Totem Poles

I was talking to a buddy (Stuart Celarier) at work the other day about work in general. I made a comment to Stuart about where I stood on the totem pole, so he needed to take my comment for what it was worth.

Stuart said that he had to disagree with my place on the totem pole. His point was the totems higher on the pole might be seen more, but without all of the the lower totems, the higher totems would not be the presence that they are. If the base of the totem pole crumbles, the hole pole crumbles.

Garth Brooks has a song entitled Friends in Low Places. I am not exactly sure of the intended meaning of the song, but I like to think that if you want something done, it is better to know people in low places that can actually get the work done than knowing someone at the very top who may or may not have time to try to find someone further down the totem pole to get the task done for you.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as reminding them that they are important to the totem pole even if they are not seen as they are towards the bottom - or on the bottom.