There's a Dilbert cartoon by Scott Adams titled Keeping Your Perspective. It shows the earth and next to it are 4 arrows pointing inward to an empty space, with the following text: "Your Job (Magnified a billion times and still so tiny that you can't even see it.)"
I think one of the main reasons why some workplace environments are so stressful is that we often forget that perspective. Things get ugly when people place too much importance in their work and in themselves -- and become defensive in protecting or enhancing that perception of power and prestige. This week, a business colleague (let's call her D) used me to advance her professional image and power base, leaving a huge mess for me to clean up.
It's not an unfixable mess and D is not even a friend. But the situation made me feel very threatened and defensive. And I wanted to respond to the threat, to fight back, which I started to do. It occurred to me tonight that D probably felt threatened, too, and that both of us were caught in the trap of needing to protect the perceived importance of our work.
From the same Dilbert cartoon mentioned above, there's a caption that reads: "Your job is utterly insignificant. But on the plus side, nothing you could do would seriously damage the planet. Don't take any of it too seriously."
I'll try not to... next time.
12:35:24 AM 
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