My wife and I were talking the other night
about one of my post. Sometimes she’s
quick to get to the heart of what I was trying to convey; other times the
vocabulary I use is too infused with platitudes, and on those occasions I lose
her. After all, English is not her native language so I think she does
exceedingly well with my playfulness with word usage. I tend towards using her as a clarity barometer,
as in if she can get it then a fairly literate reader can get the gist of my
points as well. She isn’t side-tracked
with nuances if she is not familiar with them.
In this case, she was unsure what I meant about change; more sublime was
her asking did my point have anything to do with my assessment about our
relationship. Women are cute that way;
they’re forever monitoring the quality of a relationship looking for danger
signs. We laughingly refer to this point
of view as the Tu-tu on fire perspective.
Earlier
in one of my blogs I mentioned I am obtuse to some things going on right in
front of my face. So then, if it was not on fire, or something out of the
ordinary, like say an Elephant wearing a Tutu, than more than likely it will
pass unnoticed. Oh, and even in the case
that there is a Pachyderm in Ballerina attire, it’s best to set it on fire to
ensure I appreciate the message being sent.
So I addressed the notion of change and how the premise of having one of
three options available all of the time is a pretty dependable observation. Just as most will default to blaming others
(the externals) and not own their part in creating a particular situation.
“Always
remember,” I can often be heard saying,
“A
relationship is of two people.”
I also mentioned that most people give up on
affecting their working environment, but resign instead to the notion of working
for a jerk-boss. They don’t entertain
that they have the power to influence their work place by a shift of their
attitude. Far too many people live a
life of quiet desperation (thank you Henry David Thoreau). It’s a given that we have to adjust to
attitudes of other people, and more so when we are subordinate to the decisions
of others. What is of import is that we
are never slaves to blind obedience. In
fact, when I was a commander in the Army, I longed for subordinates who would
dare to act on their intuitive leaps of problem solving. If only they would see my vision, and then
take actions to help us all get there.
So it remains a word of advice to every eager business neophyte to
practice not just to excel in identifying a problem and pointing it out to the
boss; but accompany it with your suggested solution. As it worked for me, as well as for others,
the tried and true anecdote is that you don’t fail until you stop trying.
I think we’ve lost the edge of excitement in
owning the results of our lives. When we dare face adversity with creative dispositions
towards solutions, we not only notice the Elephant on fire…we figure out how to
extinguish it without being crushed into human pizza by stomping feet.
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