‘Wish you were here’ by Pink Floyd is one of my most favourite songs of all time.
Every line in that song has some sort of meaning to me but at the moment I have though a lot about “Did they ask you to choose… a walk on part in the war or a lead role in a cage”
Perhaps as I get older and have seen too much in the way of politics in dentistry committees, organisations and associations I realise this rings more and more true every day.
The lead role in the cage is to have a ‘profile’ within an organisation , it is to be seen as the top man when of course there is no such thing as the top man, it’s merely a power struggle between egos and psychos to extract as much advantage from the position as possible before you’re 10 years have elapsed.
Balancing the greeds and needs of other people around who are essential for you to maintain your position and progressively throwing your principles down the disposal pipe until the person who emerges at the top of the tree is a mere shadow of the person who started. Time after time I have seen this. Very few people who enter into the organisational hierarchies come out unscathed!
The alternative is a walk on part in the war. The alternative is a bit part. The alternative is for the unemployable guy who can’t tow the line. The alternative is for the crazy ones.
Mostly these people are marginalised, vilified or looked upon with mild curiosity but just every so often the principles of these type of people emerge and yet they remain answerable to no one. That’s where the real force for change lies, that’s where a difference can be made.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
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