It Will Be Okay!
Excerpt from You Against Them
Copyright © 2011-2012 by John-Talmage Mathis
Rough patches and doubt will exist. However, preparation will allow hurdles to be handled effortlessly. Say, for example, that I know the sidewalk is icy. Therefore, I would take caution while on the sidewalk. Since I have become aware of the dangers ahead, if I were to slip, my weight would reflexively distribute. It would appear as if the trip was a graceful dance routine. Take the same scenario, but instead I’m unaware of the ice. What happens? Once I slip, my arms thrash, I tumble, and my legs knock out those around me.
Preparation readies you for the hurdles as your mind continuously analyzes the environment. These environmental variables are plugged into a perpetual-preparation formula you’ve created subconsciously. The moment an expression becomes logical (or fitting), your mind takes control to avoid an uncontrolled response. A response such as an emotional outburst or a tumble caused by an icy sidewalk.
Whether terminated, fired, discharged, or laid off, the actions you take now will determine whether life becomes bountiful with enjoyment, or comparable to hell.
Preferably, one should hope for the bountiful experience. From this new (perhaps involuntary) journey, my hope is that you uncover insight and internal confidence. This isn’t achieved with ease, though. You may even need to backpedal from the molds impressed upon you.
Let the journey begin today. Set aside time to sit cross-legged in your living room; then allow your mind to wander. Concentrate on the portrait from your childhood. Recall the ambitions and curiosities you had at that time. Now get ready. It’s time to make these dreams a reality.
Here’s a caveat: to make these dreams a reality, you’ll likely work ten times harder than you have worked at past jobs. Work ten times harder? That seems a bit discouraging. Upon face value, it is. But if you really enjoy and are passionate about your dreams, it’s the glance at a watch that indicates twelve hours have passed.
The moment effort is exerted toward a dream, the dream takes shape as a reality. To better illustrate: I may have always wanted to build a house, but until the floor plan is sketched and the wood is cut, the dream is just that . . . a dream.
Each day, dreams are pushed to the far reaches of the mind. They come to light after the consumption of one too many beers. They are reminders during difficult times; while on vacation; or on sleepless nights as we hear our questioning soul: what have I done with my life?
Don’t forget:
Ruts aren’t that much different . . .
from graves.
Like the majority of society, at some point you’ve considered yourself stuck in a rut. During this time, were you truly excited to wake in the morning for work? Did you have a spring in your step? Or was each day worked because of a responsibility to a parent or creditor?
Was the rut caused by your job (life)? Let’s consider what a job is. In a loose sense, jobs operate in a socialistic model. Hear me out: We’re given tasks and direction without consideration of our viewpoints. Soon, corporate goals overlap personal goals. This then creates a false sense of security. The end result is the development of a “company man”—free of a personality or individualism.
Promotions, or non-promotions, begin to define our character. Evaluations are then given on our ability to conform to the company’s mission statement. This all becomes a recipe for a herd mentality. Then, like herds, we continue to follow in step even as we hear the descending screams of surprise and fear from those that have wandered off the cliff’s edge.
Let’s look at what a job is. Jobs are mechanized to ensure consistency. As new hardware and software are developed, companies then transfer responsibilities to computers. Put simply, the current explanation for a job’s existence is that human capital is more affordable than the robot or computer that could perform the job. Until a job is outsourced or streamlined through an innovation, an employee is trained to operate robotically. This is what a brand is.
A brand, by definition, is consistent, regardless of location or time. The problem with the consistency model is that as humans, our personalities aren’t consistent. Each of us has a preference in task implementation. Each of us uniquely perceives how we would complete a task.
Consider a daily routine. Offhand, I think of tying my shoelaces. If I were to gather a group of employees and tell them that they can tie their shoes only according to my specific instructions, how much time is wasted as I wait for everyone to become trained in tying their shoes my way? How frustrated would these employees become? Some would adapt quickly; others would become disgruntled.
Once a person becomes proficient—though not necessarily skilled—at a job, the personal finesse is lost. This consistency approach marginalizes an employee. What ends up happening is that the shackled talents become misdirected. Talents of these marginalized employees are then used to shirk the corporate system—naps are taken, games are played, aimless Internet surfing takes place, and the second hands on clocks are watched by the herd.
Are these cheaper-than-a-computer employees bad people? Not at all. However, their internal value has been minimized, and their individualism (personality) isn’t valued. Here lies the problem: if full potential isn’t recognized, the employee isn’t fully utilized. I firmly believe that every person is a genius. It’s only when the genius perspective is exposed that one is defined by society as a genius. Once this genius perspective is recognized, it then has to be nurtured through empowerment.
General George Patton once said, “Don’t tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” This is in contrast to how corporations think. Instead, they fear the failed attempts. The short-term cost of mistakes and the time to learn seem wasteful to them.
Fortunately, some companies have realized that an employee can in fact “surprise” them innovatively. Google utilizes the do-it-your-way principle. Twenty percent of the Google workweek is used to be creative—to daydream new ideas. Has this one day of creativity been wasteful? You be the judge. It’s worth noting that Google’s most successful products have been developed from ideas that came about during this creative time. Google nurtured the genius perspective of their employees.
General Patton and Google realized that empowered employees produce accomplishments that amaze. So the true lesson of productivity is for employers to empower their employees, to value their genius perspective. If this is done, the employee becomes confident and gains an intuition for the more economical (and profitable) approaches that benefit the company.
Sure, not every decision is a breakthrough decision, and hindsight will reveal that some decisions could have been handled better. But ask yourself: what harm was caused by this trial-to-success phase of empowerment? Was the objective completed? Was the customer satisfied? What is the collective value of this employee-empowerment route? Meanwhile, as these follow-up questions are asked, employees (soldiers) will have become dedicated and loyal because their individualism is valued.
It’s easier to provide a checklist than to empower an employee. Operational guidelines are found in every office in any industry. Corporations are inundated with regulations, one-step approaches, and pay-per-piece methods. The guidelines at a fast-food restaurant will even train an employee on the number of pickles to place on a Whopper. Does all this “guidance” create a no-fail system? Not one bit. It’s silly to think otherwise.
Should an employee decide to veer from these corporate policies, they’re disciplined: “According to Policy ABC-Foolish, only two pickles are allowed on a burger.” From a corporate standpoint, this policy appears logical and controls costs to maximize profits. Therefore, if an employee places three pickles on the burger, the employee is terminated for insubordination, theft, and policy violation. This is an extreme case, but I guarantee not much time is needed to find testimonials such as this one.
Let’s put on our tinfoil corporate thinking caps. A quick search on the Internet indicates that a pickle slice costs roughly a penny. Now, imagine that 25 percent of Burger King customers prefer extra pickles on their burgers. In 2010, Burger King had 12,200 outlets. This “giveaway” amounts to a loss of $4.88 per day. Multiply this by a year, and each year the company loses nearly two thousand dollars. Then add the future costs, storage costs of extra pails of pickles, and suddenly, there is an epidemic of runaway costs.
As corporate executives, we conclude: “Oh my goodness, what if customers want an extra tomato that costs fourteen cents? We’ll go bankrupt soon if we allow employees to satisfy customers with pickles and tomatoes.”
Take off the corporate hat. Now imagine yourself as the customer at the counter, confused as an employee informs you that he isn’t allowed to add an extra pickle. How do you respond? Likely, you’ll find a place that allows extra pickles, or you’ll opt to make your own burger with a handful of pickles.
Nevertheless, your discontinued patronage isn’t an immediate measured variable. And so the process begins: an understanding that there’s always more money to be made through incremental quality chipping. Pickle rations go from four pickles to three pickles, and soon a staff of thirty employees becomes ten employees.
Laid off, fired, discharged, or
fed up to where one decides to resign . . .
the question for all is:
“What now?”
# # #
For the (Soon) Unemployed: You Against Them
Copyright © 2011-2012 by John-Talmage Mathis
Rough patches and doubt will exist. However, preparation will allow hurdles to be handled effortlessly. Say, for example, that I know the sidewalk is icy. Therefore, I would take caution while on the sidewalk. Since I have become aware of the dangers ahead, if I were to slip, my weight would reflexively distribute. It would appear as if the trip was a graceful dance routine. Take the same scenario, but instead I’m unaware of the ice. What happens? Once I slip, my arms thrash, I tumble, and my legs knock out those around me.
Preparation readies you for the hurdles as your mind continuously analyzes the environment. These environmental variables are plugged into a perpetual-preparation formula you’ve created subconsciously. The moment an expression becomes logical (or fitting), your mind takes control to avoid an uncontrolled response. A response such as an emotional outburst or a tumble caused by an icy sidewalk.
Whether terminated, fired, discharged, or laid off, the actions you take now will determine whether life becomes bountiful with enjoyment, or comparable to hell.
Preferably, one should hope for the bountiful experience. From this new (perhaps involuntary) journey, my hope is that you uncover insight and internal confidence. This isn’t achieved with ease, though. You may even need to backpedal from the molds impressed upon you.
Let the journey begin today. Set aside time to sit cross-legged in your living room; then allow your mind to wander. Concentrate on the portrait from your childhood. Recall the ambitions and curiosities you had at that time. Now get ready. It’s time to make these dreams a reality.
Here’s a caveat: to make these dreams a reality, you’ll likely work ten times harder than you have worked at past jobs. Work ten times harder? That seems a bit discouraging. Upon face value, it is. But if you really enjoy and are passionate about your dreams, it’s the glance at a watch that indicates twelve hours have passed.
The moment effort is exerted toward a dream, the dream takes shape as a reality. To better illustrate: I may have always wanted to build a house, but until the floor plan is sketched and the wood is cut, the dream is just that . . . a dream.
Each day, dreams are pushed to the far reaches of the mind. They come to light after the consumption of one too many beers. They are reminders during difficult times; while on vacation; or on sleepless nights as we hear our questioning soul: what have I done with my life?
Don’t forget:
Ruts aren’t that much different . . .
from graves.
Like the majority of society, at some point you’ve considered yourself stuck in a rut. During this time, were you truly excited to wake in the morning for work? Did you have a spring in your step? Or was each day worked because of a responsibility to a parent or creditor?
Was the rut caused by your job (life)? Let’s consider what a job is. In a loose sense, jobs operate in a socialistic model. Hear me out: We’re given tasks and direction without consideration of our viewpoints. Soon, corporate goals overlap personal goals. This then creates a false sense of security. The end result is the development of a “company man”—free of a personality or individualism.
Promotions, or non-promotions, begin to define our character. Evaluations are then given on our ability to conform to the company’s mission statement. This all becomes a recipe for a herd mentality. Then, like herds, we continue to follow in step even as we hear the descending screams of surprise and fear from those that have wandered off the cliff’s edge.
Let’s look at what a job is. Jobs are mechanized to ensure consistency. As new hardware and software are developed, companies then transfer responsibilities to computers. Put simply, the current explanation for a job’s existence is that human capital is more affordable than the robot or computer that could perform the job. Until a job is outsourced or streamlined through an innovation, an employee is trained to operate robotically. This is what a brand is.
A brand, by definition, is consistent, regardless of location or time. The problem with the consistency model is that as humans, our personalities aren’t consistent. Each of us has a preference in task implementation. Each of us uniquely perceives how we would complete a task.
Consider a daily routine. Offhand, I think of tying my shoelaces. If I were to gather a group of employees and tell them that they can tie their shoes only according to my specific instructions, how much time is wasted as I wait for everyone to become trained in tying their shoes my way? How frustrated would these employees become? Some would adapt quickly; others would become disgruntled.
Once a person becomes proficient—though not necessarily skilled—at a job, the personal finesse is lost. This consistency approach marginalizes an employee. What ends up happening is that the shackled talents become misdirected. Talents of these marginalized employees are then used to shirk the corporate system—naps are taken, games are played, aimless Internet surfing takes place, and the second hands on clocks are watched by the herd.
Are these cheaper-than-a-computer employees bad people? Not at all. However, their internal value has been minimized, and their individualism (personality) isn’t valued. Here lies the problem: if full potential isn’t recognized, the employee isn’t fully utilized. I firmly believe that every person is a genius. It’s only when the genius perspective is exposed that one is defined by society as a genius. Once this genius perspective is recognized, it then has to be nurtured through empowerment.
General George Patton once said, “Don’t tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” This is in contrast to how corporations think. Instead, they fear the failed attempts. The short-term cost of mistakes and the time to learn seem wasteful to them.
Fortunately, some companies have realized that an employee can in fact “surprise” them innovatively. Google utilizes the do-it-your-way principle. Twenty percent of the Google workweek is used to be creative—to daydream new ideas. Has this one day of creativity been wasteful? You be the judge. It’s worth noting that Google’s most successful products have been developed from ideas that came about during this creative time. Google nurtured the genius perspective of their employees.
General Patton and Google realized that empowered employees produce accomplishments that amaze. So the true lesson of productivity is for employers to empower their employees, to value their genius perspective. If this is done, the employee becomes confident and gains an intuition for the more economical (and profitable) approaches that benefit the company.
Sure, not every decision is a breakthrough decision, and hindsight will reveal that some decisions could have been handled better. But ask yourself: what harm was caused by this trial-to-success phase of empowerment? Was the objective completed? Was the customer satisfied? What is the collective value of this employee-empowerment route? Meanwhile, as these follow-up questions are asked, employees (soldiers) will have become dedicated and loyal because their individualism is valued.
It’s easier to provide a checklist than to empower an employee. Operational guidelines are found in every office in any industry. Corporations are inundated with regulations, one-step approaches, and pay-per-piece methods. The guidelines at a fast-food restaurant will even train an employee on the number of pickles to place on a Whopper. Does all this “guidance” create a no-fail system? Not one bit. It’s silly to think otherwise.
Should an employee decide to veer from these corporate policies, they’re disciplined: “According to Policy ABC-Foolish, only two pickles are allowed on a burger.” From a corporate standpoint, this policy appears logical and controls costs to maximize profits. Therefore, if an employee places three pickles on the burger, the employee is terminated for insubordination, theft, and policy violation. This is an extreme case, but I guarantee not much time is needed to find testimonials such as this one.
Let’s put on our tinfoil corporate thinking caps. A quick search on the Internet indicates that a pickle slice costs roughly a penny. Now, imagine that 25 percent of Burger King customers prefer extra pickles on their burgers. In 2010, Burger King had 12,200 outlets. This “giveaway” amounts to a loss of $4.88 per day. Multiply this by a year, and each year the company loses nearly two thousand dollars. Then add the future costs, storage costs of extra pails of pickles, and suddenly, there is an epidemic of runaway costs.
As corporate executives, we conclude: “Oh my goodness, what if customers want an extra tomato that costs fourteen cents? We’ll go bankrupt soon if we allow employees to satisfy customers with pickles and tomatoes.”
Take off the corporate hat. Now imagine yourself as the customer at the counter, confused as an employee informs you that he isn’t allowed to add an extra pickle. How do you respond? Likely, you’ll find a place that allows extra pickles, or you’ll opt to make your own burger with a handful of pickles.
Nevertheless, your discontinued patronage isn’t an immediate measured variable. And so the process begins: an understanding that there’s always more money to be made through incremental quality chipping. Pickle rations go from four pickles to three pickles, and soon a staff of thirty employees becomes ten employees.
Laid off, fired, discharged, or
fed up to where one decides to resign . . .
the question for all is:
“What now?”
# # #
For the (Soon) Unemployed: You Against Them
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