TURNING THE TABLES

“I was persisting in reading my present environment in the light of my old one.”

From Richard Wright’s Black Boy, this opening quote leads me directly into the next one from my friend, Brian Hoskinson: “Don’t look at it so much as change, but as trying something new.” And for me, those words made all the difference.

I was working with Brian, my IT consultant extraordinaire, on a book-related matter for my middle-grade novel, Marble Town, when we lunched one afternoon at Adelphia in Charleston. One topic led to another – as it often does – and the conversation turned to one of change, adaptability, tolerance, and eventual acceptance.

I’m a Type-A personality and that is, at times, a roadblock to embracing change. Reaching acceptance is even more challenging. The Type A’s personality impedes the path to change and tolerance, adaptability and acceptance.

But when you face the challenges as “trying something new,” well it doesn’t seem as insurmountable. It begins to seem possible, and that’s when truly great things can happen.

“We’re all at a crossroads – the Type A’s and all the others. The rubber band is going to snap at some point, unless the Type A’s can find a way to move just a bit to recognize that perfection is not attainable, that their rigidity and insistence on structure needs to be loosed – just a bit.”

Case in point: In our attempts to make certain that all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s are crossed, we tend to miss other opportunities that cross our paths. We are so insistent on reaching perfection in thought, word, and deed that we isolate rather than collaborate. We argue our platform, rather than open our minds. We limit, rather than achieve. We expect others to work in the gray area when we will benefit, but refuse to budge when the tables are turned.

Years ago, when I worked in PR at BC/BS, a senior executive related a management test to me. When potential applicants were asked to draw a vessel that could hold water, it was the applicant who drew a simple glass in a few seconds that was given the job, not the one who tried to impress by drawing an intricate sketch. And it doesn’t get any clearer than that.

So, to all Type-A personalities out there, let’s “try something new.” And maybe – just maybe – we will become a part of something great. We might even enjoy it.