roland@equalpartners.ca
http://EqualPartners.ca/
"Women are the backbone of all societies. They do a substantial part of the work, and play a major role in raising the future generation yet they are largely powerless. The decisions that count are made by men and foisted upon women."
Date Posted: February 14th, 2008
Place a sign on your desk with the word “Perfection.” Put
the same sign on your night table. This is not to remind you to
expect perfection but rather that it doesn’t exist. The better
you understand that, the happier your life will be.
What follows will deal with some of the imperfections,
oddities, and complexities of human nature.
Date Posted: February 14th, 2008
Many years ago, I was talking with a human resources expert,
Chris. Among other things, we discussed the issue of dealing
with people’s imperfections, the ones that affect their work and
their interactions with other people.
When the manager of a department comes to Chris to discuss
the various problems he has with his employees, Chris advice is
always the same: he tells the manager to deal with one important
problem only and try to change that. It could take years to
correct one imperfection. Once the problem is overcome, does the
manager move on to the next shortcoming? No. It takes so much
time and effort to make one change, it’s not realistic to ask a
person for more. After all, you’re trying to change the basic
nature of that person in one area.
Date Posted: February 21st, 2008
The main reason work is often stressful is that we expect
too much from people. The thing that I remember from my working
years is the difficulties I had with other people, rarely the
work itself.
There are two major problems in the workplace: incompetency
at the higher levels and competition.
Date Posted: February 28th, 2008
Physically, we can see ourselves. All we have to do is
stand in front of a mirror. You may see that you’ve put on some
weight in the wrong places and decide to do something about it.
If only there was a magic mirror which can reflect our
personality. Alas, the scientific world is not even working on
such a project! The only way to do that is to go for therapy.
Needless to say, you will not go to see a psychiatrist unless you
have good reasons to do so. If you do, a big chunk of the time
will be devoted to know yourself, or put another way, to “see”
yourself.
There are many considerations here. First of all, we are
not completely blind to our flaws. For example, you might
realize that you constantly interrupt other people when they are
talking. Therefore, you decide to train yourself to listen
carefully before advancing your own arguments in a conversation.
Date Posted: March 5th, 2008
It took me years to figure that one out. Once I acquired
that knowledge, the actions of other people and my own actions
made sense. What am I talking about?
Let me give you two examples. Both are personal since I
acquired that insight through personal experience. The first
example concerns the reactions of other people, the second my own
reaction.
For years I suffered from depression. That in itself is a
major health issue. But the reaction of other people (colleagues
at work and relatives) proved even more problematic.
Date Posted: March 13th, 2008
Take the Time
We are often urged by well-intentioned people to do things
that are not within our field of competence, or that we are
simply not inclined to do. If you recognize the following
situation, then we have something in common.
Your deck has seen better days. You either need to make
major repairs and paint it, or wreck it and build a new one. You
prefer the second option and call upon a reliable handyman who
has helped you out in the past. Your brother-in-law, Dan, hears
about that and hits the roof. He is handy, and his late father
was a contractor. Dan used to help his dad, on small tasks, as
early as three!
Date Posted: March 20th, 2008
Each one of us is a bundle of contradictions. We prefer to
keep things simple, but it doesn’t work this way. When it comes
to human nature, there are no absolutes. Just because a person
is selfish doesn’t mean he never did selfless acts in his life.
A compassionate individual did, in the course of her lifetime,
show indifference on some occasions. I’ll provide you with two
personal examples.
I was still a child when I learned an important lesson. I
had a good friend by the name of Shemesh. I had invited him to
my home for lunch a few times, and he wanted to reciprocate. But
there was a problem. His father, Selim, was a very impatient
man; he also had quite a temper. Eventually, I could no longer
get out of it, and accepted an invitation for supper.
