X-Ray Vision

Ok, so it has been a weird week and it is late, but there are so many things running through my brain that I wanted to at least try and get this one down.

It has bothered me for years and years the way people view each other, in general, and especially the way people are viewed when trying to get a job. There are a number of instances that come to mind, the first of which is when President Clinton first entered office and was beginning to appoint, and/or nominate people for all the positions that need to be filled. This is an overused phrase, but I do remember this like it was yesterday because the statement, and the process, struck me as so odd. President Clinton and his “people” made a huge deal out of how many Blacks (sorry African Americans), and how many Hispanics, and how many women he was going to hire. Such a big deal that it made me upset because nobody was saying “we are going to hire the best people for the job in each of these positions regardless of race, creed or sexual preference,” which is saying the same thing only with a very different primary measure, being “best.”

Doug Flutie, just another example. What did Doug Flutie do in his football career? Answer, win, at every level, in every league, for every team, and what did the NFL teams do in response? Answer, anytime they could bring in a “prototypical” NFL quarterback to be the starter they did so and then used Doug Flutie as the back-up, and mentor, and what did he do when that quarterback inevitably got injured or was not performing? Answer, win. Doug Flutie was a winner, but he was also small enough to fit on a cereal box and because of this he never got a legitimate chance to have the NFL career that he deserved.

Those are just two of many examples you can find, but I see it in sports, be it coaching or playing, you see it in politics, business, education. Obviously, there are going to be some guidelines that you start with when trying to fill a position of any type, but what do you do if a candidate comes along that is completely out of left field and impossible to evaluate against whatever rubric has been developed? Unfortunately, too often the answer is absolutely nothing. The candidate that is the anomaly relative to whatever position is being filled tends to end up in the do not waste your time pile, or in the circular file, or worse.

I believe it is time for us to not just take a different approach to how we view the above, but people in general. Different than the norm is not a bad thing, especially since nobody even knows who sets the norm. One of my favorite things, all my adult life now that I think about it, has been anytime I have taken a train, the “L,” the “tube,” to and from work because of the people you meet and the random conversations that can be had. My first commuter train was to and from Boston every day, and standing between cars, with the top half of the door open for air, while the smokers smoked, allowed me to get to know people a bit and talk about whatever, while through the glass, back in the car, stuffy, stale aired car, were a group of people sitting two by two with their headphones on and their books and newspapers out not speaking to anyone. If that was the norm, I am glad I am not normal.

Be open to looking at things differently and taking a chance on someone, anyone, regardless of what you first see.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.