Lessons from a Rogue Frog
We’ve worked on teams where one person does their own thing, in spite of what the others need or what the project scope is. Sometimes it’s a co-worker, our boss, and sometimes, it may even be us. Today’s blog explores the impact of going rogue through some lessons from an aquatic water frog, we’ll call Fred.
We acquired Fred, and another frog named Chill, after our daughter had begged and begged for another dog, which we refused to get. We settled, instead on frogs, close to dog in sound, but much easier to care for.
Oh, Fred…
From the go, Fred was a jumpy, little thing who worked endlessly to escape the confines of safety we provided for him. Any chance he had to break free, he would. We rescued him from a Kleenex box he managed to climb (an impressive feat for a web-footed frog that doesn’t jump), rescued him from the u-bend in the kitchen sink when he made a run for it and rescued him out from under the stove.
Then, one day, Fred saw his chance. We had gotten a new tank to give the frogs more space and light, but there was a hitch. Where the water filter rested on the tank, there was a small opening, big enough for a gutsy frog to slip through.
We debated if he’d get out, then decided the climb between the water level and the rim of the tank would be enough of a deterrent to keep Fred safe. Alas, it wasn’t. The next day, we found Fred about 15 feet away, having dropped off the counter and scooting across the linoleum and carpet. Fred was alive but clearly weakened by his experience.
A few days later, he turned from a dark charcoal gray to a very light beige gray. We feared the worst, and sure enough, a few days later, Fred was floating at the top of the aquarium.
People On Our Teams
Why do I tell you this? Because Fred is like some of the people on our teams. We work hard to provide places where they thrive, where they are taken care of, where they receive decent treatment. Some people, like Fred, don’t believe our intent to be kind and helpful. They can’t live with the confines they have been given.
What do we do with the Freds on our team? For those that believe we wish them ill, we provide consistent assurance of our intent. It may not be enough. Those coworkers may have been hurt by another employer or by life circumstances. We can’t make them change their minds about us. We can only be us as consistently as possible.
For those who rebel and seek an alternative way, maybe we’re actually holding them back by hoping they will learn to conform. I think of the many artistic folks in my life who would go stir crazy in a corporate job. They long for freedom. Maybe our job is to help them find safe ways to transition to other environments.
We all have colleagues who remind us of Fred. We lost our little frog and while not directly tied to life in corporate America, but I think his lesson rings true.
To all of the Freds in our lives – may your journeys teach us and remind us we aren’t all alike. Everyone and thing can teach us lessons.
Keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams. To buy her book or inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com.
