Sunday, March 21, 2010

From meeting a monkey to an explanation of ducks and ealges

I had a weird dream this morning. I was even concerned by it. The thing was afterwards there were two thoughts on my mind. First to go back to sleep and see if I could change the dream for a better ending and second was to instantly forget it. Which mostly happens any day of the week. As the dream was a reflection of some inner part of what my character could be like I'll not share it. I was disconcerted. Dreams can be another form of conscience, it's bad enough having a conscience follow you about like a monkey all day long and constantly ask for peanuts. But to have one when I should be dreaming of wonderful deserted beaches, coconuts and scantily clad women is too much. Mind, if there were any scantily clad women in my dream I can guarantee Sparkling would be coming around from under the nearest coconut tree then poking me in the eye. Which I would very much deserve. As I said, conscience is something you just can't get away from.

Talking of monkeys, I spent an hour watching YouTube videos by a management guru. Called the "one minute manage meets the monkey" and they are quite enlightening. The monkey is a responsibility, like a burden, it can be passed about so it hitches a ride on someone else's back. The one minute manager's goal was basically to be so good at supporting employees, they would be taken to a level of independence. The belief being, the employees should find out their own solutions and be their own experts, all the one minute manager does is give them support, guidance and confidence. Except this guy was saying if he had an employee who kept coming to him passing his monkeys on, he'd sack them. Ultimately though the goal was to be able to go on holiday or take a break and find everything had run smoothly without him being in the workplace. Which was how he saw management at it's highest level. Another guru I checked out had come up with a novel hierarchy. Where instead of a triangle with the point on the top, the point was on the bottom. Simply being, everybody at management level was there to support all those on the ground floor. It made sense the more he spoke about it. He then went on to talk about ducks and eagles. Not quite the same as monkeys I thought. But again pretty visual images which made it easier to understand.

I went on to check out some items about Ducks and Eagles and order a book. It was a compulsion purchase from Amazon. But I couldn't help it. To add to the 8 or 9 I already have unread and waiting. The whole thing just seemed so inspirational to me. This guy Wayne Dyer had divided people into two types at work, these he called the Ducks and the Eagles. Ducks were basically the complainers, and they really didn't change a great deal, they just quacked and complained with the other ducks on the ground. Whilst an eagle would soar. It might be difficult to see yourself as an Eagle, with those brown feathers and bright hooked beak, but Dyer is really talking about providing a service to the best of your abilities. With enthusiasm, with want, with an inner understanding of being the best you can. Then people wanted to come back to the Eagle, they wanted to be in the presence of an Eagle rather than a Duck. So the Eagle would win the day. I just read a great article about a Taxi driver who decided to be an Eagle. He made it his mission to provide the best service he could to his clients. By being well groomed, having the shiniest cab, providing reading material or refreshments if needed, altering the air conditioning. Nothing would be out of his way to help his client. It ended up he no longer had to tout for business because people would ring him up an he was making more money than he'd ever made before. It sounded inspirational, hence my impulse purchase. I'll read the book and maybe update you when it's finished. Or sooner.

So the motto is, don't let the monkeys get on your back and fly like an eagle. Mind, if you did have a monkey on your back it would be pretty difficult to fly like an eagle.

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