I've had a funny start to my New Year.
I ushered it in with a panicked undertone. I was going to be starting school in the New Year, so I kind of lost my usual clean-up-and-reflect ritual to a checklist of things to do to be ready for school and life in school. I didn't like the vibe, but I chalked it up to starting something new. Turns out that vibe wasn't about the details on the checklist and it wasn't new experience jitters either. Turns out the vibe was a don't do this vibe. So I didn't do it--school, that is. I went in and looked around and realized I was in the wrong place, and I got out. That's a story for another time, or maybe that's the whole story?! Anyway, it dropped me off right where I usually start the New Year: with Clean up and Reflection. Unfortunately (or fortunately if I'm in a particularly groovy frame of mind) we've got a new guy at the table this year who goes by So Now What?!!!. I don't love this guy. And I kinda love this guy.
Like him or not, he got hired the minute I backed out of the plan, and we've got to work with him. He's persistent and asks a lot of questions, like a bored and curious second grader. And he will not be ignored. I can pawn him off on Clean Up or Reflection for short periods of time, but eventually he always comes back to me. It isn't so much that So Now What?!!! needs the plan, it's that he wants to know how the plan is going to turn out. He wants to know how every step is going to look and how it's going to end. And when. And I can't give him that.
Since I'm the boss I went to Human Resources to start his termination proceeding.
"I want to fire that guy," I said.
"On what grounds?" they said.
"On the he's-bugging-the-shit-out-of-me grounds," I said.
Yeah, no can do, they said. They said The Board decided we needed him. So he needs a job description, and a clear list of things to do. They said he has a lot to offer and I have to learn to work with him, but that I can also expect him to learn to work with me. As it turns out, my teammates were part of the hiring process and are totally on board. Reflection felt like we could use a forward facing member, and Clean Up is almost always on overload and could use some help. So he's starting there. So Now What?!!! will be training under Clean Up, and will be allowed to start to introduce suggestions and plans as he gets his sea legs. Reflection's department is strong and established, and I will remain in place as Creative Director.
So, here we go! Clean Up has put So Now What?!!! in charge of making sure all unfinished blog posts are completed (he has to work with me), that the 100 posts goal is met in a timely manner, and that a writing coach is hired, for starters. This gives Reflection and I time to, well, reflect and create before the real hard hitting questions come down the line. So Now What?!!! is insisting on a commitment to a clear schedule, and I'm insisting that our runs and workouts be priority one since it fuels the whole thing. An agreement has been reached, a team has been formed, and this New Year, although not at all what I had planned it to be, might be pretty interesting after all.