The Elite, the Thugs, the Majority

"Society is, always has been and always will be a structure for the exploitation and oppression of the majority through systems of political force dictated by an élite, enforced by thugs, uniformed or not, and upheld by a willful ignorance and stupidity on the part of the very majority whom the system oppresses." Richard Morgan

This was the sign off used by one of my online friends. I just can't agree more with this statement.

Well, the statement may sound too strong for some to accept & I do admit that at times, I'm part of that majority. Do we have a choice then? Yes. But how many dare to make a choice?

It applies to the workplace too.
Systems, frameworks, procedures are created by man, yet, we are the very ones being trapped by something that we've created. Some managed to break through, while some continued to be trapped & moving in circles, hoping to see the light someday.

We have the choice & there are implications after making a choice. Do we want to take the risk? What if it affects others? What if it becomes an even bigger problem after making that choice?

Most of the time we complain about the way bosses treat us. But sometimes it's also how we respond to the bosses that affect how they treat us. I remember having a boss (aka the non-uniformed thug as described above) who would sms or call us late at night or over the weekends when it was nothing particularly urgent. We were like her PDA where she could enter the info anytime she remembered she needed to do something. I didn't know why I had that rebellious streak in me with this particular boss cos usually I'm an obedient staff who would conscientiously follow what my boss require me to do.

I didn't reply all her smses if I don't see the urgency to do so. It's not a life and death issue & it's just tomorrow that she could convey that message to me. At least an email would be less intrusive. It worked. She commented that she realised that I kinda 'switched off' during the weekends & that was why she didn't sms me that often. My other kind colleagues tolerated her nonsense until one day when they gave her the feedback that they would prefer not to receive smses, the boss asked as a matter of factly "Do you mean you prefer me to call instead?"

We all came to the conclusion & I'd prefer to put it as 'She's lonely' rather than 'She's got no life'.

After working in various organisations, I came to realise that sometimes we just need to speak up. Certain issues which we thought it's impossible to solve, may actually turn out to be easily solvable. Of course when to say it, how to put it across & the personality of the boss matter. I might not have left my 1st dream job if I had been more open about the issues I faced. But fortunately, he has now become my 'advisor' cum lunch kaki who shares with me lots of stories about the army.

Sometimes, I don't mind to be the majority just to enjoy that 'wilful ignorance' once in a while. Ignorance is bliss afterall :)

How Company Policy Begins

Read this interesting story in an email & thought of sharing it.
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There is a cage containing 5 monkeys.
Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string & place a set of stairs under it.
Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs & start to climb towards the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.
After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, turn off the cold water.

Remove one monkey from the cage & replace it with a new one.
The new monkey sees the banana & wants to climb the stairs.
To his surprise & horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.
After another attempt & attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys & replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs & is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Again, replace a third original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs & is attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing the fourth & fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys that have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been around here. And that's how company policy begins.

First Day of Blogging

Geeze...got cropped up over the first time i start to blog....was typing a whole lot of stuff when everything went blank when i click 'Publish Post'.....

Well, guess i won't be starting all over then since it's not like writing a report and having to submit to a boss...well am now at my life's crossroad, thinking of what to do with my life...stopped work recently, hoping to sort out what i want in life and sort out my stuff since i shifted house a year ago.

Not easy when one finally has control of one's life...being 'programmed' to do routine or scheduled stuff at work under bosses' or senior management's instructions and suddenly having your own say needs some adjustments...i guess i'm not destined to lead a rich tai tai's life...but perhaps that's what i'm here for, to be of some help to some people out there.

Hoping to start my own business, something that will offer me time flexibility...everywhere i go, it seems to be the same despite the organisations are different industries. The same format of good and nice people in the dept, the yucky senior management, the not-so-nice outcast person (aka common enemy)...well, if i can't make it, then i suppose off i go, back to the corporate world again...but i hope it won't take me too long to realise that i can't make it cos by the age of 35, my market value would have dropped significantly...hopefully by then our working environment or rather the bosses out there are matured enough to see the values older workers can bring.