October 9, 2015,
So I finally got around to reading the article on The New Yorker titled, “Social Animal”. The first couple of paragraphs had me smiling, it almost felt like the author was poking fun at the “Composure Class” the author was writing about. That was until I got to the meat and potatoes of the article, the reason why it was written in the first place. The more I read of the article the more I got to understand what it was trying to convey with it’s story of Harold. Tangible accomplishments were all well in good, but the intangible accomplishments should not be left to the side. If anything nurturing the social aspects of your life regarding your friends and peers is also a great quality to have.
And once again it got me to think. When we leave college and begin working in the field of our choosing, it won’t only be our ability to finish a task on time that helps us to keep our job. It will be our ability to navigate the social settings of our workplace. Our ability to interact with our boss and colleagues can make or break us. I’ve heard stories of people who have lost their jobs, not because they did bad work, from what I’ve heard they did good work. The reason why they lost their jobs was due to their behavior among their colleagues. A while ago my psychology professor told the class about a woman who had an I.Q. of 195, yet she had trouble finding work due to her attitude towards people.
I guess sometimes it’s not always about your ability to do your job, but also how you interact with others.