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Words & Actions
Sep. 5th, 2012 10:31 amMy unofficial Guru... or 'Life Coach' as modern parlance would have it, had this to say in his most recent diary entry:~
"When life is hard, even a question of life and death, it’s possible to have a conversation. Until then, managing BS and social platitudes falls under the heading of good manners and being polite. When necessity visits, there’s no room and no energy for anything other than what is real."
A lot to think about in those words. On the one hand, it's an admirably efficient way of moving through the day & its agenda, suffering no fools & committing energy & intent to the completion of work. And it certainly does, or would, gain you a reputation as an able & reliable person. On the other hand, politeness & good manners are often the best grease for the wheels of industry. Every day there is a certain amount of ritual humdrum one goes through that serves no real purpose other than to reassure others that all's well in the microcosm you share with them ~ health, weather, trivia & gossip are dissected daily to develop camaraderie, which, ideally, leads to a pleasant atmosphere for work
Too much either way leads to disharmony or oppression. I've worked for people who have no time for politeness (or possibly no appreciation or skill for it) & actively discourage any kind of socialising amongst workers while at work. All too quickly this becomes an 'Us vs Them' scenario which creates tension, which affects productivity, which defeats the purpose. I've also worked with people who treated any question, even work-related, as reason enough to 'down tools' & spin off into pleasant but aimless conversation & twenty minutes later you still don't have an answer to your initial enquiry & neither of you have done anything productive for a combined total of forty minutes
Balance is key. I like to think I have it, but given my work history, over the last few years especially, either I don't, or there are far more unbalanced people out there than is practicable for me ~ both employers & employees. It seems that I inevitably brush up against one or the other the wrong way, either by being polite & accommodating to a perceived fault, or by insisting that work needs to take priority over dissection of the weekend football match at this moment
In the light of a conversation I had in the last twelve hours, I know I'm not alone in the frustration of achieving balance in a tilting world. How about you?
"When life is hard, even a question of life and death, it’s possible to have a conversation. Until then, managing BS and social platitudes falls under the heading of good manners and being polite. When necessity visits, there’s no room and no energy for anything other than what is real."
A lot to think about in those words. On the one hand, it's an admirably efficient way of moving through the day & its agenda, suffering no fools & committing energy & intent to the completion of work. And it certainly does, or would, gain you a reputation as an able & reliable person. On the other hand, politeness & good manners are often the best grease for the wheels of industry. Every day there is a certain amount of ritual humdrum one goes through that serves no real purpose other than to reassure others that all's well in the microcosm you share with them ~ health, weather, trivia & gossip are dissected daily to develop camaraderie, which, ideally, leads to a pleasant atmosphere for work
Too much either way leads to disharmony or oppression. I've worked for people who have no time for politeness (or possibly no appreciation or skill for it) & actively discourage any kind of socialising amongst workers while at work. All too quickly this becomes an 'Us vs Them' scenario which creates tension, which affects productivity, which defeats the purpose. I've also worked with people who treated any question, even work-related, as reason enough to 'down tools' & spin off into pleasant but aimless conversation & twenty minutes later you still don't have an answer to your initial enquiry & neither of you have done anything productive for a combined total of forty minutes
Balance is key. I like to think I have it, but given my work history, over the last few years especially, either I don't, or there are far more unbalanced people out there than is practicable for me ~ both employers & employees. It seems that I inevitably brush up against one or the other the wrong way, either by being polite & accommodating to a perceived fault, or by insisting that work needs to take priority over dissection of the weekend football match at this moment
In the light of a conversation I had in the last twelve hours, I know I'm not alone in the frustration of achieving balance in a tilting world. How about you?
