A colleague abruptly left the project today, so the buzz was on about reasons, conflicts, memories, and of course, unfinished work.  The point is, many comments were made about personality and since each of ours is different, it only goes that some will get along and others won’t. Yet your personality will be generally viewed as normal or weird.  

So what is weird and is that OK?  I guess that by definition weird is anything not normal.  But that’s kind of scary, because new is not normal, and it’s not always weird.  So does that mean there are degrees of weird?  Further discussion here could be the beginning of a comedy routine, so I’ll shy away from too much further thought on that.  Is that weird?

Where I’d like to go with this is that as consultants, we are first, high performers who are always learning new and different things.  Secondly, when we come in contact with each other our methods don’t always mesh, but because we are professionals, many of us find ways to work past the weird to make normal progress.  We can’t afford to get hung up because our personalities are in conflict.  We get paid and build reputations on results.

Any consultant worth their salt, was once or twice in a bad situation and still managed to create product worthy of their reputation.  We’ve beaten whatever obstacle, weathered the storms and created some great stories to share with junior colleagues.

Everyone is different.  Some are difficult, some are easy-going.  Some are incredibly smart, some – not so much. Some spend all their time on your last nerve and others are instant friends.  Whatever the chemistry, be a student of people; find a way to make your personality work with everyone your presented.  You grow in the process and learn more about yourself.  Seek the path that makes your work accomplishable.  Embrace the weird ones and make their quirks work to the advantage of the project, then move on.

All the world astounds me and I think I understand
That we’re going to keep growing, wait and see.