A new paradigm

A paradigm is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitutes legitimate contributions to a field.

Basically, a model or framework of thought.

For decades, I have operated within the corporate system but not of it. I visit a company for a short period of time to do a specific set of tasks for a specific time on a specific budget. I did not care about the chaos and disorganization of the companies which hired me, because that chaos helped create the need for me. It swirled around me, made it possible for me to be there, but did not directly affect me. I could see the deleterious effects it had on the company personnel around me, and I could pity them, but it didn’t really matter to me.

Now I am still an agent for hire, but I am on a much longer-term project. It could go for years. And now I am embedded in the chaos, and I find myself affected by it. I am no longer insulated by my well-defined mission and my limited timeframe. My timeframe is unlimited, and in the chaos lies my mission, intertwined among the shifting deadlines, competing priorities and resource constraints that until now, were not my problem. Now they are trying to be my problem.

I must remember that it is just work. The timeline will change, deadlines will be missed, and no one will die. As long as I show that I worked hard, and I can document what I did and when I did it, I will be fine. The project will be fine, and life will go on.

Meanwhile, I am learning new things, being challenged in new ways, and I am enjoying my work. Life is good.

I just need to adjust to the new paradigm of being closer to the chaos than I am used to. It is still not my problem, I just have to work harder at tuning it out.