My 2 pennies
Here's the deal...
I have not said a lot in the past, but I have been saving my pennies and I finally have 2 cents to toss in now...
So that this won't be contrued as a flame war, I'll try to dig back to my college days for anything I vaguely remember about my Organizational Behavior class while trying to keep direct, personal feelings out of it, as much as I can. (So don't try to read between the lines - the screen has none!)
I apologize for the cross posting, but there were multiple places where this seemed to fit as comments and I have no clue who reads what/where/when, so I'm taking the politically incorrect shotgun approach. Also, bear with the typos, spelling and grammar. I'm about 4 hours past my bedtime at this point and when my head hits the keyboard, my nose doesn't type as well as my fingers.
* FACT - FI has not been a happy family for some time, ok years. (Ref - pick one, there are many)
* FACT - Rob & Phyllis have stepped down as directors and asked Andy to take over running the cast. (Ref - Phyllis' e-mail)
* FACT - Andy, director and FI God, says that there is one side, the FI side, and that the petty bullshit has to stop. So much has gone on for so long to bring us to this point, brought to light, then hidden, festered and recycled, usually by people not directly involved. (Ref - Andy's e-mails)
* FACT - All of the backstabbing, the whispers in the dark, the kitchen gossip, the plots, the acrimony, bitterness, and disgust must stop, because if it doesn't, and soon, then none of us deserve to be a part of it. We'll have failed. (Ref - Chris' post)
* FACT - Petty bullshit has NOT stopped and is, in fact, starting up again, already!!! (Ref - withheld at this time)
* FACT - Previously here formentioned FACTs are shown in spirit, but not quoted, and may really just be someone's opinion, but it makes my point, so I'm calling it a FACT.
I have a couple of different opinions on responsibility, where we are now, and where we need to go.
In any organization, ultimately the leaders are responsible for everything that goes on, either explicitly or implicitly. Explicitly, well that is easy. Implicitly, 1) by not doing what should have been done or 2) by doing something they shouldn't have done, to manage the people that they are the leaders of.
Example. In the FD, if my crew goes running into a burning building and 10 min in my FF falls through a hole in the floor and dies, who is responsible? (macabe example, but bear with me - I paid my 2 cents at the door)
* Circumstance? Sure, but we ran into the burning building where the rats were running out. There are eventually going to be holes in the floor... if there is a floor left at all.
* The FF? Sure. Holes are common in building which are on fire. He has had the training to be aware of holes, so he most likely should have been able to detect it, thus preventing falling into it.
* The crew officer, me? Yep. It is my responsibility to keep my crew safe. I (better) have the $25,000 super-dooper, wireless, thermal imaging camera in hand and looking for things like holes in the floor. Not always easy since it only detects heat, but with the training that I have had, it should work. I also have had the same training on holes in floors, plus more experience, so I should have an easier time finding the hole before my FF falls in.
* The Fire Chief? Well who do you think the media is going to absolutly crucify on the 11:00 news? Not the FF! The Fire Chief who didn't provide the training, or protective equipment, or any of 5 bazillion other items that could have saved the FF. Did he do everything that he could to ready the FF for his job? Maybe he did and the new is just looking for a good story at someone else's expense. Maybe not and he deserves to be crucified.
*** My point? In any organization, ultimate responsibility (I would look up the proper terminology in my O.B. book, but it is packed in storage right now) rolls up hill to the leaders of the organization!
HOWEVER, as in many cases, there may not be a single person or circumstance to blame. In the example above ANY ONE, MORE THAN ONE, OR ALL of those reasons could have been the real cause.
To pull this back to FI terms, and to quote someone from the FD discussing who is on the recruitment committee and responsible for finding new members to join the department... Who is responsible for the current state of the cast? "WE ALL ARE!"
Thus starts the rant portion... You have come this far, please keep reading
We are all at fault, either by action or inaction, for the state that the cast is in. A lot of what has gotten us where we are now has been lack of communication, fostering rumors and miscommunications. ok, throw in a bit of spite, hate, discontent, and personal interests, too. This has given us a chain of events which has lead us to where we are now.
Due to a long chain of events, we are not a happy family. Irregardless of my (or anyone's) personal feelings towards Rob & Phyllis as cast directors, they have stepped down and Andy is now in charge. View this as an opportunity!!! Let's try to break the chain of events that has led us to where we are today. (See FACTS above for who/when/why.)
The bad thing is that as disconnected as I am, (I skim LJ and almost never speak to people by IM, much less via phone or in person) I already know that the petty bullshit has already started anew. Again, in trying to keep this away from becoming a flame war, I won't post any details, but I have this pretty close to first hand. And guess what? Petty bullshit is in violation of the FACTs/rules that Andy has laid out for us so that we won't continue to make the same mistakes as in the past!
LJ, e-mail, IM, phones, chats at the fence while hanging clothes, whatever, are all tools. They can be used to create positive experiences or to create negative experiences. FI is not a happy family right now, hence these tools are being used more in a negative way. Lets try to use the change in management in a way that shifts the focus to something more positive that will result in the best show that we can do, because, as Andy points out, that is what this is all about - THE SHOW!
Thanks for listening to my 2 cents worth.
I have not said a lot in the past, but I have been saving my pennies and I finally have 2 cents to toss in now...
So that this won't be contrued as a flame war, I'll try to dig back to my college days for anything I vaguely remember about my Organizational Behavior class while trying to keep direct, personal feelings out of it, as much as I can. (So don't try to read between the lines - the screen has none!)
I apologize for the cross posting, but there were multiple places where this seemed to fit as comments and I have no clue who reads what/where/when, so I'm taking the politically incorrect shotgun approach. Also, bear with the typos, spelling and grammar. I'm about 4 hours past my bedtime at this point and when my head hits the keyboard, my nose doesn't type as well as my fingers.
* FACT - FI has not been a happy family for some time, ok years. (Ref - pick one, there are many)
* FACT - Rob & Phyllis have stepped down as directors and asked Andy to take over running the cast. (Ref - Phyllis' e-mail)
* FACT - Andy, director and FI God, says that there is one side, the FI side, and that the petty bullshit has to stop. So much has gone on for so long to bring us to this point, brought to light, then hidden, festered and recycled, usually by people not directly involved. (Ref - Andy's e-mails)
* FACT - All of the backstabbing, the whispers in the dark, the kitchen gossip, the plots, the acrimony, bitterness, and disgust must stop, because if it doesn't, and soon, then none of us deserve to be a part of it. We'll have failed. (Ref - Chris' post)
* FACT - Petty bullshit has NOT stopped and is, in fact, starting up again, already!!! (Ref - withheld at this time)
* FACT - Previously here formentioned FACTs are shown in spirit, but not quoted, and may really just be someone's opinion, but it makes my point, so I'm calling it a FACT.
I have a couple of different opinions on responsibility, where we are now, and where we need to go.
In any organization, ultimately the leaders are responsible for everything that goes on, either explicitly or implicitly. Explicitly, well that is easy. Implicitly, 1) by not doing what should have been done or 2) by doing something they shouldn't have done, to manage the people that they are the leaders of.
Example. In the FD, if my crew goes running into a burning building and 10 min in my FF falls through a hole in the floor and dies, who is responsible? (macabe example, but bear with me - I paid my 2 cents at the door)
* Circumstance? Sure, but we ran into the burning building where the rats were running out. There are eventually going to be holes in the floor... if there is a floor left at all.
* The FF? Sure. Holes are common in building which are on fire. He has had the training to be aware of holes, so he most likely should have been able to detect it, thus preventing falling into it.
* The crew officer, me? Yep. It is my responsibility to keep my crew safe. I (better) have the $25,000 super-dooper, wireless, thermal imaging camera in hand and looking for things like holes in the floor. Not always easy since it only detects heat, but with the training that I have had, it should work. I also have had the same training on holes in floors, plus more experience, so I should have an easier time finding the hole before my FF falls in.
* The Fire Chief? Well who do you think the media is going to absolutly crucify on the 11:00 news? Not the FF! The Fire Chief who didn't provide the training, or protective equipment, or any of 5 bazillion other items that could have saved the FF. Did he do everything that he could to ready the FF for his job? Maybe he did and the new is just looking for a good story at someone else's expense. Maybe not and he deserves to be crucified.
*** My point? In any organization, ultimate responsibility (I would look up the proper terminology in my O.B. book, but it is packed in storage right now) rolls up hill to the leaders of the organization!
HOWEVER, as in many cases, there may not be a single person or circumstance to blame. In the example above ANY ONE, MORE THAN ONE, OR ALL of those reasons could have been the real cause.
To pull this back to FI terms, and to quote someone from the FD discussing who is on the recruitment committee and responsible for finding new members to join the department... Who is responsible for the current state of the cast? "WE ALL ARE!"
Thus starts the rant portion... You have come this far, please keep reading
We are all at fault, either by action or inaction, for the state that the cast is in. A lot of what has gotten us where we are now has been lack of communication, fostering rumors and miscommunications. ok, throw in a bit of spite, hate, discontent, and personal interests, too. This has given us a chain of events which has lead us to where we are now.
Due to a long chain of events, we are not a happy family. Irregardless of my (or anyone's) personal feelings towards Rob & Phyllis as cast directors, they have stepped down and Andy is now in charge. View this as an opportunity!!! Let's try to break the chain of events that has led us to where we are today. (See FACTS above for who/when/why.)
The bad thing is that as disconnected as I am, (I skim LJ and almost never speak to people by IM, much less via phone or in person) I already know that the petty bullshit has already started anew. Again, in trying to keep this away from becoming a flame war, I won't post any details, but I have this pretty close to first hand. And guess what? Petty bullshit is in violation of the FACTs/rules that Andy has laid out for us so that we won't continue to make the same mistakes as in the past!
LJ, e-mail, IM, phones, chats at the fence while hanging clothes, whatever, are all tools. They can be used to create positive experiences or to create negative experiences. FI is not a happy family right now, hence these tools are being used more in a negative way. Lets try to use the change in management in a way that shifts the focus to something more positive that will result in the best show that we can do, because, as Andy points out, that is what this is all about - THE SHOW!
Thanks for listening to my 2 cents worth.