Monday Blues

Ah yes, the joys of a new working week. Time to don the corporate robot mask and feign interest in the well-being of the big business. Work has been hell for the past week, with people demanding my time for their own purposes without caring that I have 15 other people also demanding my time to take care of their needs. Everyone's needs are more important than the others' and no-one is willing to deprioritise their needs. Last year, in my bullshit accepting mode, I would have allowed each demander to live under the impression that I was going to prioritise their needs over others, not to mention my own. No longer. I have begun bluntly stating that work will be done once it gets done, that there are other things more important on my to-do-list and that my time is restricted to 8 hours a day. So far there have been mixed results - some have accepted the fact and have re-negotiated their timelines, others have reacted in shock as if no-one has ever said "no" to them before. Get used to it fuckers, I don't get paid anywhere near enough to cope with all of your shit on top of my own workload.

Is it just me, or is it that the more you are paid the less you are expected to actually produce? It is as if the high altitude of the top rungs of the corporate ladder renders one incapable of actually developing their own spreadsheets and documents. Are they so scared of falling and plunging back to the depths of insignificance that the only way to survive is to cling, screaming, to the ladder and apply pressure on those below them - beating them back and tying them down under unrealistic timelines, workloads and expectations?

This is technically the 5th job I have had in my short career. In the 10-odd years of experience I have, one thing has been made clear - the managers who have real respect for their staff are the ones that get real respect from their staff. Staff are people too! If a manager takes the time to be interested in their staff, their lives inside and outside of work, their dreams, goals, ambitions, needs and worries then their staff will be happier and perform better. It has to be genuine, don't take us for fools. We can see through a veneer of interest like a wet t-shirt on a size DD blond. There is no point pretending to take interest as a prelude to assigning work, we see straight through that shit. Treat us like humans, be a leader and manage for fuck's sake - it's what you get paid to do if your job title includes the word 'manager'.

The scariest thing I find is the bright eyed, bushy tailed graduates of business, economics and commerce walking into their first job at middle-management level. These fools (generally private schooled on family money) have such a warped, naive perspective on business and no real understanding of how things actually work in the real world. Do them (and your company) a favour and make them work in a low paid, customer facing position for 12 months to show them the realities of your business. Let them earn their stripes and develop true knowledge, not the theory based bullshit that they have spent years memorising at university which paints an idealistic world with no colour. I have watched these simpletons struggle to survive, staring blankly as their theoretical worlds come crashing around them, turning into zombies as they push to meet deadlines, workloads and priorities. Part of me feels sorry for them, but then the majority of them are self-obsessed, self-important wankers who have bitten off more than they can chew so it's only a small part.

As I said, work has been hell for the past week.

4 more days to go - God give me strength....


Songs played while writing this entry:
"You Shook Me All Night Long" AC/DC
"October" U2
"Jeremy" Pearl Jam
"Iris" Goo Goo Dolls
"Oblivion" Terrorvision
"My Lovely Man" Red Hot Chili Peppers
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" U2
"Spiral" Pendulum
"Better Man" Pearl Jam
"One" U2
"These Days" Powderfinger