James Carlson posted an interesting article on his blog. I started to comment on it, but then realized that I would end up writing something my blog readers would like to read, so I am including my reply here:
James makes a point that much of what large businesses do makes little sense. The story that is presented is actually much milder than my experiences with companies large and small, not to mention governments. But I have also been guilty of creating lots of these myself, just as I am sure anyone who participates in work life.
There is nothing reasonable at all about waking up to a buzzer that we set for ourselves, dozing ourselves with coffee, jumping in to a metal box that is powered by poisonous substance that we buy from people who in turn use that money to buy weapons that we sell to attack us with. There is nothing at all reasonable to being stuck in traffic for an hour just to get to a place where we interact with people who are very much like people who live next door to us (in fact some of them probably do live next door). There is even less reasonableness, in sending off our kids to be raised by someone else while we are at work hard to earn money to pay those people. At work, we spend loads of time and money to come up with schemes to save or make money, even though most people cannot clearly and reasonably explain why they need to make more of it. We work for organizations that are owned by the stocks that we collectively hold through the retirement account, yet we have no say as to what happens in the workplace. We work hard to make a profit, even though, profit is what we are taxed on.
There is little reasonabliness about the world and even less reasonabliness about large organizations. Yet, the world seems to be dominated with the visions of becoming yet larger.
It is in the midst of this chaos that we can stop and see the beauty and harmony that exists in the perfect love of our Creator. And while that too is unreasonable, it removes all confusion and makes it all clear.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Alen Bosch // Apr 13, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Oleg and his peers raise valid points. Those who run large businesses could not do so without first crafting an environment of fear. Fear of new ideas, fear of standing out and speaking out, fear of some supposed authority. The reason people stay at the companies is that they are like the overbearing mother. Sure she’s manipulative, repressive and random in censure, but she also nurses you and clothes you and keeps you at a level just above desparation, so you fear to leave just a bit more than you fear to stay; so you always feel contingent.
In creating a whole society of fear, the ownership class has given us little else but 45-60 years of toil only to see the next generation (those who survive) performing the same outmoded rites in the same order. Like the rodents in the cages, we are presented only a narrow range of choices and then a loudspeaker chants “you have freedom” into our ears so many times that we believe nothing else. If you step out of the mazes (amazingly still legal), their tone is mockery to shame you into conformity. They pull up their hoods and turn their backs, giving no comfort, offering no aid.
If you do claw your way to the top and don’t get arrested along the way, your company won’t be competitive unless your employees are frightened enough to work but not too much to leave. (Remember Google’s now ridiculous slogan ‘Don’t Be Evil’? Reminds me of the “patriot act’ Rhetorical Dissonance is an American Virtue, it seems)
This economy seems fantastic for large companies. I’m sure many of them haven’t seen this kind of productivity since the days of WWII and out-and-out propaganda. Perhaps the threat of the pink slip is the new economy, and if not at least it may be better than the threat of the bludgeon (remember they tried that too- see the American labor movement in the 19-oughts/teens/twenties).
Oleg offers us a new way of sorts, a different path. Changing our behavior, in and out of companies, is the only way to alter the trajectory (stasis) of the working classes. The ownership classes seem to never know in which century they are living. They are like the generals always preparing for the previous war.
Please read his plan and his blog. You will benefit personally and profesionally. We need to start a petition to get him published in the Harvard Business Review!
Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. -George Orwell
2 Oleg // Apr 15, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Alen,
Thank you for an interesting and insightful comment. The only part of your comment where I disagree is about the class of business owners. In reality, most of the wealth in our country is controlled by the very same people who work for those companies. The retirement plans and 401k’s of the working class are the major shareholders. The problem is that most of us have neglected our responsibilities as business owners to watch over the people that our (usually proxy to people we don’t know) votes elect as board of directors of these businesses.
But I am all for getting published in HBR. In fact I am preparing an article for submission as we speak.
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