The Cubicle Times

OFFICE – Descartes had this famous quote: “I think therefore I am”, and this has stimulated people to think about our own existence; if there’s this process of thinking, then that means I am here.  Maybe it’s a bit too deep for me to understand, or maybe it’s just something philosophers came up with to define themselves, but I think this can be somehow modified to describe certain management styles in corporate America sometimes…

My company just went through another round of layoff, cutting mostly engineers yet again, hoping to reduce the monthly fixed costs to sustain the ever-deteriating business.  It is a tough economy right now still, with 10% umemployment and continuously defaulting homes, and our government is trying (and spending tons) to pull up people’s confidence.  If a company has to stay afloat, certain sacrifices have to be made.  But my problem is that usually it’s the worker bees who get cut first, and last!

If you really think about it, the people doing the actual work are the ones on the bottom, and the people driving the direction (hopefully not into the ocean) are the ones on top overlooking.  Don’t get me wrong, those on top are also doing work, but if they’re not doing their work well, things have to change on the top, too.  When an engineer is not performing to the level expected, he or she can possibly be laid off when the economy is hard or can be fired so that the overall efficiency can be improved; when a management level employee is not performing as expected, he or she, for the greater good, should consider making changes in the current strategy or just get let go.

But we’re all people, and we’re all selfish to a certain degree.  If I were a VP of a company in the red in a tough economy, I would try to first adjust my current strategy, which hopefully could pull us out of the mud.  If it still did not work, I might consider cutting some of my staff for cost purposes; yes, it would hurt, but for the greater good, “we” should do it.  But, if there have been 5 rounds of layoff and things were NOT improving,  maybe there’s something wrong with ME, the upper management! But due to my selfishness, I would not admit that to my colleagues (fellow VPs) and would try to justify my existence.  It’s not me, it’s just the economy; we will get through this period if everyone hangs in there with me.  I cut therefore I am ~!

I might be a bit sarcastic here, but this is also a reminder for myself to hopefully do the right things when important decisions like these were to ever come up in my own life.  Yes, I am selfish, and yes, I make wrong decisions, but I should remind myself to step up and do the right things.  I know many other factors have to be considered, including family and my next job, but ti’s an attitude that will keep us going in the long run~! My grandpa told me that, and he’s not a philosopher :)