{"id":3075,"date":"2019-08-20T15:47:28","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T13:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.no2do.com\/synopse\/?p=3075"},"modified":"2024-10-05T10:11:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-05T08:11:21","slug":"10-treading-conduct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.no2do.com\/synopse\/en\/archives\/3075","title":{"rendered":"10 – treading (conduct)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I was told two job stories these days. Both situations involve encroaching employers. In one case, extra (unpaid) hours are demanded with a flimsy justification; in the other, extra tasks were assigned that require extra work, which is then not paid. The I Ching<\/a>‘s commentary in both cases is 10 – the treading<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

If one seriously answers the various questions posed in the “A Western Approximation<\/a>”, it quickly becomes clear: the only influence we can have on such a situation is to change ourselves, to work on our own attitudes and reaction patterns. Because we cannot change the “boss”, never, he (or she) is beyond our sphere of influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how can I concretely imagine such a situation as described by the two users?
I am sitting at my desk. I am doing my work calmly and conscientiously. Suddenly, my employer steps behind me. He\/she opens his\/her mouth… and assigns me more tasks. A huge increase in tasks. A sea of tasks. An ocean of tasks.<\/em>
I feel a bit like Cinderella. Cinderella who has to pick the peas, and when she’s almost done, the wicked stepmother comes and brings her another pot of peas…. Cinderella never finishes.<\/em>
Like me. The work is never “done,” never finally good. And that’s why I can never relax, there’s always new, more, more work to do….<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can I free myself from such a cycle? Let’s deal with the questions of “A Western Approximation”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can I maintain the balance? Am I aware of the boundary? The boundary between me and you?
<\/em>Ah, there is a boundary… I and my employer are two different<\/strong> people – with different positions, desire<\/a>s, concerns. And it’s perfectly normal for us to have different concerns….
Actually, that‘s all obvious, it’s as clear as day. So clear that it sometimes completely… escapes us….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where exactly is this boundary between me and you? Can I sense myself?
<\/em>When my employer stands in front of me and wants something… do I sense that there is another person<\/strong> who wants something from me? That this other person is separate from me, that s\/he is not part of me, but stands outside of me? That this person is not<\/strong> sitting at the levers of my control system, but that it is me<\/strong> who has the power over my control system?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is my position – and what is yours?
<\/em>What exactly does my employer want? What are his motivations? To do a good job for his customers, to provide them with a good product. To earn money. Make profits. Cut costs… all right.
I’m certainly part of “doing a good job for his customers” – and I’m part of the costs that need to be cut…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can I feel it, can I sense this I that I am?
<\/em>But I am also more than that. I am more than the “eager beaver ” and the “cost factor” – I am a human being! With an intrinsic value! I am a human being with an inner life… I exist… I feel…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes. Eventually that is the key question of the entire situation: Who actually sets the agenda here, who defines the game, who sets the rules, who says where things go? Who determines how I feel? In a dysfunctional work relationship, the employer sets all of this unilaterally: He or she alone defines the kind work, the amount of work, the price that he or she pays for it – and that I should dutifully fulfill all of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He or she may want it that way. But I may also take a position. What do I think and feel? What do I think about the customers who want to have good work? What do I want in return? Where do I actually stand?
Exactly. Finding that out is a good thing. Because only when I know that, can I conduct<\/em> myself accordingly…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scope of Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here a few more inquiries which I received some time ago regarding Hexagram<\/a> 10 – treading (conduct)<\/em> . They are about an important decisions that have been made, and the process of carefully re-examining these decisions afterwards, based on reality. So again, it’s about weighing two different perspectives, one’s own internal perspective and the external “environment”-perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n