What does the saying ‘a rolling stone gathers no moss’ mean to you?

I grew up in a culture where calling someone a rolling stone was an insult. It meant that the person was incapable of holding onto one job for very long.

I have always understood that common sayings can have different meanings in different cultures and even across different generations. That’s why I recognize that here in America calling someone a rolling stone could be a compliment. It could mean that you are willing to keep trying different things and different places until you succeed.

But it now seems that ‘willing to’ is being replaced by ‘having to’: The speed at which companies create and destroy jobs mean that you have no option but to be a rolling stone.

Fortunately, the Rolling Stones themselves have shown that even aging rolling stones can have ongoing success, if they keep on reinventing themselves.

Here’s another saying that was quite common when the Rolling Stones were mere pebbles: ‘nature abhors a vacuum’. I suspect quantum physics has disproved this one, but organizations still subscribe to it. Let me explain by asking the following question.

Do you fill your current position?

When an organization needs more people to get the work done, it announces that it has positions that must be filled. If you have a job, then answer this: Do you or don’t you fill the position you’re in?

Some people more than fill the position - these people are soon promoted or move on to something bigger. Some people fill it exactly - and stay where they are. Some people don’t quite fill it and if they don’t develop into it, they are soon asked to empty it completely for someone new who might fill it better.

If you like your job, then fill it exactly and you will keep it. If you want more, then more than fill it so that you expand into something bigger. If you don’t really want it, then don’t really fill it and it wont be yours for long.

Whatever you decide, positions must be filled. But irrespective of what you decide, better you make like a (R)rolling (S)stone.
 

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© 2008 James Henry McIntosh - All rights reserved