You can pick your friends but you cannot pick your family. A cartoon called Billy and Mandy rephrased this to you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose but you can’t pick your friend’s nose. Gross analogy but there’s a point to this. A third way to look at it is you can pick your job but you cannot pick your workmates. Unless you are a business owner but we will get to that in a minute.
When going through a crisis the most valuable thing to look after is your mental health. You can do everything to keep things moving but if you lose your head in the process, it’s all for nothing. The thin line between staying informed and drowning in all sorts of news had me doing a double-take on how much time I am on my phone. I’ve probably been on my phone more since WFH started than before. The residents’ WhatsApp group is on fire with discussions moving from pettiness to activism to questionable sobriety. And the videos. My goodness, the videos!!!! There’s so much distraction everywhere and very little of it is the positive type. My new office mate at least keeps me in check. We are maintaining our workout routine and he keeps me on my seat when I get antsy. Sometimes, the right workmate can do a world of good.
He has discovered, by chance, Michael Gerber’s theory that one should get workers while they are still green and mould them to fit into you ideal culture.
My dream job did not come with my dream team. I’m not sure if I’ve gotten THE dream job yet and every team I’ve had came with its loose ends. My partner still gushes over the team he worked with at when he was still employed. When it came to work, everybody was on point- knew what they had to do, when they had to do it, how they could do it best and they had the best synergy he ever had at any workplace. Bleugh, show off. So in his entrepreneurial journey, he’s chasing after that dream team. I will admit he is getting close. He has discovered, by chance, Michael Gerber’s theory that one should get workers while they are still green and mould them to fit into you ideal culture. In the book, E-myth, he points out that you should be very watchful of your interactions when creating this ideal work culture. If you have a disciplined ethos, your team will mirror it. Similarly, if you are a bad communicator, they will mirror that too.
Some of us do not have that luxury. In the same thought process, Michael Gerber points out the fact that some positions will definitely need experience and cannot be avoided. That then brings in the risk of disrupting the culture that you have worked so hard to build. And for the employee, how do I deal with coming into a place that totally shatters my own work ethic? It’s a tough balance as I could end up being overwhelmed or worse, lose my authenticity and slide into becoming another cog in the wheel. I would probably, as is often the case with the newbie, get so excited with the task that you end up showing gaps that move people from their comfort zone.
Even in the office, you can still pick your friends. Napoleon Hill talks about masterminding, the people who naturally align with your goals and purposes.
At the end of the day, whichever culture shock you are dealing with, you need to find and maintain your standards. As long as they are constructive of course. Even in the office, you can still pick your friends. Napoleon Hill talks about masterminding, the people who naturally align with your goals and purposes. That one person in the finance department who just happens to live in the same area as you, spark a conversation with them and they could give you some useful tips on how to deal with a gap in the system. That intern or pupil will give you a perspective that your teammates don’t have. The new girl who came in a month after you will remind you to stay on course. Your life partner will keep you motivated when working at home. If your current crowd spends too much time talking behind other people’s back, their title is their only value, hide behind others and constantly playing victim, you need to check yourself.
One set of people will push with you to the mountaintop, the other set will pull and keep you in the valley. Pick people that will bring progress.
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