A 60 second exchange between two girls behind the tills at Waitrose yesterday reminded me that you can never can tell what someone's real skills are.
Girl A - "How was your break?"
Girl B - "What break?"
A - "Your break from work."
B - "Oh that! Actually I was still working, but yeah it was good."
A - "Really? Where were you working then?"
B - "Hong Kong"
A - "...What?"
B - "Hong Kong, I was doing an internship."
A - "Wow. Doing what?"
B - "Investment Banking."
And then they went back to packing shopping. How brilliant is that?! I bet there's more to Girl A as well. I see her often and she always has a glossy, sixties ponytail, bangs swept to one side and flicky eyeliner. I'm quite sure that she's Dusty Springfield in her spare time.
There's so much that we don't know about people, especially the people we work with. Busy, and with our own agendas, we tend to take them at face value.
So; how many amazing things don't you know about your own staff or colleagues? What skills do they have, that they're not getting the chance to use. How much more awesome a place would work be if you knew the whole story?
3 comments:
Great topic! I often wonder if there's more to people around me than meets the eye.
Met a lady who works on the till at my local Tesco. I later discovered that she spends her spare time studying to be a forex forex trader.
In a building where I used to work, there was a guy who worked as a kitchen assistant in the cafeteria. One day, he turned to work in a suit. I asked him if he was on his way to an interview and he told me he was on his way to his new job - as a lawyer.
It's a shame that we often don't get to know our colleagues (and the people we interact with) well enough to hear these interesting stories.
I really like this story. Thank you very much for encouraging us to look behind the first impression and our prejudices.
Cheers,
Gaby
Thanks for your thoughts both. I think there's a really rich seam here. I love the kitchen assistant turned lawyer story - so inspiring.
Sam
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