Monday, August 9, 2021

Going back to Cubicle World


This just made me laugh.

As an employee, I'm about as low-maintenance as they come. You don't have to worry about much if I'm on your team, except to hope that I can keep my apple obsession under control while in the office and that I won't say "yes" to absolutely everything anyone asks of me and thus find myself drowning in work.

Apart from that, though, I'm fairly self-sufficient and almost devoid of the self-promotion gene. The same is true of my boss, Doug, who is one of those people who is extremely good at what he does and does not feel the need to remind you of that fact.

(NOTE: Any time I refer to Doug when talking with Terry, I have taken to calling him "New Doug" in honor of Korg from the Marvel movies. This never fails to make us both laugh.)

Anyway, as I said, I'm pretty low-maintenance.

Which in this case is a good thing because one of the interesting dynamics in my new job at Goodyear is that, after having enclosed offices in every job I've held for the past two decades, I now find myself sitting back in a cubicle.

And I am in no way kidding when I say I'm fine with it. There are disadvantages, sure, but all I need is a place to put my computer, a phone, some space for my books, and a place to hang my Lake Erie Monsters 2016 Calder Cup Champions banner. I have all of that in my new little work home.

In fact, what I have now may not even qualify for "cubicle" status. It's more of a workstation that opens out onto a wide carpeted walkway among a sea of similar workstations. It is only enclosed on two sides, which is fine because, honestly, unless I'm dealing with sensitive information, I don't care who can see my computer screen.

I also don't equate workspace with power/prestige/status.

Some people do, I realize. I just don't care.

I know this sounds crazy, but I would rather co-workers judge me not by my desk, but by how well I do my job.

How radical is that?

Full disclosure: I do miss the convenience of having my own personal conference table. That I'll admit.

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