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You are here: Home / Employee Engagement / Bending Over Backwards: Too Much Engagement

Bending Over Backwards: Too Much Engagement

November 26, 2008 by David Zinger 8 Comments

I was flying back to Winnipeg on Air Canada and spotted the following advertisement in the in flight magazine.

I admire the flexibility of the young lady in the picture but I question  the copy in the ad: “there are no prizes for juggling one ball really well…help you keep more balls in the air…you can do even more – explore, create, organize, and accumulate – at the same time”

It made me ponder how much engagement is enough?

Do we need to bend over backwards?

When do we got so overloaded that we get our backs up while our engagement falls down?

It is one thing to go head over heels but what about heel over head?

I think we must be careful of getting stretched so thin that we disappear.

What do you think?

Filed Under: Employee Engagement

Comments

  1. Dick Richards says

    November 26, 2008 at 8:04 am

    This is one great line –> I think we must be careful of getting stretched so thin that we disappear.

  2. Dan says

    November 26, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    I agree, David. I think there is a limit and while it may seem tempting to have newly added capabilities, it feels like we turn into something mechanistic, a robot with more features rather than a broader and deeper — and truly more capable — human being. The tip off language for me was that notion of “and accumulate at the same time….” Accumulate? What?

  3. Corinne says

    November 26, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Too thin can happen. After your “if some one throws you a lemon – duck” post I made up a list of Essential Disengagement. Here it is – just for fun:

    A Anxiety attacks, deep breathing and rehearsals help
    B Bombastic and loud persons
    C Corruption
    D Despair, wise up on Mental Health and Wellness
    E Empire builders, they use you as stepping stones
    F Fault finding, rather set standards
    G Gender abuse
    H Hectic holidays, stay home and switch off your phone and stuff
    I Ignore injury, listen to your pain, rest – heal – adjust
    J Jumping on the bandwagon, think before you decide
    K Kicking and Kissing at work
    L Laziness at work
    M Meaningful conversations are universally irrelevant
    N Negligence
    O Opportunism
    P Pettiness and Politics
    Q Quick anger, anger gives energy – use it positively
    R Rudeness
    S Superman like multitasking is a myth
    T Tunnel vision, step back and get the big picture
    U Usurpers
    V Vengeance
    W Waste
    X X-Ray eyes, don’t assume, investigate properly
    Y Yelling
    Z Zed rating by others, know who you are

  4. Sharon Wilson says

    November 26, 2008 at 6:37 pm

    I think today people stretch themselves so thin over stress that it becomes too unbareable. Although, I do really agree with you on admiring the flexability of the young woman in the picture 🙂

  5. David Zinger says

    November 26, 2008 at 6:57 pm

    Dick,

    I loved that phrase. I saw it in Information Anxiety 2 by Richard Saul Wurman but could not find it again. Perhaps I am stretched too thin!

    David

  6. David Zinger says

    November 26, 2008 at 6:58 pm

    Dan,

    It seems we need to keep accumulating so much. We now purchase off site storage to keep all the stuff.

    David

  7. David Zinger says

    November 26, 2008 at 7:00 pm

    Corinne:

    What an awesome list of disengagers – from jumping on bandwagons to waste…Well said.

    David

  8. David Zinger says

    November 26, 2008 at 7:01 pm

    Sharon,

    I too admire the flexibility of the young lady. I can barely touch my toes these days. Of course I don’t type with my toes…which is probably a good thing.

    David

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David Zinger

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Phone 204 254 2130

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