CP:What Are The Chickens in Your Life?

I recently heard a great story from a friend. Seems he once had a summer job working on a farm, where some people had the job of moving live chickens from one place to another. They had to collect 4 live chickens, 2 under each arm, and take them from one place to another. My friend said that quite often he’d watch someone who got ahold of 4 chickens, started to move them, and then lost control of one chicken and it got away. In almost every case, they would start chasing after the one they dropped, and in the process they almost always lost control of the other three. They ended up with no chickens at all, starting all over again. I have seen people do something similar during the course of their carer path. They have a job they enjoy, that matches their lifestyle and other values, and overall suits them quite well. Then something changes, and the job now has some parts that are not quite so much fun. In some cases it’s a major change, like re-locating across the country, in other cases it might be relatively minor like now having to write extra reports. Their first reaction is to jump ship, and start looking for a new position By just focusing on that one new bad thing, they can lose sight of how good the fit is overall. In some cases, they go so far as to leave that job for a new one, that may not be as good of a fit overall. After the initial excitement of the new job wears off, they realize some of that is not as much fun as they thought, and they are off on the hunt again. It does not have to be this way. I don’t know anyone who loves every aspect of their job, but most of us realize that it’s the overall fit that is most important. If we are lucky enough to enjoy what we do on a daily basis, and feel proud of our contributions on a regular basis, we can put up with a little unpleasantness every now and then. So the next time there is a sudden change at work, stop and think before you react. Evaluate if this is really a bad thing in the long run, or might it be an opportunity for you to learn a new skill, or grow in another way. If not, then you can make a change. If it is, you may find yourself not only with the four chickens you started with, but with something even better. This article was written by freelance scientific communication consultant Lisa M. Balbes, Ph.D. of Balbes Consultants and author of: “Nontraditional Careers for Chemists,” published by Oxford University Press (2006). She blogs on Career Development for Scientists.

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