Don't Rush Me!

We all know it takes time to do things and that when we feel rushed we do shoddy work. So let me sit here quietly for a moment at take a breather, will you? I cannot believe these people here. It seems like everything is so urgent these days. All right, all right, I’ll be right there. How can’t they see that I need time to gather information?

I wonder what Jane and Connie are up to. Last time I walked on by and barely glanced inside Jane’s office, she seemed to be chatting on the phone with someone. I bet she wasn’t working: all giggles and smiles. I surely recognize that look. Here I am, doing all this work for them and they can’t event have the decency to keep those blinds by the door all the way up, like we said in our email memo last week.

With all these visitors coming in from other offices, we need to make sure that the blinds stay open so people do not feel left out as they walk up and down the hallways. No wonder nothing ever gets done here! If it weren’t for my brilliant and timely policies, these people would just rob the place blind.

Hey, are those free polo shirts I see in the kitchen? Better grab one right away, people tend to be so quick with that stuff. I wonder if it’s okay to take those promotional samples on the desk over there. They’ve been sitting in that same spot for a couple of weeks now, surely they had plenty of time to decide if they want to order them or not. Well, better walk back to the kitchen and get a little more water, I do not seem to have filled the cup.

Look at that, already almost noon and he’s still on the phone. What can be so important that he needs to be constantly making calls? And I know he’s got some joke there on the screen. The computer might be angled differently, but I know better. I noticed all those jokes more than once when I glanced in.

No you cannot go there: the boss is busy, can’t you see he has the door closed? I’m going to write it down here that she came twice this morning. What does she want? It’s so hard to keep track of everything that goes on in here. No wonder I need a vacation. And now all these people want to know more about the HR memos. Enough already! This is all more work for me.

This is your average organization here:

• Starving for attention
• Desperate for resources
• Needing a swift reminder

It’s not by continuous and vigilante-style watching that your people will perform better. Who wants to show up in this environment?

Comments

[Joe Raasch]

Valeria,

I'm not sure if this belongs here or under Beautiful Single Words:

TOXIC

That is the culture you're describing. Departments or companies like this are usually blind-sided when there is a layoff or closure. "Didn't see that coming" - right, because they're focused more on the business of nosing about than the business of business.

What causes good companies to go bad like this example? Methinks I smell a bad manager, or at least one where the skill/will/resource don't match well to the task.

[Drew McLellan]

Valeria,

I read your post and shook my head. I existed in those kinds of environments for too long. And Joe is right -- they are toxic.

I am so lucky to work in a place where that sort of thing doesn't happen very often (never =fantasyland!) because everyone acts like they own the joint!

Employees cheat, complain and steal when they feel invisible.

That's a good lesson for us employers to remember.

Thanks for the reminder.

Drew

[Valeria Maltoni]

Joe -- yes, the word toxic is quite appropriate and Drew here put his finger on it.

Drew -- "Employees cheat, complain and steal when they feel invisible." That is also what I've observed.

[David Armano]

*Sigh.

What else can I say?

*Sigh.

Such is corporate life.

[CK]

Wonderful post (and graphic). Perfect way to get your point across--agree with the adjective "toxic".