You got Peanut Butter in my Chocolate

Harmony is elusive in our lives. We strive to bring it and keep it but sometimes the melody strays and we become lost in the spiral of trailing notes and bitter chords. Keeping all aspects of our lives in tune is difficult to master as we are bombarded with the needs of those around us. Work and life can take its toll on us and those we get the opportunity to love. Discord and unhappiness ring through more often than not.

It is why job boards are so prolific (yes, they are alive and well!) It is why divorce rates are so high. It is why we know so many different types of depression. It is why Nancy Kerrigan's father and Marvin Gaye are dead. It is why self-help books line the shelves of book stores and homes. It is another reason why the economy has been so devastating - the lack of harmony, the falling down of hope and the greed that has shaken corporations, countries, and people.

There was a discussion yesterday by the AMAZING Sandra McCartt that revealed the sexiness of being a Generalist, and I do mean sexy and successful. Confidence exudes it, it is attractive and the best calling card there is. The generalist versus the niche recruiter has been a long-time argument/discussion here on RBC. It is a healthy debate and needs to be heard often. Each of us gets settled into a way of thinking and living that can be stale and uninspiring. The stale leads to... bum, bum.., bum.... unhappiness.

I think the trap we set for ourselves is when we fail to see the whole picture. Josh Letourneau always states a compelling argument that is respectful and, often times, opens my eyes. Open-mindedness, a fresh perspective, an opposing opinion are all necessary in order for growth and to move up a level. Without this growth, a stalemate occurs. Without development, sameness abounds. Without moving onward and upward, our tires spin and mud just gets flung everywhere.

The thing that people often forget about harmony is that it is the differences in the sound that make the song so beautiful. The clash, the opposing ideas bring people together, closer than if we were identical, same thoughts, same goals, same desires. The ying and the yang bring balance, color. Allow for it, don't tune it out. For when you do, you will become out of tune. And out of harmony.

© by rayannethorn

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on January 29, 2010 at 1:51pm

Not sure how you got to the peanut butter/chocolate on this one but now i am digging around in my desk looking for that one last little peanut butter cup that i know is hiding in there some place. I have always opined that if one gets locked in an office one will not starve to death because of the stuff people hide in their desk drawers.

The raging debates that have gone on in our industry about the only way to do this have gone on since the stone age. When all recruiters worked in offices somewhere and mailed resumes, the fax machine came along. A few enterprising souls went, AHA!, "I can work from home, fax resumes and meet candidates at the local coffee shop". The Brick and Mortar elite crew sniffed and looked down their nose , opining that those flakes who did not work in offices in bank buildings were lower life forms who would soon starve to death in a refrigerator box under a bridge. Most didn't and there was some empty office space in bank buildings as the crop of at home faxers grew.

Then came the PC and the internet, recruiters sprang up like mushrooms after a summer rain, needing to call themselves something that sounded better than "working at home", they became "viral" recruiters. Somehow that became sexier than saying "I work at home in my fuzzy slippers". Web sites replaced brick and mortar along with the burning need to overuse superlatives found in our industry, "professional recruiter", "executive recruiter", "retained search firm", "niched expert". Along with the superlatives came the same elitism that sniffed at the fax from home crew back before the internet.

Those of us who have been around since tennis balls were square have mellowed a bit after a lifetime in this industry. We mostly smile at the posturing and current crop of buzz words of the young lions and lionesses that comprise the up and coming young recruiters in our industy until they start beating the drum of "my way is the only way that works". Then we lean back and mutter, "Aw come on".

In this industry or any other it doesn't matter what you call yourself or who your clients are or what buzz words you use. If we deliver we will be successful, if we deliver consistantly we will be consistantly successful. Call youself whatever floats your boat. If you are a niched expert who hasn't made a placement in a year it would be safe to say you are not a successful recruiter. If you are a generalist recruiter who hasn't made a placement in a year it's safe to say you are not a sucessful recruiter. In fact, if you haven't made a placement in a year you aren't a recruiter..you used to be one.

They make ice cream in 31 flavors. The only difference between vanilla and pistacco nut is the nuts. It's all ice cream just different flavors. How about we all enjoy that peanut butter chocolate cup instead of thinking it's somehw different if we call it Chocolatte au Peanuto Buttero. Awe Come on!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Randy Levinson on January 29, 2010 at 4:01pm

Rayanne, here are the two words I love in your post "whole picture" I have been using this term as an alternative to "big picture" for a while now. To me BP is a way of stepping back and seeing everything, taking a good look at the size and scope, oftentimes from a distance of some sort and usually resulting in a perspective that ultimately leaves out a critical part because it's not a large piece of the BP. WP on the other hand is when you look at the BP more closely and more critically you'll not only see the things you don't when looking at the BP, but you also see the way the WP is held together by how things are inter-connected and the reason for them to be part of the same picture altogether.

I worked in an environment where an admitted BP thinking didn't want historical info in how we got to where we were, but just wanted to take in where we were and move forward from there. Destined to not learn from the mistakes of those who came before. And here is where I tie in to your theme. If you were given a chocolate and peanut butter mixture (you can actually get "chocolate peanut butter" in some stores and were told to replicate the flavor you'd be more successful with the historical data and understanding that it is a combination of two distinct products that come together to produce something so harmoniously close to heaven.