In a message dated 97-01-14 12:47:48 EST, 75263.3305@CompuServe.COM (Roxanne
S. Abbas) writes:
" Over the past few years I've come to an awareness that most of my life I
have functioned pretty well as a chameleon, adapting my personality, my
style, my speech to my current associates. Chameleons are interesting to
observe but theres no great joy in being one.
" I have now begun a new chapter in my life which could be titled "What you
see is what you get". I'm trying to unlearn my habit of adaptation and
trying to shed all these layers of pretense that I've acquired over the
years in order to discover the real me who knows her soul and speaks from
it. "
Roxanne, I'd be willing to bet that you are not as much a chameleon as you
think. My personal belief is that successful adaptation to changing work
environments requires a fairly healthy sense of self at its center.
I'd also keep in mind that one of the most obnoxious species found in the
workplace is the one that feels that any concession to group norms or
standards is a total sellout.
I consider myself an organizational survivor in the Darwinian sense, but I
also sometimes use a rubber chicken as a gavel in meetings that I chair
(juvenile, but it helps).
-Dick Jacobs
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>