the guy over there in the adjacent hierarchy who gave them free food or drinks once.
Case in point: it can be a royal pain to get keys for certain doors, even for upper level management going through the proper channels sometimes. The deltas in maintenance have keys to everything. They may be grumbling about their boss, their workloads, other department's demands, etc., but you're just the guy who hooked them up or gave them a hand moving something once:
"Hey, do you guys have a key for that door up in Such-and-Such building?"
"Yeah, we've got one right here you can have."
Deltas may care about their jobs, but their loyalty seems to be toward people they like, not necessarily authority, and especially in the case of competing or adjacent authorities. Useful, but a double-edged sword.
My grandfather gave me some advice when I went out on my own.
1) You signed up for the job.
2) Get there Early
3) Be the last one to leave.
4) Do what you are told. Do it right the first time.
5) If you fuck up, accept the blame.
6) If you don't like it, you can leave the job and find another one.
7) Don't complain, just do the job.
8) If you can do the job better, be a leader. If you can't, follow. If you don't want to do either, get out of the way.