Barack Obama & the Nobel Peace Prize

A day late & a thousand voices too small, but I'll say it anyway . . .

Yesterday I woke up, looked at the headline - and felt proud. Brarack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

Every now and then we choose the hope and promise - it changes the way we think. If he were to disappear tomorrow, he's already changed the way other nations think about America, America about itself, the nations among themselves.

Someone carped yesterday about "Gandhi never got the Peace Prize," but if you go to Obama's roots - back through Carter, King, Mandela & Kennedy - Gandhi's received that prize a dozen or more times, in all shades of spiritual, practical and political terms.

Inspiration. It can, like the flowing water of a river, move more mountains than a battalion of tanks. I'm hoping that the promise can be more than empty words, but I already believe that the words. the hope that Barack Obama offers, is already being fulfilled in the simple, so difficult way of touching people's better soul.

Corporate Gigolinas

The Cube was unfair to single out only the boys yesterday: there are quite a few Corporate "Gigolinas" out there, too. 'Just came across a couple - intelligent women, good speakers, well dressed - with no substantive accomplishment beyond the ability to talk a good business game to the middle-aged male executive or financier with money to lose. 

Now, let's step back a moment and look at both the Corporate Gigolos and Gigolinas. They're not con artists, boy toys or trophy wives-to-be. They are smart young business people who find an older male or female executive with money and a need for validation. The Gigos turn their brains to riding the wave of salaried (high salaried) employment as advisors, personal assistants, consultants to these folks -- never caring one way or another if the plan/project/business is a good idea or not. Doesn't matter to them. Spend the money or budget and, if it starts to run out, look for contacts along the way who are suitably impressed by your appearance and obvious professionalism that you can jump ship with hardly a wet toe.

Corporate Gigolos

'Didn't intend to write any more, but... well...

Met a few guys lately who fall into a category I can only describe as "corporate gigolos". 

What the hell is that?

Well... Take an educated male, with no particular accomplishment, but some education, perhaps some well-developed spiel about a high-tech area of promise, and team him with a woman of some accomplishment but, perhaps, in need of cheering up, or validation, or something to make her current situation make sense.  The "Corporate Gigolo" seduces with the energy of his presentation, the flash of his buzz-word knowledge, the simple fact that he exudes the same confidence that the accomplished woman (or man) had felt for years --- until recently.

Is it real? To a certain extent.

Is it honest? To the extent that the Corporate Gigolo certainly believes in himself.

Is it "honest" honest? No. The Corporate Gigolo exists on words, on promises. He is not an accomplisher - he is  promoter - of himself.

He is very successful. Because - as we all grow older - we understand how little we know. And we want so much - so much - to recapture the confidence of youth.

OK, it's finished. Go back to May 2005 and work your way forward to see the whole story

Unintended Last Day

So this is how it ended. Gone, Good-bye. Kaput mid-day.

Responsibility repaid: Gave the 30 days notice and the offer to help transition anyone new or old into the duties. Told this to The Lead (she still doesn’t have “Manager” behind her name, after 7 years). This was at 8 a.m. She huddled with the Veep at 10 a.m. He huddled with HR at 11 a.m. They called me in at noon – “Can you hold up your lunch for a few minutes” – waited till everyone else had left for vittles, then gave me 15 minutes to clear out my desk. Under supervision.

“Voluntary termination at management request.”

Should have known: The Company is “leaning” again – there’s more Budget credit to cutting me out than having me resign: helps meet the 10% Across-the-Boards management goal.

And the transition?

Hey, nobody – nothing’s – irreplaceable. There’s always someone to take up the slack.

As for the inconvenience, lost time figuring out what’s what, and simple monetary losses from an abrupt departure? That’s what Overhead is all about.

Pretty much of a normal day.

Knowing When To Leave

Probably thought that governments were too bureaucracy-laden and private industry would have more room for initiative. Maybe so, but it seems that whenever you get 3 people together there is a bureaucracy.

Have nothing against bureaucracy as a concept per se, by the way – things have to be organized – but the “bureaucracy” complaining about here is just using Organization as an excuse for, for…

For anything, really. For lack of initiative, of course. For ducking responsibility. To cover tracks. To passively aggress. To excuse when there is no excuse. To manipulate by rules. To let rules decide. To forget what the rules meant for. To dance in a circle.

Ten years ago, maybe longer. Just started in the cubes – not here – and worked in an office with Tom. Seemed like an older man. (40? 45? 50? I was 22, who can tell?) Tom always worked hard. Always busy. Tom had been there so long he had an annual 4 week vacation. We were scared: how do we cover for Tom?!? So, each day, 3 of us divvied up his Incoming and… by Day 4… we were caught up! By Day 5 we could finish his work in ¼ day. By Week 2 one person could finish Tom’s daily workload in ¼ day. Tom, it seems, was always busy because he never finished anything. He simply worked the bureaucracy, filling up one part of an Incoming and forwarding it on, incomplete, with the assurance that it would come back to him in a circle. 4 or 5 steps per Incoming, when he could have done it in 1 or 2. And no one caught on. When he came back, all went back to normal. The circle dance.

(Funny thing – ha, ha – a half year later I was offered promotion to Asst. Manager over Tom [and over the black guy with more knowledge & skill than me]. First thing a “responsible” Asst. Manager would have to do would be to fire Tom – I knew he was not only not carrying his load but was causing others to work harder. This cube worker can’t lay off any middle aged man with a family to care for, so I resigned and found another job elsewhere. Tom was promoted to Asst. Manager. Ha, ha!)

Time to leave here. Give myself 2 months: 30 days notice here and I’ve still got almost 4 weeks of Sick pay accrued – I can scurry around and find something hopefully. It won’t be different anywhere else probably, but I just can’t keep the beat to the circle dance.

Return From Vacation: Déjà Vu

Back from 3 weeks vacation today and – everything – is – exactly – the – same.

Everything.

Not one of the “crisis” issues has been resolved – not even those with “hard” deadlines of 2 weeks earlier.

Desk is piled high with Stuff – expected – but not in a way that indicates any of the Crises were waiting on me. Working my way down the pile(s), I see that the Crises are just going round-and-round in circles.

Maybe that’s why I’m here? The impatience of a lowly cube worker pulling things out of the circle brings resolution? Apparently. Responsibility without Authority.

But what if you don’t want it?