I was thinking of ridiculous experiences from the past, and remembered one Sunday afternoon when I went to my office to work on some projects. I was single at the time, and had no life, so I would often go to the office on the weekends. It was a bright, sunny day and I decided to do stop by the office to get a couple of things. I entered the building at about noon. I doodled around for about 30 minutes and turned to leave. I opened the door to the main hallway to hear shouting, "STOP, PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!! DO IT!!! NOW!!! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!!
Imagine hearing all of that simultaneously from two policemen as you stare down the barrels of their .38-caliber pistols. I was standing there, disoriented and confused. Both officers have me in their sites, with both hands on their guns as if they were at the shooting range and I was that black target with the white silhouette. It was like being on Law and Order, and I was the "perp."
Needless to say, I was overwhelmed. I said something really intelligent like, "holy shit!" as my hands went into the air. Once the officers determined that they were in control, they asked me who I was and what I was doing there. I told them that it was my office etc. They were eventually satisfied that I was the person I claimed to be and told me that I had tripped the alarm. They told me that no one was supposed to be in the building without first calling the security service to alert them. I told them that I was unaware of that. They seemed convinced that I was clueless and escorted me out of the building.
It turned out that my organization had made some changes in its security procedures. One of them was to connect the door sensors to some security company that called the police department if the alarms were triggered. Everyone was notified; I just didn't pay attention. I paid the price with my cardio-vascular and sympathetic nervous systems. Now, anytime I get a notice from security about the building being closed, I flash on my experience. I pay attention - at least to that.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Social Names
One day an employee was paged to the front desk of the clinic in which he worked. The person who did the paging, Sue (not her real name), said, "Tim Smith (not his real name either, of course!), please report to the front desk." A few minutes later Tim appeared. He told Sue that although Tim was his legal name, his social name was Wilson; and that he would like to be called by Wilson if at all possible.
Sue told everyone that she almost lost it when Tim/Wilson said this to her. She was, however, cordial to Tim/Wilson, and told him that she would try to remember that. What followed was a common scenario when something happens in an organization that falls outside the ordinary. Sue began assigning social names to anyone who requested one. In fact, the only way that one could get a social name was to go to Sue and asked her for one. You could not make up your own social name.
It was uncanny how appropriate this assignment of social names seemed to be. One of the most startling instances was when one of the staff doctors asked Sue for his social name. She immediately said, "Milford" (not the real name, of course!). The name was unusual for this day and age, although it was quite common in 50 years earlier. The amazing thing about this social name was that it was actually the middle name of the staff doctor's father. The father had specifically decided to not use this middle name for his son, the staff doctor, because he didn't want him to go through life being called "Junior." Now, some 40 years later, and in this absurd circumstance, that middle name of "Milford" was assigned to him anyway.
Needless to say, "Milford" was the highlight of the social name era. It provided a lot of laughs as well as curious speculations as to how such a coincidence could occur. No one ever knew whether Tim/Wilson ever became aware of the storm that he initiated. Although it is a great example of how a seemingly innocuous event can provide so much entertainment, it had a profound long-term effect on the organization.
It has been nearly 20 years, and stories of the social names still reverberate within the organization. They have become part of the culture. For those who were part of the organization back then, those stories represent a time when people were connected to one another in much deeper ways than simply doing their jobs. Those days represented a melding of personal and professional lives such that going to work was more than a paycheck or a meaningful job; it was life.
Sue told everyone that she almost lost it when Tim/Wilson said this to her. She was, however, cordial to Tim/Wilson, and told him that she would try to remember that. What followed was a common scenario when something happens in an organization that falls outside the ordinary. Sue began assigning social names to anyone who requested one. In fact, the only way that one could get a social name was to go to Sue and asked her for one. You could not make up your own social name.
It was uncanny how appropriate this assignment of social names seemed to be. One of the most startling instances was when one of the staff doctors asked Sue for his social name. She immediately said, "Milford" (not the real name, of course!). The name was unusual for this day and age, although it was quite common in 50 years earlier. The amazing thing about this social name was that it was actually the middle name of the staff doctor's father. The father had specifically decided to not use this middle name for his son, the staff doctor, because he didn't want him to go through life being called "Junior." Now, some 40 years later, and in this absurd circumstance, that middle name of "Milford" was assigned to him anyway.
Needless to say, "Milford" was the highlight of the social name era. It provided a lot of laughs as well as curious speculations as to how such a coincidence could occur. No one ever knew whether Tim/Wilson ever became aware of the storm that he initiated. Although it is a great example of how a seemingly innocuous event can provide so much entertainment, it had a profound long-term effect on the organization.
It has been nearly 20 years, and stories of the social names still reverberate within the organization. They have become part of the culture. For those who were part of the organization back then, those stories represent a time when people were connected to one another in much deeper ways than simply doing their jobs. Those days represented a melding of personal and professional lives such that going to work was more than a paycheck or a meaningful job; it was life.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Clue Fairy Deficit
There was an election recently for a faculty senate president at a small college. There was only one candidate nominated for the position, who we'll call Sid, but when people saw who it was, they encouraged another faculty member, Rollo, to enter the running. The Rollo refused at first, but reluctantly consented after considering what might happen if Sid won.
Rollo had considerable support from one faction of the facutly, but there were a number of part-time faculty who were unknowns and other old-timers who didn't like Rollo's past association with administration. Rollo had baggage. Having been part of the administration for some years, there were some faculty members who "felt" that he would leak faculty senate secrets to his friends in the administration. He was baffled by that thinking since the faculty senate really had no secret business to conduct. The faculty union handled all of the "secret" stuff. The old guard was still maintianing the the administration has an agenda that opposes the faculty senate, and, therefore, we needed our secrets held closely.
Rollo did not subscribe to this way of thinking and tried to explain his position in a campaign email to the faculty. Sid had sent nothing and had not really done any campaigning other that asking people to vote for him. At a faculty senate meeting when Sid accepted his nomination, someone asked him about what he planned to do as the leader of the senate. His reply was, "whatever you want me to do, I guess." No one, not even Sid, seemed to have a clue as to what he might contribute to the faculty senate by way of leadership.
Well, the election was a landslide victory for Sid. Sixty-six percent of the votes were cast for him. Rollo and his supporters were somewhat surprised, and dismayed, by the outcome; but that was the vote. Everyone waited for first meeting with Sid as leader coming in six weeks.
That first meeting of the faculty senate demonstrated Sid's massive clue fairy deficit. Even before the meeting began, he engaged in a heated finger-pointing exchange with his VP. The VP had taken it upon himself to send out a propsed agenda. Sid had not responded to the email, since he does not read his campus email. The VP was angry that Sid had not responded and that there was no agenda for the meeting. Sid has no idea about decorum and just became defensive and angry. Now it is meeting time, and Sid has no agenda with the exception of the few things that "I just scribbled down before the meeting."
Faculty members were looking at each other incredulously as they realized that Sid had not done anything to prepare for his tenure as President - well, almost nothing. His first order of business was to "make a motion," rather than "moving," (something a president does not do) that we install a plaque with all of the past faculty senate presidents' names on it. After too much discussion about creating a subcommittee to look into this, Sid didn't even know how to call for the vote. He said that he didn't know how to do it and finally fumbled out something like "If you want this plaque raise your hands."
Needless to say, the meeting was a disaster. When faculty members complained to Rollo about how the meeting had gone, he encouraged them to talk with Sid. They were too angry and said that Rollo should do it. Rollo was reluctant because he believed that he would appear to be a "know it all" who was rubbing things in the face of his unworthy opponent.
Sid needed a visit from the Clue Fairy. Had that occurred, Sid would have known to review Robert's Rules of Order and to create an agenda that could be circulated in advance of the meeting; and, perhaps, have some meaningful business to engage. Sometimes we only need a Clue Fairy fly-by to provide us with the slightest hint for what we might do next. This was definitely not the case with Sid. His was a serious Clue Fairy deficit, not amenable to a fly-by therapy. The End.
Rollo had considerable support from one faction of the facutly, but there were a number of part-time faculty who were unknowns and other old-timers who didn't like Rollo's past association with administration. Rollo had baggage. Having been part of the administration for some years, there were some faculty members who "felt" that he would leak faculty senate secrets to his friends in the administration. He was baffled by that thinking since the faculty senate really had no secret business to conduct. The faculty union handled all of the "secret" stuff. The old guard was still maintianing the the administration has an agenda that opposes the faculty senate, and, therefore, we needed our secrets held closely.
Rollo did not subscribe to this way of thinking and tried to explain his position in a campaign email to the faculty. Sid had sent nothing and had not really done any campaigning other that asking people to vote for him. At a faculty senate meeting when Sid accepted his nomination, someone asked him about what he planned to do as the leader of the senate. His reply was, "whatever you want me to do, I guess." No one, not even Sid, seemed to have a clue as to what he might contribute to the faculty senate by way of leadership.
Well, the election was a landslide victory for Sid. Sixty-six percent of the votes were cast for him. Rollo and his supporters were somewhat surprised, and dismayed, by the outcome; but that was the vote. Everyone waited for first meeting with Sid as leader coming in six weeks.
That first meeting of the faculty senate demonstrated Sid's massive clue fairy deficit. Even before the meeting began, he engaged in a heated finger-pointing exchange with his VP. The VP had taken it upon himself to send out a propsed agenda. Sid had not responded to the email, since he does not read his campus email. The VP was angry that Sid had not responded and that there was no agenda for the meeting. Sid has no idea about decorum and just became defensive and angry. Now it is meeting time, and Sid has no agenda with the exception of the few things that "I just scribbled down before the meeting."
Faculty members were looking at each other incredulously as they realized that Sid had not done anything to prepare for his tenure as President - well, almost nothing. His first order of business was to "make a motion," rather than "moving," (something a president does not do) that we install a plaque with all of the past faculty senate presidents' names on it. After too much discussion about creating a subcommittee to look into this, Sid didn't even know how to call for the vote. He said that he didn't know how to do it and finally fumbled out something like "If you want this plaque raise your hands."
Needless to say, the meeting was a disaster. When faculty members complained to Rollo about how the meeting had gone, he encouraged them to talk with Sid. They were too angry and said that Rollo should do it. Rollo was reluctant because he believed that he would appear to be a "know it all" who was rubbing things in the face of his unworthy opponent.
Sid needed a visit from the Clue Fairy. Had that occurred, Sid would have known to review Robert's Rules of Order and to create an agenda that could be circulated in advance of the meeting; and, perhaps, have some meaningful business to engage. Sometimes we only need a Clue Fairy fly-by to provide us with the slightest hint for what we might do next. This was definitely not the case with Sid. His was a serious Clue Fairy deficit, not amenable to a fly-by therapy. The End.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Narcissist
I was at a conference last week. Out of the blue appeared this face from the past. At first I confused the face with one of an old friend. In a moment of confusion, I was glad to see this person. Then reality set in - It was a face from hell!
After the confusion dissipated, the person, whom we will call Bud, introduced himself as someone from my organization many years ago. All those years ago, he was at an entry level and everything he did was supervised closely. Bud didn't like that at all. He believed that his training prior joining our organization should have garnered him more privileges and respect. The reality was that most people thought that Bud was whacked.
During the time that Bud was with us, we audited the work of those at Bud's level very closely. No one was safe from file audits. Our intention was to insure that our clients' records met a high standard of completeness. File audits were a part of weekly business. There was no secret about it. We didn't single people out; we did random audits.
Back to the conference -
Bud is now in my face telling me about his experiences in my organizaton back when. His recollection was that our file audits were focused on him because we were monitoring his actions with his clients. He had become a legend in his own mind. To him, we were checking his files in order to monitor his "creative" activities with clients. I didn't have the heart to tell him that we didn't think he was special - just whacked.
Bud continued to tell me about the incompetence that surrounded him while he was with us. His self-imposed legendary status had reframed nearly everything such that he was the star at the heart of the story. Those of us in supervisory positions were antagonists, while his peers were intellectual wimps and idiots. He proposed that one of his supervisors had committed malpractice, implying that he had held the power of exposing this person. The reality was that the client was safe as long as Bud didn't do anything stupid.
The funniest story that Bud told me was that one of the most respected of his supervisors, Ernie, had secretly told Bud that he was too smart for the system and that he should just dumb-down a little bit while he passed through this level of the organization. Bud went on to say that Ernie had complimented him on being just just as smart as Ernie was, but that Bud needed to play the role of someone below Ernie in order to make the system work. Bud's eyes lit up as he told the story of being on top.
I was standing there in hell - with Bud. He ranted on and on. He later corralled another person at the conference and began the same set of stories. A friend, Emily, who was standing with them was incredulous at the conversation, but was more astounded at the woman who was with Bud. As Bud spoke, this woman began touching Emily's arm, occasionally clutching it, saying, "Listen to him! Listen to him." Emily said that it was like the woman was a cult member watching her guru; hanging on every word. Emily couldn't get over this woman's dedication to Bud's cause. It was all about Bud. All those years ago, it was all about Bud. Nothing had changed.
When I returned from the conference to related the story to Ernie. He almost died laughing as he told me his version of the story. It was all about Bud - and that he was whacked in his narcissistic world.
It can be frustrating to work with narcissistic people. They need to maintain a sense of superiority with those around them. They can be very friendly and complimentary as long as they perceive themselves at the top. If they start to slip out of the top position, they begin the process of denigrating those around them until they can reestablish themselves at the top again.
After the confusion dissipated, the person, whom we will call Bud, introduced himself as someone from my organization many years ago. All those years ago, he was at an entry level and everything he did was supervised closely. Bud didn't like that at all. He believed that his training prior joining our organization should have garnered him more privileges and respect. The reality was that most people thought that Bud was whacked.
During the time that Bud was with us, we audited the work of those at Bud's level very closely. No one was safe from file audits. Our intention was to insure that our clients' records met a high standard of completeness. File audits were a part of weekly business. There was no secret about it. We didn't single people out; we did random audits.
Back to the conference -
Bud is now in my face telling me about his experiences in my organizaton back when. His recollection was that our file audits were focused on him because we were monitoring his actions with his clients. He had become a legend in his own mind. To him, we were checking his files in order to monitor his "creative" activities with clients. I didn't have the heart to tell him that we didn't think he was special - just whacked.
Bud continued to tell me about the incompetence that surrounded him while he was with us. His self-imposed legendary status had reframed nearly everything such that he was the star at the heart of the story. Those of us in supervisory positions were antagonists, while his peers were intellectual wimps and idiots. He proposed that one of his supervisors had committed malpractice, implying that he had held the power of exposing this person. The reality was that the client was safe as long as Bud didn't do anything stupid.
The funniest story that Bud told me was that one of the most respected of his supervisors, Ernie, had secretly told Bud that he was too smart for the system and that he should just dumb-down a little bit while he passed through this level of the organization. Bud went on to say that Ernie had complimented him on being just just as smart as Ernie was, but that Bud needed to play the role of someone below Ernie in order to make the system work. Bud's eyes lit up as he told the story of being on top.
I was standing there in hell - with Bud. He ranted on and on. He later corralled another person at the conference and began the same set of stories. A friend, Emily, who was standing with them was incredulous at the conversation, but was more astounded at the woman who was with Bud. As Bud spoke, this woman began touching Emily's arm, occasionally clutching it, saying, "Listen to him! Listen to him." Emily said that it was like the woman was a cult member watching her guru; hanging on every word. Emily couldn't get over this woman's dedication to Bud's cause. It was all about Bud. All those years ago, it was all about Bud. Nothing had changed.
When I returned from the conference to related the story to Ernie. He almost died laughing as he told me his version of the story. It was all about Bud - and that he was whacked in his narcissistic world.
It can be frustrating to work with narcissistic people. They need to maintain a sense of superiority with those around them. They can be very friendly and complimentary as long as they perceive themselves at the top. If they start to slip out of the top position, they begin the process of denigrating those around them until they can reestablish themselves at the top again.
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