I guess I must be getting old.
I woke up this morning to a major conflict among my team at work, where there was some meltdown between a very high energy white man and a very sensitive black woman. I'm pretty sure that no-one meant ill, but as the guy was trying to get his point across yesterday (after I left), he got a little menacing and, well, hard to deal with. The woman said that what he was doing made her feel like he was strong arming her. He was standing, she was sitting. He has a lot of experience, she only a little, but is learning.
There was another man in the room, who tried to lesson the tension, but he failed to do so. The situation got a bit out of hand, as things were said that shouldn't be said. Or, maybe they should be said, if someone feels uncomfortable with the actions of another, he or she should draw a line.
I guess I expected this when I put this team of strong egos together. I asked each one of the three what they could do better. The aggressive guy couldn't think of a thing, whereas all others could. Not to point blame, because everyone shares in blame when things go awry, but to not be self-aware is to be a disaster waiting to happen.
Yet, throughout all the world, this self-awareness is rare, and lots of situations get out of control. Painted into a corner, people and institutions are incapable of admitting wrong, and as a result, they create nonsensical situations like what happened yesterday.
So, distance, separation, avoiding the nonsense seems to be the only immediate cure, but does it cure anything? I think, paradoxically, to consider oneself a fool is to be aware that it is easy for me to be foolish, therefore, i am more aware of when I am foolish. And being aware, i'm probably less likely to be foolish.
Well if that ain't nonsense of its own?
I woke up this morning to a major conflict among my team at work, where there was some meltdown between a very high energy white man and a very sensitive black woman. I'm pretty sure that no-one meant ill, but as the guy was trying to get his point across yesterday (after I left), he got a little menacing and, well, hard to deal with. The woman said that what he was doing made her feel like he was strong arming her. He was standing, she was sitting. He has a lot of experience, she only a little, but is learning.
There was another man in the room, who tried to lesson the tension, but he failed to do so. The situation got a bit out of hand, as things were said that shouldn't be said. Or, maybe they should be said, if someone feels uncomfortable with the actions of another, he or she should draw a line.
I guess I expected this when I put this team of strong egos together. I asked each one of the three what they could do better. The aggressive guy couldn't think of a thing, whereas all others could. Not to point blame, because everyone shares in blame when things go awry, but to not be self-aware is to be a disaster waiting to happen.
Yet, throughout all the world, this self-awareness is rare, and lots of situations get out of control. Painted into a corner, people and institutions are incapable of admitting wrong, and as a result, they create nonsensical situations like what happened yesterday.
So, distance, separation, avoiding the nonsense seems to be the only immediate cure, but does it cure anything? I think, paradoxically, to consider oneself a fool is to be aware that it is easy for me to be foolish, therefore, i am more aware of when I am foolish. And being aware, i'm probably less likely to be foolish.
Well if that ain't nonsense of its own?
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