Symbolic Structures

In an endeavor to cut down costs, we often overstep to cut corners. What seems frivolous, extra, or a good to have feature is actually a need to have the personalized feel of comfort. And many times their needs cannot be justified rationally.

Take example of your workspace, your own bedroom, kitchen or living space. How they are is what you are!. The arrangements of articles, shelves, photo frames, the labeling, coloring, positioning all lead us to internalize the personal experience from the immediate environment. It gives us the ability to find what we need it, turn to places where we get the smiles, motivation, etc. It helps us reduce dependencies, memorization and often by rote, we are confident to use them when we need it.

However, this does not make a case of storing trash or supporting the behavior of mindless storage of everything that comes our way. The subtle difference is that this applies to what we need and use and not to have things that we think we would ever need in future.

Any shift or constraints to accommodate more at expense of cutting of these symbolic structures always keeps us boiling. In work space, frequent shifting of machines, work spaces or moving teams for projects or sharing of telephones are inconsistent practices that we never get around to arrange and set things our way.

Give importance to symbolic structures and observe the teams working conditions. Most of the times, clues for quality problems, motivational issues, conflicts, alignments, bonding lie in careful consideration of allowing needs for personalization with symbolic personalized elements in our own working area.