Today's Chuckle
I've worked for more people than most, probably because I was fired more often than most. Government bureaucracies. Small businesses. Large ones. Multinational corporations. And, a few enterprises of my own. Almost everywhere I went, I found Dilbert comic strips hanging on bulletin boards and in employee cubicles. Invariably, bosses shared the laugh. Why? Didn't they see that they're the butt of the joke?
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Inasmuch as I have worked for so many employers, I am often asked, "Which is the best managed organization for which you have ever worked?"
I never hesitate to respond, The United States Army.
I suppose that you are chuckling about now. How can that be? Haven't we all heard "the stories"? About the food? About the paperwork? About the mind-numbing drudgery? Of course we have, but the same things can be said of almost any organization.
During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Phillips Petroleum was touted as the best managed corporation in the world. ABC produced a television special describing the secrets of their success. I ordered the enlisted men under my command to view it. We assembled in the company day room to be enlightened.
Generally, most junior ranking personnel put their lives on hold while they were in the Army, until they returned to "the real world". I was hoping to encourage them to see that the Army was a part of the real world.
I wasn't disappointed in my decision. These young men sat open-mouthed as the show described the dress code (uniform) required of executives. How executives' spouses were expected to attend classes to lose their regional accents and thus present a better corporate image. How they were expected to socialize among the right people, in the right places. How employees were trained to follow standard operating procedures.
Ultimately, in these later years when people react with shock to my opinion that the Army is the best managed organization, I respond with a question of my own: "Can you imagine," I asked, "your organization picking up and moving operations on an instant's notice, half-way around the world? And, not only must it continue operations in this distant land, but also shelter, feed, and clothe its employees as well as provide medical care? Oh, and by the way, when you get there, someone is going to be shooting at you."
How well could your organization handle that? I don't think Dilbert's boss could, do you?
I never hesitate to respond, The United States Army.
I suppose that you are chuckling about now. How can that be? Haven't we all heard "the stories"? About the food? About the paperwork? About the mind-numbing drudgery? Of course we have, but the same things can be said of almost any organization.
During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Phillips Petroleum was touted as the best managed corporation in the world. ABC produced a television special describing the secrets of their success. I ordered the enlisted men under my command to view it. We assembled in the company day room to be enlightened.
Generally, most junior ranking personnel put their lives on hold while they were in the Army, until they returned to "the real world". I was hoping to encourage them to see that the Army was a part of the real world.
I wasn't disappointed in my decision. These young men sat open-mouthed as the show described the dress code (uniform) required of executives. How executives' spouses were expected to attend classes to lose their regional accents and thus present a better corporate image. How they were expected to socialize among the right people, in the right places. How employees were trained to follow standard operating procedures.
Ultimately, in these later years when people react with shock to my opinion that the Army is the best managed organization, I respond with a question of my own: "Can you imagine," I asked, "your organization picking up and moving operations on an instant's notice, half-way around the world? And, not only must it continue operations in this distant land, but also shelter, feed, and clothe its employees as well as provide medical care? Oh, and by the way, when you get there, someone is going to be shooting at you."
How well could your organization handle that? I don't think Dilbert's boss could, do you?
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