I saw this painted on a storefront window.
Community, United We Stand.
With all the polarization these days, is this still true?
Unity is literally built into Comm-unity.
Divided, we tear each other apart.
Instead, we could accomplish so much together. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
A colleague was telling me a while back about a dysfunctional organization they were in and how it made them feel…well, dysfunctional.
I told them:
Never let the organization define you! You are who you are.
Honestly, I could see how this situation wore on them.
Then we met up again, and it was like they were a new person.
I asked them what happened and they said how they made a change in their life and sure enough in a healthy setting and culture, they felt great again!
It’s incredible the negative impact that a bad organizational culture can have on its people.
But it’s up to you to find the right place for you, so you can be who you are! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Everyone seems to be talking and concerned about the coronavirus.
Today, one of the people that clean the office told me to be careful and said:
Wash hands. Don’t touch face!
Someone also questioned where fundamentally did this new killer virus come from:
Is this new virus really from eating exotic animals like they say or is it really something that escaped from a Chinese biological laboratory?
Since we are dealing with an origin of the virus that is from a Communist county that represses freedom of information, the Wall Street Journal raised doubts about the information we are getting:
As the outbreak was already under way, the local government did what Communist governments always do: cover up…[and even] China’s president cannot trust the information he is getting. The lack of trust mean he must make decisions in the dark. No institution can function effectively this way.
With coronavirus more contagious than even SARS or MERS, perhaps the most important immediate questions is how far and deep will it spread?
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
No, they’re not noodles.
They are pencils in the museum.
And they are certainly limp, if not completely dead.
Who in the world would use a clown pencil like this?
This is some serious dysfunction.
If I could, I would certainly prescribe some much needed Viagra for these. LOL
They are that sad! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This so reminded me of…
Spider Man, Spider Man, Does Whatever A Spider Can.
Veterans Day must be a great day to get your windows washed.
Or to spin a web of intricate proportions in D.C. politics.
Either way aside from the windows, what of significance is actually getting resolved in our partisan capital?
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Life is not meant to be chaos (or partially that is).
That’s why G-d created a natural order and rules of nature.
From the laws of physics to repeatable mathematical formulations, the universe may be infinitely large and complex, but it is not without standards of function.
According to the Law of Causality, the world is a pattern of action and reaction (or effect), where everything is a consequence of something prior.
Even in Chaos Theory, we find that in apparent randomness, there are underlying patterns.
Absent a miracle, the sun rises every morning and sets every evening.
Yet, nature and man can also bring catastrophe whereby the world seems like one big chaotic mess.
Whether from illness, natural disaster, or conflict, our world, can in a moment be turned on it’s head.
Moreover, it’s all predictably unpredictable.
And it’s up to us to make Order Out Of Chaos (OOOC).
This is where many of us either sink or swim.
When the chips are down, and all the world seems to be imploding with dysfunction, this is where we need to find and make sense and order.
Bad things happen even to good people.
Good people need to find the faith and the strength, and with G-d’s help, rise to the challenge.
Easier said than done, for sure.
In the chaos of things, time may stop and everything becomes a blur.
We may become like a deer in the headlights–frozen with panic and truly not knowing what to do.
But if we can just find which way is up.
Then we can redirect ourselves–rising from the depths of despair to the surface, where the sun is shining and we can gasp a breath again.
Even around our dysfunction is function to be had.
Solve a problem, do something constructive, and help others…it’s all part of making order out of chaos. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Check out this beautiful exterior architecture.
This fine exquisite pattern is all around this building by Metro Center.
I think this must’ve been restored over the last few years, because I don’t remember it being this colorful and awesome in the past.
Civilization can still create some amazing works…whether technology, medical cures, and even beautiful pieces of artwork.
Now we just need to proceed with the positives of creativity and productivity without destroying ourselves with indifference, dysfunction, and mismanagement in the process. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
At one time, it was considered a great honor to work for the Federal government, and people fought for the jobs and to take the civil service exam.
The Civil Service was not only a term, but also a reality filled with honor, dedication, and devotion to one’s country.
Working for the Federal government meant interesting and exciting work opportunities not only defending our great nation, but in making it just and prosperous, and literally a beacon of freedom for the world.
While no one became rich working for the government, you could make a stable living, build tenure over your service, and finally receive a pension upon retirement.
Over the course of almost 20-years of my federal career, I have had the opportunity to serve in positions that I only could have dreamed about as a child, and to feel such pride in serving.
But it seems like times have taken a turn for the worse either willfully or through neglect:
– From Capitol Hill to the Executive Department, we see the extremus of polarization and endless obstacles to getting anything done.
– With each change in administration, aside from a change of leadership and direction at the top of each Department, the workforce is seemingly accused of subversion for the other side and turned on itself.
– Just recently, we’ve seen the longest federal government shutdown lasting 35 days and with hundreds of thousands of Federal workers required to work without pay at the time.
– We have also seen many years of pay freezes–with not even a meager cost of living adjustment (COLA), while the overall economy is booming!
– The pay for grades at the upper levels are hitting up against the Congressional limits with multiple pay steps being the same pay and no increase for career advancement or growth of responsibilities.
– Employees have been forced to endure the A-76 outsourcings, threats of disbanding entire agencies, demands to reduce the size of government, and hiring freezes even while serving a larger population requiring ever more services.
– There have been limitations on the power of employee unions, and an ongoing series of tightening of benefits from CERS to FERS and continuing thereafter requiring greater employee contributions and what feels like ever less benefit payouts.
– Staff are threatened with firing in a short(er) period of time for making a small number of mistakes to a host of “conduct” issues that may or may not be true, and may at times be the outcome of poor leadership rather than problematic employees.
– The system for employment grievances and judging these has gone without a quorum for the longest period on the books and the backlog of cases continues to build.
While no system is perfect, and there are bad apples on every side, there clearly seems to be a devolution of the federal service, and what this means for governing and for our defense and prosperity is yet to be fully felt.
For me, serving the Federal government has been one of the greatest honors and has been many of the best years of my life. My wish is for others going forward to have a positive and productive experience as well.
Perhaps with an appreciation and true respect for the millions of good men and women that serve our country–from the front lines to the back offices–we can once again create a system that is equitable, fair, and just and that inspires the world-class results we needs for our nation and our people.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I heard a story from a friend and colleague that I thought was important.
It was about someone in their organization that was being fired.
The person who was going to be let go went up the chain to complain and said “if I am fired then everything in my subject area is going to fall apart and it will be disastrous to the organization.
The person in charge responded and said, “Listen, even if I were fired, things wouldn’t fall apart; within 2 weeks no one would even remember that I worked here!”
Wow, that is a powerful lesson said that way.
No one is so indispensable.
Everyone is replaceable.
Even the very top people!
The other important thing they said was:
“Don’t think all people are in it to advance the organization; many are in it to help themselves first! Everyone is talking about their salary! Their stock options! Their bonuses!”
I guess it’s not completely surprising right. People do have to look after themselves and their families. But I suppose when you hear it so matter of factly, it sort of really makes you think about the functioning of our companies, agencies, and society.
How much are we getting from people for our organizations and missions vs. how much are people trying to “milk” the system for their benefit?
In the end, (almost) no one is irreplaceable on the job–except maybe a Steve Jobs-type–someone who is truly a one in a million leader.
And if we see people aren’t contributing their fair share and are taking more than they are giving or they are real jerks and hurting others–then why the heck are they still in place? 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I thought this saying from a colleague was really astute.
“Everybody hates the status quo
but nobody wants to change.”
How’s that for a conundrum.
The question is are we more unhappy with the dysfunctional way things are or are we more afraid to make the necessary changes in our life?
I think that when the pain and dysfunction of the status quo are greater than the fear and inconvenience of changing, only then will people quite resisting and adapt to the new reality.
Welcome to change! 😉
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
andyblumenthal