11:12 PM - 08.04.05
Caves
Today was different dear diary. It was team building day for the records management staff. First part of the morning was the "permanent staff only" meeting. Meant the rest of us had a very quiet productive period of time to tie up loose ends or work on those tasks where access is impaired by high traffic use of resources or constant interruptions.
I provide a weekly report to my direct supervisor. The first part is simply a statistical profile of the work done in that one week period and a cumulative tally. Next up is the "this is weird" or "these are the anomalies that have to be addressed, but not by me" narrative. That section is the "make headaches or extra work for someone else" category and is usually the least favorite part of my reports for most companies. The third section is the "We need to discuss this" or action section. Last and best is a table that is tracking the research I've been asked to do with respect to certain company histories/geneaologies or family trees. Brain candy and the best puzzle I've been asked to address in a long time. When I wrote the last couple of reports, there was this nagging sense of discontinuity - that sense of something not being quite right. When I realized I was going to have a less pressured morning today, I decided it would be a good time to work through what it was that was bothering me and get it down on paper before the issues become like the hydra.
From my perspective there are some parts of the taxonomy that are anaemic at best and almost non existent at worst. The developers' strengths were in finance and marketing and it is obvious that those were utilized fully. Unfortunately, that "if all you have is a hammer, all objects look like nails" approach to organizing a hierarchy means that certain information is basically being lost or sublimated into areas where the likely users would never think to look. The biggest problems have to do with regulatory and operations activities. Those are too important to put under "Accounts Payable", just because it is the closest description to the record/box being analyzed. The square pegs in round holes syndrome. I don't want to step on any toes, nor is it a criticism of the work already done. One has to build a foundation before one can frame a house, but that foundation needs to be comprehensive enough so that all the other pieces can be included in ways that make sense. In this case, some of the terrain wasn't taken in to consideration when the foundation was laid. What I needed to say - hopefully diplomatically - was that we need to go back to reconstruct/add to part of the foundation document. Won't be a popular observation, but due diligence means I need to say it even though it may never be addressed. Put on the Theory of a Deadman CD to help me work through expressing myself. Never mind. I even sang along under my breath, since there were no ears to hear nearby and no cats to criticize.
Posted that off to my supervisor just as the permanent staff were returning from their morning deliberations. A lot of them looked deep in thought, as they prepared for the next phase of the team building. That being going out to lunch as a group to a very nice indeed restaurant. This is where the rest of us were invited to participate - the play time together. Have I mentioned how much I like working for this company? When I got home tonight, my youngest reminded me of that Dilbert cartoon where he gets fired from the dysfunctional company by the pointy haired boss. He gets another job at a company that treats him like gold. He becomes disoriented and a bit paranoid, because he can't get used to being in a normal or positive environment. Ends up going back to the other workplace, although I can't recall how that came about. I know how that feels. I'm hoping that, unlike Dilbert, I can learn to adapt to these circumstances. No going back I don't think. At least not for the length of this contract. Anyway lunch was lovely. I had the Shrimp and Red Pepper soup followed by the Creole special. Jumbo prawns and sausage in a very spicy pepper sauce, served over rice. I don't have clogged sinuses or swollen lymph glands any more - I think they were incinerated. The maitre d' seemed to have taken that into consideration, because there was one waiter assigned to just keep filling up our water glasses. Uh huh. Good food.
Next task was to all travel together in taxis to go to the zoo. Yes the real "filled with exotic and beautiful plants and animals" Zoo. "Lions and Tigers and Bears. Oh my." Wizard of Oz. Our zoo is located on St George's Island in the middle of the Bow River. We met at the Kitamba Cafe first, where our guide gave us our instructions for our afternoon "safari". We were put into groups of four and given a list of clues that were designed to help us find our animal totems. An orienteering exercise with a twist. No bringing the animals home with us. Each group had different clues so there was no opportunity to collaborate - or cheat - depending on how you looked at it. We went to the African exhibits first - peacocks and superb starlings were our first totems. Next up, the Australia House and Creatures of the Night. One of our team had real problems in the nocturnal exhibit. It was obvious the bats really scared her. Didn't help that she was the one in our group who was buzzed by one of the critters. Our totem there was the tree kangaroo. G'day Mate!
The next destination was at the other end of the island. We were all given a one hour deadline to locate and research our assigned animals. Meant we had to really boogie along, although the other team members wanted to stop by their favorite animals homes for visits. I became the shepherd of the group, reminding them that we actually were there for a purpose as well as to play. Past the South American animals and the tropical large mammals enclosure to the Eurasian exhibit. Our totems there were the raptor - Peregrine Falcon - "The fastest creature on earth. Period." and the European Ibex, denizen of the Alps. The last totem triangulated the island and we were in the North American exhibit. Our totem? The timber wolf.
Back at the cafe we were told we had to create both a legend about our creatures, as well as a physical image of the relationship between them. It was recommended we try to make a totem pole, but that any other configuration would be fine too. Wow - team building but with space for creativity built in. The touchy part of the exercise was the direction to choose someone from the records team who embodied each creatures' qualitites. Since each team had to present their creations to the rest of the group, that stirred up some angst. Certain creatures no one wanted attributed to them and others people were fighting over. How old did we say we were? Then there was the issue of recognition. Some people were named several times with respect to their animal like characteristics, while others weren't mentioned at all. A few people were deeply hurt or offended by how the rest of the team limned their behaviour. One woman commented to me that she had no idea that people saw her as that intense in her reactions. She told me how she perceived herself and what animal totems were the ones she would have chosen to describe her behaviour within the group. In fact, she over-rode her group to state her claim to those characteristics. It was obvious there was a significant dysphasia occurring in her mind over it. With several occurrences like that playing out in the classroom - standing back from the interactions, it became easy to see where the flows of positive energy were strongest in the team, where there were blocks and were there were the undertows and rip tides. Oh yeah.
The animal I was likened to was the Snow_Leopard. I was a bit taken aback but flattered, I think. A creature that lives in rocky, inhospitable cold climates by choice, prefers the mountains of Asia - especially the Himalayas - is nocturnal and hunts ferociously so it can feed and nurture its cubs. It is also almost extinct. Well yes I guess it does fit. The word the group who had that totem said applied to me was courage. Hmmmm.
The solar eclipse was occuring from about when we arrived at the zoo until we finished our presentations. I found I kept having a problem with communications going a bit sideways. Saying one thing, but other people hearing something not quite what you meant or acknowledging what you meant but having an entirely different take on what was being observed. Foot in mouth disease or Platos story of the cave. Oh wait, I'm sorry that's Mr. Mercury retrograde isn't it? Maybe that eclipse just highlighted the dynamic so we could go back and correct those misconceptions. Given that I spent a lot of time talking with my direct supervisor and her supervisor as well, I hope that is what was going on. My supervisor's supervisor started out her conversation with me by saying "I know who you are, you're the one finding all that extra work that now needs to be done". Oops. Guess I can't recall that weekly report I sent either, can I? She asked a lot about my background - personal and work - and was willing to share a lot about herself in return. We are both native born Calgarians (well alright, I wasn't actually in the city when I arrived, but we were on the way there, ok) of about the same age. I liked her a great deal, just a warm and friendly personality. My supervisor, on the other hand, has always been a bit shy about sharing her background with us, even though she has had a fascinating life. We talked at lunch because we were sitting together and she shared that she was born in the USA. I think having travelled the globe over her childhood, she had encountered some hostility toward her nationality and was hesitant about her reception in new settings. She has never explained why her parents travelled so much, but it is obvious that a sense of belonging is hard for her to perceive even though this group holds her in high regard and with a great amount of affection, if the comments about her animal totems was any indication. she didn't relax about sharing some of her past life experiences until I explained that some of my interest was because my grandmother on my Dad's side was born in the same US State. I just wanted to know more about it from someone who actually lived there. Back again to those self imposed and self limiting stereotypes from our pasts being major barriers to claiming our full capacities and options in the present. This solar eclipse in Aries is all about planting new seeds and new beginnings. Maybe the safari today was a way for the records staff to experience themselves through the eyes of their team and their own reflections on how they see themselves situated within the totems. Planting new seeds of personal growth while removing the old, dead leaves (attributes). Don't know, we'll see.
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