The piece at the right is made of coral and sterling silver. I brought most of the components at the Santa Fe flea market. When I bought the center piece I thought that it looked vaguely like some kind of animal head, maybe a prehistoric or mythical animal. When my friends saw the finished product they told me it looked like the finger.When I began this blog, less than a week ago, I decided to photograph things I had made and write stream of consciously about my associations with them. I could not have anticipated this entry.
Yesterday at work we received an email telling us that we now have a dress code. I have been with the organization 22+ years and have always enjoyed a casual atmosphere and the freedom to dress casually if I chose. Logistically, the dress code is not a problem for me; I have plenty of clothes since I love clothes and sometimes buy things just because they go with the jewelry I’ve made. I can dress about any way I would want. But, it feels like something important is being taken away. Also, I feel a great deal of empathy for my co-workers, some of whom have come to depend on wearing blue jeans. This could even be a financial hardship for some. They are good workers. I wonder if those who make the rules have considered that it now feels like what a person looks like is more important than the quality of their work.
The new dress code is being presented as an effort to create a positive image for the organization. I wonder if there aren’t cultural issues at play here as well. I think there is an effort to move the culture of the organization to one that has a more corporate appearance.
It seems in the corporate culture the emphasis is on team development and maintenance; it seems to me that a by-product of this emphasis on the team is that the team must maintain a certain look. It’s the culture of khaki is ok for casual but denim is not. There is really no place for individuality, creativity or self-expression. A team is predictable and its parts are interchangeable; individuality, creativity or self-expression give rise to one-man-shows and quirkiness that is just not appropriate in the workplace.
I have no inclination to buy into supporting the corporate leanings of my management. I will dress appropriately, of course, I do that most of the time anyway; but I want to question what is going on and why we are doing what we are doing. The thing that I don’t understand is that when the team is being stressed why would individuality not be stressed at the same time. When people bring their unique perspective to the team it makes the team stronger. This is symbolized by the way we dress. When I look at a group of people and they are dressed in a variety of ways and they are working together effectively, maybe synergistically, then I see a strong team. I learned long ago that you can not judge by the outer appearance; so why try to create an artificial one?
I have to admit that I am becoming one of those persons who is basically waiting for retirement. I have passed the critical 18 to 20 year mark. Now, I can settle in and enjoy the ride until its time to start drawing a check. But, this attitude does not sit well with my personality. I enjoy doing a good job at anything I do; I want it to be the best.
I also enjoy expressing myself through dressing in whatever way suits my fancy at the moment. My style is by nature conservative but conservative with my own touch. I am sure that those who define corporate dress would find some of my best ankle length skirts almost as objectionable as tight mini-skirts.
I wanted to write about my friend Lorie in this post because there are a couple of points I would like to make. I have been thinking about her today. She died just a little over a year ago.
When I started work with the organization I am writing about, Lorie and I were essentially on the same level and her cube was next to mine. In the early years we interacted on a daily basis and became friends because of all of the things that we did together. Since this is somewhat of a crafting blog I will mention that back in the late 80’s several of us got together and did some crafts like sewing Christmas wreathes and making folded stars. Lorie and I were both part of that group.
She moved up in the organization over the years and at the time of her death she was the head of our part of the organization with about 400 people under her. Essentially, she was in the position of the person making the dress code changes. I do not want this to disintegrate into a loud “Lorie would never have let this happen”, on the other hand that is exactly what I am saying.
Lorie was not so much plugged into corporate culture as she was to the culture of the organization that we work for. She cared about that deeply and worked very hard to provide the services she was responsible for. Early on, as I began to see her move up in the hierarchy, I realized that I wanted to do work that would be worthy of her and her expectations; I remember thinking that I needed to latch on to her apron strings. From my own point of view, Lorie challenged me to want to make her and her organization look good; she did not say I had to do so or tell me how I had to look in order to do so.
After she died I realized that I would feel the effects on a personal level but also eventually on an organizational level. I am seeing that now.
At Lorie’s funeral her boss (a VP) talked about all of her accomplishments and then her pastor talked about her life. Her pastor said that she had the gift of hospitality. This is one of the gifts of the spirit discussed by the apostle Paul and, even though it may be discounted by some, on the same level as all of the other gifts. When Lorie’s pastor used this description I suddenly realized how true the statement was. Lorie cared about the people around her and went out of her way to make people feel wanted and needed. All I had to do was think about the early years when we worked together and how she had made me feel wanted when I fist started working in the cube beside her. She intuitively used this gift a work even though she rose very high in the organization.
I think it was this gift that kept her in touch with individual people and prevented her from laying down unnecessary rules.
So, back to my Rorschach. I am not one to give the finger so I still choose to see a mythological animal in the coral piece. There is the rebellious part of me, the part that ensured I wear blue jeans to work today, that wants to see the finger. There is the more practical part that says hang in there. Maybe you can do something that will help the situation. And, there is the part of me that remembers Lorie. While observing the cultural shift since she was at the helm, I can choose to honor her by not seeing the finger but by moving forward to better the organization that she loved and gave so much of her life force for.
Yesterday at work we received an email telling us that we now have a dress code. I have been with the organization 22+ years and have always enjoyed a casual atmosphere and the freedom to dress casually if I chose. Logistically, the dress code is not a problem for me; I have plenty of clothes since I love clothes and sometimes buy things just because they go with the jewelry I’ve made. I can dress about any way I would want. But, it feels like something important is being taken away. Also, I feel a great deal of empathy for my co-workers, some of whom have come to depend on wearing blue jeans. This could even be a financial hardship for some. They are good workers. I wonder if those who make the rules have considered that it now feels like what a person looks like is more important than the quality of their work.
The new dress code is being presented as an effort to create a positive image for the organization. I wonder if there aren’t cultural issues at play here as well. I think there is an effort to move the culture of the organization to one that has a more corporate appearance.
It seems in the corporate culture the emphasis is on team development and maintenance; it seems to me that a by-product of this emphasis on the team is that the team must maintain a certain look. It’s the culture of khaki is ok for casual but denim is not. There is really no place for individuality, creativity or self-expression. A team is predictable and its parts are interchangeable; individuality, creativity or self-expression give rise to one-man-shows and quirkiness that is just not appropriate in the workplace.
I have no inclination to buy into supporting the corporate leanings of my management. I will dress appropriately, of course, I do that most of the time anyway; but I want to question what is going on and why we are doing what we are doing. The thing that I don’t understand is that when the team is being stressed why would individuality not be stressed at the same time. When people bring their unique perspective to the team it makes the team stronger. This is symbolized by the way we dress. When I look at a group of people and they are dressed in a variety of ways and they are working together effectively, maybe synergistically, then I see a strong team. I learned long ago that you can not judge by the outer appearance; so why try to create an artificial one?
I have to admit that I am becoming one of those persons who is basically waiting for retirement. I have passed the critical 18 to 20 year mark. Now, I can settle in and enjoy the ride until its time to start drawing a check. But, this attitude does not sit well with my personality. I enjoy doing a good job at anything I do; I want it to be the best.
I also enjoy expressing myself through dressing in whatever way suits my fancy at the moment. My style is by nature conservative but conservative with my own touch. I am sure that those who define corporate dress would find some of my best ankle length skirts almost as objectionable as tight mini-skirts.
I wanted to write about my friend Lorie in this post because there are a couple of points I would like to make. I have been thinking about her today. She died just a little over a year ago.
When I started work with the organization I am writing about, Lorie and I were essentially on the same level and her cube was next to mine. In the early years we interacted on a daily basis and became friends because of all of the things that we did together. Since this is somewhat of a crafting blog I will mention that back in the late 80’s several of us got together and did some crafts like sewing Christmas wreathes and making folded stars. Lorie and I were both part of that group.
She moved up in the organization over the years and at the time of her death she was the head of our part of the organization with about 400 people under her. Essentially, she was in the position of the person making the dress code changes. I do not want this to disintegrate into a loud “Lorie would never have let this happen”, on the other hand that is exactly what I am saying.
Lorie was not so much plugged into corporate culture as she was to the culture of the organization that we work for. She cared about that deeply and worked very hard to provide the services she was responsible for. Early on, as I began to see her move up in the hierarchy, I realized that I wanted to do work that would be worthy of her and her expectations; I remember thinking that I needed to latch on to her apron strings. From my own point of view, Lorie challenged me to want to make her and her organization look good; she did not say I had to do so or tell me how I had to look in order to do so.
After she died I realized that I would feel the effects on a personal level but also eventually on an organizational level. I am seeing that now.
At Lorie’s funeral her boss (a VP) talked about all of her accomplishments and then her pastor talked about her life. Her pastor said that she had the gift of hospitality. This is one of the gifts of the spirit discussed by the apostle Paul and, even though it may be discounted by some, on the same level as all of the other gifts. When Lorie’s pastor used this description I suddenly realized how true the statement was. Lorie cared about the people around her and went out of her way to make people feel wanted and needed. All I had to do was think about the early years when we worked together and how she had made me feel wanted when I fist started working in the cube beside her. She intuitively used this gift a work even though she rose very high in the organization.
I think it was this gift that kept her in touch with individual people and prevented her from laying down unnecessary rules.
So, back to my Rorschach. I am not one to give the finger so I still choose to see a mythological animal in the coral piece. There is the rebellious part of me, the part that ensured I wear blue jeans to work today, that wants to see the finger. There is the more practical part that says hang in there. Maybe you can do something that will help the situation. And, there is the part of me that remembers Lorie. While observing the cultural shift since she was at the helm, I can choose to honor her by not seeing the finger but by moving forward to better the organization that she loved and gave so much of her life force for.
1 comment:
The dress code thing is ridiculous. Don thinks so too.
Post a Comment