sueeeus

There has been quite a bit of drastic change exacted on the organization from which I glean my livelihood.  We, as a business unit, have been decimated.  The ax has fallen more than once, and those who remain are wondering what will happen next.  Is the ax looming, the powers that be positioning it just so, for the maximum impact of a swift clean blow?  How should we interpret the writing on the wall?  One could ignore it, and say to oneself that surely, surely the powers that be have an inkling of the long term ramifications of business decisions being implemented now, and these powers that be couldn’t, wouldn’t possibly do something so asinine as to cripple future growth potential by effectively flushing some of their core values down the toilet.  That would be based on the empty assumption that the decision makers apply logic, and use valid business case scenarios to steer their decisions.

Alas.

I ask myself why.  Why are they doing this?  What do they expect to gain?  There is always talk of reducing costs and capturing more of the market share –standard corporate goals.  Somebody must have put together some sort of compelling chart that shows just that.  Or is this somebody’s glory chasing move?  Did one of the golden ones dream up an empire and sell the notion to the council who sagely nod in agreement, lo, it must be good and lo, make it so.

These golden ones are so far removed from the inner workings of the company that they have absolutely no idea how things get done.  They are looking at oversimplified numbers such as the cost of labor, and making jarring decisions based on such.

It seems that the decision makers make their decisions, bask in the limelight of their short term glory, then move onward, upward and away.  Backs are patted, congratulations are extended.  When the dust settles, the company reels in the aftermath, and the forces in the trenches (i.e., those like me) scramble to pick up the pieces and rebuild from the rubble.

I’m angry.  I’ve carefully avoided the word ‘career’ for most of the last 28 years, but it’s fair to say that my livelihood for the past 28 years is and has been important to me.  Most of the time I’ve been able to keep the nose to the grindstone and focus on my work, at the lowest level, and avoid the flatulence that wafts about above me.  In so doing, my colleagues and I have carved a niche of excellence in which we take pride in what we do.  We are steady.  We take care of business.  We keep things going smoothly.  We run like a well-oiled machine.

I like my job.  I like my coworkers.  I like my business unit.  I like what we do.  I like what we stand for.  I don’t want to see a perfectly healthy business go down the drain.  I don’t want to have to change jobs.

One thing is certain.  I am shaken.

And I don’t like it.

At all.