I have been having issues….well more than usual
My latest issue: How do I keep this blog fresh and relevant while showcasing my funny side? Then an innocent conversation with a co-worker reminded me of what was right before my eyes; the illogical and completely hilarious things some top managers do in business. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t know everything (yes yes I admit it) but sometimes some of the things some managers do leave you scratching your head more than a severe case of dandruff.
There is one place I know where everyone was convinced that there was a buck running around. For those of you who are unaware, a Buck is a term used to refer to a member of a fictional tribe of people from Guyana who are believed to have magical powers. They are short and have been told to bring wealth to persons who dare to venture to get one. The price of obtaining these riches is to feed him, usually milk, and allow him to live in his owner’s home. If the owner stops providing the food and shelter for the buck bad things will start happening.
This buck had to exist!! Some supernatural being responsible for unexplained fleeting moments of high in a sea of disappointing lows. It was the only thing that made sense! The notion of the buck spread so rapidly that it was the norm to just put everything on him. Pictures falling, issues with the phone lines, unexplained stupidity….all blamed on this fictitious buck. Some of them even saw it darting from here to there in the office, someone said it grew wings, others said they felt as if the buck wasn’t being fed…poor thing….it needed to eat, how would the company get by? The buck was a celebrity. What was really spectacular, I was told the buck seemed to be advising management on some of the company’s major decisions. How else do you explain all of management going on vacation at a crucial time in the company’s history or generating new business by watching television and movies online and constantly updating Facebook posts.
(D)at (D)amn (B)uck was smart!!!
I am sure some of you can relate. Is it that when you reach a certain level logic means something different? Sometimes I wonder how some companies remain and boast about their ‘wealth of experience’ when internally things are crumbling. Workers congregate at each other’s desk with no other motive than to bad talk the company heads. Tragic but true. How can you begin to make your clients happy when your staff is not.
I have enlisted the help of my friends to keep me grounded and advise me when I start joining the cult known as upper level management. I will not wish bad on anyone, it can’t be easy watching everything you work for literally fall apart in front of you. I have a friend who owns his own business and he supplies to this one particular client, last year they were riding high but a blind man could have seen what they were doing wasn’t making sense. Their communication skills, or lack thereof, was not strategic, they seemed to be ‘all over the place’. It was like they were sailing right toward the iceberg and, as the story goes, once the ship hits there is nothing you can do to save it, and sadly the captain usually goes down with the ship. It’s easy to say that maybe, just maybe, the phenomenon of the buck was present, if only for that first year, cause now, the end is clearly in sight for this particular client.
So my simple advice, if you do decide to enlist the help of buck to succeed, please feed him and make sure he doesn’t get out. Cause the term “more bang for your buck” may take on a whole different meaning
