Читать книгу Comfortable Chaos - Carolyn Harvey & Beth Herrild - Страница 24

You are about to be introduced to a metaphor we will use throughout this chapter. It may appear that we are picking on companies by using the terms “corporate” and “beast” together. We chose the word “corporate” because we view corporations, and many other organizations, as very powerful forces in our country, our economy, and our personal lives. Whether you work for a corporation or are a stay-at-home parent, the analogy works equally well because it is a way to put a name to that economic and social force that drives so much of how we spend our time. So think of the “corporate” in “corporate beast” as a powerful force that sometimes pushes against your efforts for a sane and meaningful life. Sometimes it takes a gritty metaphor to help drive home a point.

For those of you working in a traditional employer-employee relationship, think of your company as a wild and consuming animal. If you’re the visual type, choose a particularly ferocious animal and imagine it with your corporate logo on its chest. It’s a rather primitive analogy but bear with us (no pun intended). The beast’s constant hunger is fed by the time and work of employees and its appetite is never satiated. The more it consumes, the more it desires. And the beast is not picky about the quality of its meal. It doesn’t matter if you slaved and produced a quality product or were asked to stay late for meaningless busy-work. The beast likes gorging on steak as much as junk food. The beast also quickly forgets you when you are gone — it simply seeks its next victim.

If you are a stay-at-home parent or are self-employed, you will need to envision your corporate beast a little differently. The corporate beast of the stay-at-home parent is the media-driven image of the super parent who maintains a spotless and inviting home while raising incredible children and serving as a leader in their schools and the community. This corporate beast can seem to come at you from all angles. It could be those telephone calls you receive asking for your volunteer time. Or it could be your own high standards for everything from housekeeping to

Halloween costumes. Just when you think you have mastered some aspect of the stay-at-home role, the beast tempts you with a new expectation and raises the bar.

For the self-employed person working from home or an office, the corporate beast is the pressure to succeed and grow. Even if you started your company as a means to better balance work and family, the endless possibilities of the marketplace beckon. There are the professional associations that want more than your membership — they want you to chair a committee. And there are the vendors and suppliers that urge you to use their marketing, web, or computing services with the subtle suggestion that what you have isn’t good enough. The American dream itself can even be a companion of the corporate beast.

Whatever your situation, know that you can’t tame the beast. You can only control how much it takes from you. If you are not constantly on alert, you will find the beast sucking your energy, your time, and, in the end, your life. Naturally you will need some defense strategies: the Comfortable Chaos warrior’s version of a sword and a shield. You must have a plan for those times when you are presented with some new task that will give more of you to the beast and leave less of you for yourself and family. You also need strategies that will help you put up barriers and defenses against the beast. We’ll cover this a little later in the chapter but first we need to get over a common stumbling block: fear of the economy.