So, I found myself going down a bit of a rabbit hole the other day, just casually looking up stuff about Clan McLaren. You know how it is, clicking around, reading bits and pieces about Scottish history, tartans, that sort of thing. Saw their motto, something about a Boar’s Rock, ‘Creag an Tuirc’. Interesting enough.
It got me thinking about the whole idea of clans. Loyalty, sticking together, having a group. Sounds nice on paper, right? But where my mind really went was somewhere else entirely. It actually reminded me, funny enough, of this place I used to work at a few years back.
Man, that place. It wasn’t exactly a ‘clan’ in the historical sense, obviously, but it sure felt like one sometimes. There was this core group, the folks who’d been there forever, and they just… operated differently. It was like an invisible wall was up. If you weren’t part of that inner circle, good luck getting anything major done or even heard.
I remember this one project I was really keen on. Spent ages putting together a plan, mapping out all the steps, figuring out the benefits. I really thought it was a solid idea, something that could actually help us out. I prepped everything, double-checked my numbers, got my little presentation ready. Felt pretty good about it.
Then I took it to my manager. He was part of the ‘in’ crowd, you know? Sat down, explained the whole thing. He just sort of listened, nodding slowly, but his eyes were glazed over. When I finished, he gave this non-committal shrug. Said something vague like, “Hmm, interesting idea. We’ll see.”
‘We’ll see’ basically meant ‘no’. I tried following up a week later. Got told things were busy. Tried again. Got some excuse about budgets, even though my plan wasn’t asking for much upfront. It was just… stuck. No clear ‘no’, just… nothing. Meanwhile, I saw other folks, the ones who were always chatting with the boss by the coffee machine, get their half-baked ideas pushed through no problem.
It was incredibly frustrating. Felt like I was shouting into the wind. Didn’t matter how good the work was, it felt like it only mattered who was presenting it. You had to be part of their little clan. If you weren’t, you were just banging your head against a wall.
Didn’t stay there much longer after that. Just couldn’t hack that kind of environment. It drains you, you know? Trying to navigate all that unspoken stuff instead of just getting on with the job.
So yeah, Clan McLaren. Cool history, nice tartan I bet. But that whole ‘clan’ thing? Sometimes it just reminds me of office politics and feeling like an outsider. Give me straightforward any day.
