An Environment of Growth
Posted by torbjornrive on March 5, 2008
Like a seedling growing in a new environment, there are factors above and below your space that can limit or excel one’s future growth.
1. The Canopy Above
2. The Administration Below
1. If the canopy above you (think upper management) overshadows your every move, your light resource will be limited. Without this energy (in the workers case freedom), growth opportunities will be limited. Like being stuck in an overcrowded room, one may fail to be noticed.
Adjust: Some plants thrive in a dark environment, shadowed by canopy. These plants have broader leaves, and take in what they can. As a worker, broaden out – allowing your freedom to come in as work through several sources. Refuse to have your receptor cells under-stimulated by reaching out to those around you.
Fight it: Grow taller by developing your credentials. Taking in more work by specializing should be a positive experience. Finding a niche uncrowded will open up that darkened canopy allowing you to assert yourself.
2. When the administration below you is unstable or unwelcoming, growth will be limited. Like nutrients or water, if they flow beneath you too quickly (or not at all), how will you stand your ground? Your growth relies on the foundation already in place, something you can’t always meddle with.
For a broken administration there are coping mechanisms. Digging your roots in further can help. USE that administration. Often, a broken admin is an unused admin. Your work, like organic matter, will have a positive effect on the administration around you. Using it lets it know where you stand, and a balance can develop with your input and output.
The lifespan of a seedling can be unfortunately short if the conditions are not right; but it’s not luck, finding the right growing conditions is up to you. Plants and trees are seeded in masses, most are meant to die. You know you’re not. Some say that it should be common to try 8-10 environments before you attempt to ’settle’. I disagree. I would say that if you’ve switched jobs 8-10 times before you’re 30, the problem is yours – you need to re-assess what kind of plant you really are as the environments existed before you did.
Or start up your own environment, control it all.
Todd said
This is a fantastic analogy. Very creative.
Get noticed and learn to specialize in vital area of your company (preferably an area that will be vital to several companies). That is excellent advice.
How can one become a specialist?
----t h rive---- said
@Todd – I guess my first thought was to get creative in asserting yourself in what you’d like to start specializing in. Then next to seek further training and skills. Though it’s not always to any avail. I found that if you’re pushing to specialize in something new, bosses and managers may not yet have those outside connections to get such projects going. But our creative help can get us there.
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