Fitting In

Quoted from this succinct article at Flying Solo:

It is hard having to share your workplace with other people and the noise they make, the silly ideas they have, the different pace and priorities they have. It is hard going to meetings you didn’t organise and are not running. It is hard being new and trying to fit into an organisation’s culture and ways of doing things. It is hard to impose your own ideas on an organisation that has survived for ages without them. It is hard being exposed to unionist and anti-management philosophies when you have been a boss your whole working life. It is hard fronting up everyday when you don’t feel like it. It is hard not having your expertise recognised by your employer. I couldn’t agree more.

Interpreting Life’s Hardships Through My Lens

Sharing a workplace with others isn’t just hard—it’s an exercise in patience and compromise. When I read the quote, “It’s hard having to share your workplace with other people and the noise they make, the silly ideas they have, the different pace and priorities they have,” it struck a chord. For me, working solo has always been my sweet spot.

Running my own window cleaning business, I get to control the pace, the workflow, and yes, the noise. But in a shared environment, it feels like chaos—clashing ideas and priorities competing for attention, and none of them match mine.

“It’s hard going to meetings you didn’t organise and are not running.” Absolutely. If there’s one thing I find draining, it’s sitting in a meeting I had no hand in shaping. It’s like being dragged into someone else’s drama when you’d rather be crafting your own story. My mind always drifts back to what I could be doing—writing my next blog post or brainstorming ideas that matter to me.

The part about fitting into an organisation’s culture hit home too. It’s hard being new and trying to navigate an environment where everyone already knows the rules, even if they’re unwritten. Now that I have become a veteran window-cleaner, I am now enjoying being able to pass on some of those unwritten and should-be-said-out-loud rules to my subbys (sub contractors) and trainees.

And then there’s imposing your ideas. That’s tough when you’re someone like me, with years of experience in HTML, CSS, and running a business. I’ve got ideas that work, but introducing them into a system that’s been running long before I showed up? It feels like yelling into the wind – pointless and exhausting.

The line about unionist and anti-management philosophies hit a nerve. Despite not being the boss much of my life, I’ve always seen management as a necessary part of getting things done. Hearing it criticised daily feels like I’m out of sync with the conversation, like an outsider looking in.

“It’s hard fronting up every day when you don’t feel like it.” Truer words were never spoken. Between family life, health challenges, and juggling creative projects, there are days when just showing up is the real victory. But I do it because it matters – to me and to those who count on me.

Finally, not having my expertise recognised is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s hard to pour years of effort into developing skills only to feel like they’re invisible to those around you. It’s like playing an orchestra and having people say, “Nice kazoo, mate.”

For me, this quote captures the struggle of stepping into someone else’s world. But it also reminds me that I’ve faced challenges before and turned them into stories worth telling.

That’s what keeps me going.