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The music orients dance. It tells us when we begin and when we stop and what dance we’ll do. APPLICATION: Time is a kind of background ‘noise’ at work. Everything you do is oriented in some way around time. It’s no good to write a pleading if you don’t get it filed on time. Your grant won’t be accepted, even if it’s excellent, if you don’t get it submitted before deadline. Time dictates how fast you work and defines what you can accomplish. You can write a 500 word article in an hour, but you can’t write a 500 page novel in an hour. 7.Etiquette.
The polka is a strenuous dance and after a while you start to sweat. Who wants to dance with someone who’s sopping wet and smells bad? Likewise who wants to dance with a woman who fights for lead, someone who wipes their nose and then takes your hand, or a 6’4” in man who takes huge strides you can’t keep up with? APPLICATION: Common courtesy greases wheels of any joint project. This involves being sensitive to what’s going on with other person, being able to give and take, practicing good personal hygiene, maintaining healthy boundaries, and knowing how avoid and resolve conflict. 8.The Metarules.
Meta rules are rules about rules. We’re learning learning dance steps, but there are also studio rules. One is that you change partners. Another is that you smile and look pleasant as you dane. The first metarule is written down. The other one you just learn, either by picking it up, or by not doing it and being corrected.
APPLICATION: All systems have metarules. A metarule in a family may be that kids know if they want something from dad, not to ask him when he first comes homes from work. It may be a metarule at your office that rules in policies manual aren’t followed. The policies manual says promotions are based on merit, but everyone knows how they’re really given. 9.You Aren’t Alone.
When you dance there are other couples on floor and man has to keep couple out of harm’s way. Everyone has to move in same direction, with faster couples on outside. APPLICATION: You aren’t alone in workplace either. You can picture it like a dance floor. Everyone’s moving together, but also in their own pattern and you have to make sure two don’t clash. You have to be aware of others, keep out of their way, and avoid hitting them. 10.Learning Styles.
The West Coast Swing is a dance that’s particularly hard for men to learn. I’ve tried different ways to help partner I’m with and what works for one man doesn’t work for another. One man learns by watching, another if you actually move his legs for him.
APPLICATION: You’ll greatly increase your chances of success in working with another person if you’re able to change your style to suit their personality and accommodate to what works with them. This requires empathy and creativity as you try something, observe how it works and then adjust.
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