Unfortunately in this day and age that companies are so blinded by their own inability to succeed that they tend to blame everything on the employees. They forget there needs to be structure and systems in place and many times the best systems will come from those employees already doing the job. Innovation is created when an employee needs to get things done and figures out the best way to do it.
Then you have the boss who comes along and says I don’t like this and how its done so lets change it and do it another way. Of course, not having enough wisdom to trust and respect the innovation of his employees he destroys productivity and morale. Most of us want to do a great job and take pride in what we do. The sad state of affairs in the economy is directly related to the hands-on approaches of most bosses who don’t know how to run businesses. They come along and for no other reasons than major control issues they will virtually self destruct their own companies and when things hit the fan they look at the employees as the fault.
The whole team philosophy is really a whole lot of crap! It’s just another way to cover up someones weakness by having to do their job when because of their inefficiency everything else is screwed up. When things are great because one person took the initiative to make sure they are great they reward the team and everyone wants to take credit. You can have a company operate until it implodes with stupidity and then you get that star. He comes in and transforms all the processes and makes it work. There will be things that are beyond their scope and yet somehow it will still prosper because a foundation has been built on this persons core abilities and sheer determination and hard-work.
All of a sudden everything is running fantastic and great and then the boss thinks in his mind he is losing control, when he never had it to begin with. However, because he believes that the business, albeit running better than it ever was, is no longer in his full control (think ego) they reign everything and everyone back in, regardless if its good or bad. This creates a whole lot of disenfranchised workers who now realize, all the hard-work, all the motivational speeches, all the selling of the dream, are all just some bull-shit form of control.
Eventually the boss will hire outsiders to evaluate the company and maybe, just maybe if the company has any chance the outsider will tell the boss exactly what the employees have known and been doing to overcome the obstacles and challenges that the boss himself has created. Then sure enough the boss will praise the outsider for all the remarkable and amazing help he has given and how he has saved the company from the horrible employees. Feeling downtrodden and used as scapegoats morale will sink even lower and the employees will never really care about the job and secretly will actually do whatever they can to work less and fill those shoes the owner actually created them to fill.
I’ve seen it happen many times before and while it sucks to be a part of a “team” like that, truth be told you’re not. You need to remember to work for you and all the hype about working for the best company out there, no where else to go, every other company is bad and corrupt is just part of their control games. At the end of the day when the job is done and the boss is handing out paychecks I can bet not one of you will be thinking abut how to pay someone elses bills on that team. Look out for yourself and work for yourself. Take pride in what you do, not because of the company or the team but because you yourself are a good worker. Strive to make an impact knowing that the more someone has to preach about what a great company it is the more the are simply covering up the stench of rotten cores.
I’ve been hired to travel all over the world for companies and I can attest that the companies that succeed are the ones that ARE like zappos and not the ones who say they are LIKE them. My resume speaks volumes and I turn down jobs often because you can always tell when a company is pushing their own agenda. Zappos starts on the inside before ever even thinking about a customer. They know they have to treat their employees like gold first before their employees will never care enough to treat their customers like gold. When companies preach about how they want to make a difference and how awesome they are, “We are a team”, what they are 99% of the times are saying is we want the most amount of production for the least amount of pay. They are willing to forgo decency to get it and if that means stepping on you to do it then F*** You. It’s all about a profit and their huge egos.
Again just do your job to the best of your ability. Let everything just flow right on by. There will be times that their comments the things they do are insulting and demeaning, but always remember its about control with them. Let it go and while you are doing what you have to do to get by at your job, remember the biggest payoffs in life come from taking the biggest risks. Sometimes laughing just like my user message, under my picture, says is the absolute best payback you can do to someone. There are a whole lot of things that seem like injustices in the working world when you work for someone else. I say seem, because those things can also motivate you to move on, to take risks and leave people behind in your dust. A good businessman will always succeed. Success recognizes success.
A314 will definitely help you understand all this. Not because you need or want this guy to think you have power over him. When you allow it to bother you, then you already gave him that control. Nope A314 will help you believe in yourself enough to know that you will move on, you will be successful and most importantly, you already took a big risk. Coming here and signing up and telling us your story is that risk and I congratulate you on the first big payoff. A314 is that big payoff and net time, it will be when you start your own thing and look back at the company that failed or is perpetually failing because YOU weren’t around anymore to make it successful.
Welcome my friend, welcome. Your fellow community members are totally here for you. Many of us have been there and many more still are. Taking the next step is always the hardest thing to do. Ambition and determination will set you free.
