It’s been jumping out at me a lot lately that each of us has a role to play in a given ecosystem. It could be your particular office, it could be the way you work within your regional environment, or it could be on a global or national scale. In fact, you could be involved in all three depending on your job or additional professional activities. The point is that you are an integral member of the machine, making things happen on a daily basis with those around you and without all members of the team working at the same pace, on the same process, at the same time, things can often fall into turmoil.
The reason this has been on my mind lately is there has been some recent turnover at my work. Now, in any given circumstance where someone leaves a company where that person held some form of responsibility a vacuum is created and others have to pick up the slack. But what happens when the information required to fill in the gaps as to process, procedure, status, or any other aspect of the job isn’t found? How do you transition projects as you move forward? It’s all about ensuring accurate and constant communication between those that need to be in the know.
Success for a team doesn’t happen randomly. It takes planning and preparation. Ideas are exchanged and spit-balled and tweaked constantly between many people to make certain that the activities and procedures match not only the objective of a particular undertaking, but the overall mission of the group as a whole. Assignments are passed out based on skills or desire to work on a given aspect of the project and then you’re off and running. While you may be working independently of one another on your portion of the project, you are surely to keep others informed of your progress and developments so that everyone knows each other’s status.
It’s that communication aspect where things still seem to break down and ruin projects, companies, friendships, relationships, you name it. The interaction and sharing of information is like the grease between the cogs that we are in each machine of which we are a part. You need that grease to make sure the wheels keep turning and the machine keeps moving. And that grease has to be passed on to the next cog so that the tasks and goals can be developed further and seen to fruition.
Taking it back to the late 1900s, I think about the cartoon show The Jetsons where George Jetson worked for a man named Mr. Cogswell at a company called Cogswell’s Cogs. Not knowing what a cog was I enjoyed the cartoon as I would any other, but as I got older I found an interesting correlation in the name to how George’s boss treated him. He was just another cog in the machine, but an important one. Tasks and success revolved around his performance. Mr. Cogswell relied on George to further his company.
Often times you hear people tell you that it’s all about you taking care of your business and making sure you’re doing what you can. I encourage you to reach out for your inner Mr. Cogswell occasionally as well because then you know that you can count on those that stand with you side by side in your professional (and possibly personal) life goals. Allow yourself to rely on others occasionally and have faith that you don’t have to do it all yourself because those beside you were hired for a reason and also have the potential for greatness. So be the cog in your life’s machine and succeed with those around you.
