More recently, I made an analogy about workplace dynamics in regards to someone else’s workplace, but then came to realize that such an analogy could apply to most every workplace to some capacity, naturally of course, referring to my own as well.
But basically, in the workplace, there are workers that are Quarians, and then there are workers that are Geth.
Quarians are workers who are basically trying to survive. Quarians have habits and tendencies that may seem dated and obsolete, but hey, they’ve worked at keeping us alive for X amount of time, there’s little reason to deviate from them, regardless of the fact that if superior, more efficient ways exist. It’s like the Quarians in the Mass Effect storyline, they’re so caught up in general survival, that they’re never really able to put up an earnest fight against the Geth that have taken over their home world.
However, the Geth are technologically superior and have overcome their creators in the Quarians. Survival is a secondary objective for the Geth, because the Geth are always trying to evolve and grow. They are adaptable and by virtue of being more or less robotic, they are willing and capable of changing how things are, as long as it’s more efficient and there’s a logical rationale behind it.
Despite the fact that for the most part, Quarians are good guys and Geth are bad guys, ultimately, being Geth is the superior choice. There’s a reason why the Geth overtake the Quarians in the ME storyline. In the real world, it’s probably better and preferable to be Geth.
I’ve made no secret that things have been somewhat busy and stressful for me at work, much in part to the existence of PowerPoint. Which got me thinking about this analogy again, because how it applies in my case is the simple fact that my office is full of Quarians, while I feel like the only Geth here sometimes.
Without being too specific, there are a lot of, well, older people in my office. I’m still somehow the youngest person here, and I’m 32 now. Needless to say, there are a lot of people with lots more years than I do under their belts, who have some habits and preferences that I personally might find to be somewhat dated, and might be better off with some updating to current times.
Unfortunately, in spite of my suggestions, and in some cases, pleas, the Quarians don’t wish to take any of my advice under consideration. It might lead to infections or the collapse of their comfy state of mundane office life. And ultimately, I get saddled with making egregious charts in PowerPoint, despite the fact that I could re-create any piece of shit done in PowerPoint in InDesign to perfect consistency, and a fifth of the file size, because it’s what the uncompromising Quarians are “comfortable with.”
The Geth may be mechanical and adaptable, but even a single unit would have difficulty surviving when surrounded by obtuse Quarians.
