b2 Publishing: How to overcome the "Square Peg in Round Hole" syndrome in your life and career.......

Thursday, March 27, 2014

How to overcome the "Square Peg in Round Hole" syndrome in your life and career.......

'a square person has squeezed himself into the round hole. The officer and the office, the doer and the thing done, seldom fit so exactly, that we can say they were almost made for each other.^'

- Sydney Smith in "On the Conduct of the Understanding"

We've been conditioned...

We've been conditioned to avoid putting ourselves in situations that we are just not meant to be in. Everyone is a square peg in some way and the prevailing wisdom is to avoid situations that require you to force yourself into a round hole. We are who we are, after all, so why try to be something that we are not.

I am NOT going to tell you how to be something you are not. At least not in today's pontification. But I am going to encourage you to feel perfectly comfortable approaching, or staying in, that round hole if that is where you need to be right now (or even for the rest of your career).

The idea is not to focus too much on the hole, it's shape, or it's apparent incompatibility with your natural state. Instead, the real challenge before us is to be truly aware of the type of peg that we are and have the confidence to remain the shape that your maker intended.

First, let me tell you a little about the 'holes' I've tried to conform my natural shape in order to accommodate the job that I - had, needed, or wanted. Now, I'm not exactly a job hopper, but much like Wayne Campbell, "I've had my share of joe-jobs".

Having that said, I also happen to have an average tenure of 8 years. So at least I give my joe-jobs a chance.

"As they say, you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. If your boss is like that round hole and you are that square peg, you aren't going to fit in unless you re-shape your edges."

-- Gini Graham Scott, A Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses: Dealing with Bullies, Idiots, Back-stabbers, and Other Managers from Hell

The Key is...

The key is to remain the shape you are and:

Let the hole conform around YOU.

That's right, stop trying to change yourself in order to mold into the shape of the hole you find yourself in. Be the peg. Be your peg. Be you. The hole WILL change around you.