Insight Into The Workplace Insanity

1935, Social Security was implemented. What some call The Great Depression, I view as nature working it's way into industry.  

People want security and I don't blame them. But my security has always been in my ability. People of ability are always wanted. I am selfish because I refuse to give all my ability away for free. I say ALL because I do give away some of my ability to further a good cause. 

But what does Social Security and ability have in common with workplace insanity? Well, the type of insanity I'm talking about is "Dilbert" insanity. 

You know the "Dilbert" insanity. You've probably seen it. You know the guy at your company that really works hard~the one that cares~he's the one that got fired. 

I'm going to give you a different point of view on the topic of why the best abled people are fired. You'd think companies would want to keep the best people. I only see that mentality in small business. No, best abled people are the first to go because they are most likely to find work elsewhere. 

When they find work your company doesn't have to pay out social security.

 --waiting to let that sink in.--

So, if you feel like you've just gotten burned because you believed in the company and they've let you go without an obvious incident, then consider this: If the company is trying to unload expenses, then the most abled will find work elsewhere giving the company less to worry over in terms of payout.

Now don't panic and start being lazy...

Not all employers think this way. In fact I know most small business owners do not think this way. They still believe that the most efficient worker is the best. However, I've become witness to big companies or companies that just want to maintain status quo do this. Some companies see cutting the most able workers as staunching the bleeding. Not fair, but nature isn't either.

Repost: Who Cares What You Think?

Being the ethics guru my Grandfather is, he has a very profound influence over the business practices I make. Below is an article he wrote for the New Year. Every three months I like to look at where I stand in the year according to goals. Below are his...

At the beginning of every year (perhaps to remind myself) I habitually write a piece  pointing out the reasoning that underlies what I write and why I write.

For those of you who have difficulty buying into Situational Ethics, to understand it as I see it, I suggest the Wikipedia page on that subject. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_ethics

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{From CommPRO.Biz 2013.01.02}

http://www.commpro.biz/corporate-communications/who-cares-what-you-think/

“Who cares what you think?”

The ‘How’ and ‘Why’ to Craft a Meaningful Opinion Piece – Understanding Both Sides

By: W.T. “Bill” McKibben, Senior Counsel, The Great Lakes Group

We like to kick off the New Year responding to the remark we have heard so often over the decades that we have been writing opinion pieces: “Who cares what you think?” Good question. Our response is always the same: “Hopefully, no one.”  However, we keep writing. The goal–to craft a meaningful opinion piece.  Here’s some background to help you get a sense of my ‘how-to’ steps for expressing my passion.

A friend owned the only newspaper and radio station in a small town. He ran editorials in the paper, and personally voiced them on his station. His newspaper would take one side of an issue and he would dispense the opposite on the radio; he wrote both. He believed a good opinion writer should be able to see both sides of an issue, or they shouldn’t be writing the opinion.

While we make every effort to look at both sides, we are not sure we can follow that ideal in every issue we address. We do not write to convince anyone to take up our position. We do the research; often we will have as many as fifty pages of research for a five-hundred-word op-ed. Ethics rarely has two acceptable sides. On the other hand, it isn’t always a simple matter of right and wrong either. Like it or not, Situational Ethics are called for at times; the situation can change the ethical call. There are times when one has to think about the impact of hard-line adherence to what seems the right thing at the moment. Or as our friend Saul Alinsky once defined truth, “You don’t have to cross the street to tell someone how ugly they are.”

So if we don’t write to change your mind, or help you make up your mind, and if we don’t expect people to care what we think, why do we write? We write because the ethical issues we raise seem important to us and we hope you will think about them. We want you to sort through the facts. We want you to search the internet, to read and find a position. If you toss a brick at your computer every time one of our op-eds turns up, that’s OK. At least you are thinking about the issues.

Beware those who disperse opinion for other reasons.

Beware the manipulators.

Happy New Year!

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See you next week.

Be well.

Bill~

W.T. "Bill" McKibben 

The Great Lakes Group

3455 Warner Dr ~ Buffalo NY 14072-1043

LL  716.883.4695  ~ Toll Free  877.619.2793 

Mobile  716.998.9848  ~ WT@McKibben.com

http://ethics-central.blogspot.com/

www.Ethics-Guru.com ~ http://about.me/EthicsGuru

Dichotomy Of Committing

Men really like their ownership. 

So what's with the dichotomy of not committing? Well, there are factors. Let's take a look at how men see commitment, shall we?

Responsibility.
He now becomes your protector, your provider. He feels his freedom is gone forever.

Women feel this is ridiculous. Of course your an independent woman who can make her own choices and commitment means freedom not the lack of it!

But, looking at this from the man's Point of view, here's what he's thinking:

1. Society teaches men they are providers and protectors. Fantastic. Here's what this really means. Guys you are disposable. You get to fight and die for your family. Sounds like fun, huh?

Ridiculous, you say. This isn't medieval times.  

No, but he still has to go to work put food on the table, make sure you're free from roaming bachelors that might take you away, responsibility of taking care of family and that means no time for play thus--no freedom. 

Unless...you prove you are the fun! 

Do you start with questions with...

1. Did you...
2. Why don't you...
3. Can you...

To a guy, those are demands. They are cages you use to circumvent freedom.

Let's replace did you... 
with
What can I do to help you?

Replace Why don't you...
with
Relax, I've got it.

Instead of can you...
say
It would make me so happy if...

There are so many things I see women getting frustrated about that can be avoided. 

First, pretend you're single, and it's all up to you. What I mean by this is, be that confident woman you are. The man in your house is not your maid, and you're not his. 

Second, you are responsible for your own happiness. Not him, not the dog, you. Go out and do things without him. 

Third, don't ask him where he's been. It's his business. Don't volunteer where you've been. It's our business. 

You might think this sounds like less intimacy, but these things create more. The profound freedom in knowing your not responsible for his happiness, and you are responsible for yours is more intimate when you both come together and share experiences through your partners eyes. 

   

      

Mr. Penn Jillette--My New Role Model

Dear Mr. Jillette,

I saw, or rather heard, an interview with you and three women of hysterical ravings about "the gun issue". These women were so incredibly hysterical that I wanted to shut them the hell up. I was going to beg my boyfriend to change the channel until your rational, calm voice brought focus into my world. 

It was like a espresso shot of zen. In the face of such chaotic panic you remained stoic and unaffected by frantic musings of your hosts that typify "hysterical woman". 

My heart went out to you when you sympathetically explained that you had friends with Asperger syndrome and to please don't make fun or blame those people with that affliction for what one individual, with the same affliction, did. 

This note is a hug and a thank you for remaining collected in the face of irrational passion. 

I know those ladies were expressing their fear. They feel helpless and want someone to deal with the problem which is the reason for the high-pitched antics. But, fear and panic is not what the topic needed. 

I am forever your fan.

Sincerely, 

S.N.McKibben

Inexplicable Hikes and Trends In Your Marketing

Listening to the Self Publishing Podcast I had a realization.  But for anyone who hasn't listened to the podcast here's the story behind the epiphany. 

 

Three guys are blah, blah, blah-ing about their other podcast -- cross marketing you know that kind of stuff.  They have another podcast on bad horror flicks.  So they mentioned that the movie they "reviewed" or rather Rock Horror-esk blasted, got a spike in sales. 

 

The people producing this movie might be wondering, what happen?  Why is it being bought now? 

 

Little do they know, a small podcast spiked their sales. 

 

So, next time you see a spike in sales, it might be because they've become a cult classic--in horribleness.  Just saying...