process and non-process

We bought them, but we are having merging issues.   They used to be owned by a big big corporation, and consequently have lots of process.   Apparently our company didn’t have a lot of process — I am just now realizing this.

We are trying to live and work together in the same office space, and are coming up with a number of issues — ranging from small and petty (can I put my coat rack in the hall?) to large and legal.  The common theme I see is that they have corporate rules and they like them — in my mind, these are similar to the cover of the TPS report a la the movie “Office Space”, and we wouldn’t dream of having a corporate entity govern our lives in this way.

I am drawn to thinking about my Peace Corps experience.  When I moved to my school in Zimbabwe, my immediate reaction to a number of things was that the way I did things as an American were perfect, and the way they did things was just wrong.  It was a long integration of me understanding the values of their culture and learning to live within it. Over the two years, I adapted, appreciated their culture, and learned to live like them while still keeping my own personal identity. 

The difference here, though, is that I am not on a Peace mission, I am working.  And it’s not a one-person-joining-a-larger-culture, it’s two (relatively equal) groups joining each other. 

While I am not ready to give up my own culture and become subsumed, I think I can work on seeing things from their point of view a little more, and try to understand why they think process is good.

Posted by Marie on February 21st, 2007 under Uncategorized

Leave a Comment

rss feed
About Marie


Archives:


February 2007
M T W T F S S
« Jan   Mar »
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728  

Links