The Missing Piece

“I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing”

It was missing a piece,
And it was not happy.
So it set off in search
of its missing piece.
And as it rolled
it sang this song -

Oh I'm lookin' for my missin' piece
I'm lookin' for my missin' piece
Hi-dee-ho, here I go,
Lookin' for my missin' piece.

~Shel Silverstein

If you are at all familiar with this Shel Silverstein book, then you know about the simplest of searches. Finding the missing piece. When I first read this book, I thought - oh, what a cute little story about a circle missing a pie-shaped piece. Then as an adult, as a parent and reading it to my child, it held a different meaning. Finding independence and being ok with it. Knowing that you can survive on your own. Knowing that one must take care of one's own happiness and not be dependent upon another to provide it. Figuring out that maybe there isn't a piece missing, that you are alright just the way you are.

Twenty years later with middle age settling in and a lengthy career in the service and recruiting industry, I see a different story. I see the story of a search - a search for the perfect candidate, the perfect client, the perfect job. And, typically, perfection is short-lived. Sometimes, you just need the "good enough" candidate and sometimes the smaller client is adequate.

Through swamps and jungles,
up mountains and down mountains
Until one day lo and behold...
The potential candidate said,
"I am not your missing piece.
I am nobody's piece,
I am my own piece.
And even if I was somebody's missing piece,
I don't think I'd be yours..."

Oh..., I'm sorry to have bothered you. Would it be alright if I just sent you an email with the particulars and then maybe you will think of someone that might have an interest? Thanks for your time.

The search is what drives some of us, not the finding. Because once the piece is found, our search is done, over, ka-put. I guess it comes down to the age-old question, "Which is more important? the journey or the destination?"

So, what is your missing piece? Is it the candidate? Is it a stable of candidates?
Maybe it is the perfect client? Or a whole database of clients?
Perhaps it is your own job that has become your missing piece. Perhaps your search has been for yourself, finding that right match or dare I say it? The perfect fit. Will you know it when it happens or will it be too small or too big? Can you make it work or will you move on?

Maybe, just maybe, you can roll by yourself.