“Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.”
Mark Twain
Tag: frustration relief
I Dream of “Star Wars,” or Darth Vader’s Management Style
At the risk of exposing myself to the readers’ harsh judgement, I have to admit that there are moments when even my long-time experience of controlling emotions in the work environment is not enough to tame the feeling of… ENRAGEMENT some people manage to ignite inside my being. Hell, even the Page of Frustration doesn’t help.
Some dense employees endlessly making the same errors, or chiefs of irrelevant operating sectors creating disasters behind your back, or (most likely) all of them causing damage simultaneously – these people can make you feel the urge to physically harm them in restitution for the emotional turmoil you experience: bite them, or kick them in the shins, or hit them with a monitor, whatever. Of course, you don’t do any of that. You go and curse at the toilet bowl instead (one of my Personal Tools of Frustration Relief).
During such moments my mind frequently carries me to phantasmagorical events that took place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away;” to the image of a person (can we call him a person?) with no tolerance for poor work performance, unlimited managerial authority, and extraordinary motivational tools – Darth Vader. This was an executive who gave no time for excuses and perfected the methodology of frustration release to the point when he didn’t even have to touch the failing underlings. He destroyed them telepathically!
“You have failed me for the last time…” Ta da! And the offender of the high work standards is grabbing the invisible fingers at his throat. “I find your lack of faith disturbing…” – same result! This definitely puts the audience on alert: every time there is a discussion of the Galactic Empire’s failures or setbacks, you start wondering, will Darth Vader have to choke a bitch again?
People’s opinion of George Lucas’s writing and directorial mastery varies, but we cannot deny the fact that his ideas are brilliant and his intuition about mass audience response patterns can be matched only by someone like Steven Spielberg. Notice, how he populated the “Good Side” with heroic, largely self-sufficient overachievers, who would sacrifice their lives before they allow themselves to fail. It makes perfect organizational sense: if they were as fallible as the Dark Side’s middle management, who would reprimand them? Yoda? Obi-Wan Kenobi? It would never work – they are too soft.
Yoda spent so much time training Luke Skywalker for his intended position as a destroyer of the Empire. Yet, the boy wasn’t quite grasping it. So, who did Lucas choose to show the young warrior what’s what? Who else? Darth Vader: my son, my son, you still kinda suck at this. Let me raise the bar a bit. Whoosh! Luke’s hand goes bye-bye. Now, try to overcome your weaknesses and harness the Force!
I sincerely apologize to the worldwide community of the “Star Wars” nerds, but, even though I admire it as a revolutionary breakthrough in filmmaking, I have to admit that the soap-operatic nature of the material always seemed silly to me. Yet, when the frustration rages in my head, remembering Darth Vader’s chocking scenes is extremely satisfying. Try it!
The Ethicist Randy Cohen Talks About Your Boss
You worked real hard day in and day out. You applied yourself to the very best of your abilities. Finally, you have reached the senior/executive management position. Now, you are the CFO, the Controller, the Director, "the right hand," "the most important person in the company without the title" – it doesn't matter what they call you: you've achieved it. And it's irrelevant that the business is small – in this small pond you are a big fish.Does this mean that now you can tell your boss, the owner of the company, to stop watching porn on your computer after work and leave it on overnight? Even my favorite columnist Randy Cohen, cannot give you a clear answer in his response to one of our peers' query in June 27th New York Times Magazine - The Ethicist: Porn in the Office.He is trying, though: yes, it is not right that the boss doesn't close the browser, that he leaves it for the next user to see, but he doesn't really do anything illegal either, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah…
The point is that our dear entrepreneurs do not separate themselves from their businesses. They treat their place of work as their second home: watching porn, meeting with their friends, letting their kids and pets run around. This could be a $200 million business you helped to build, but THEY REALLY DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY THINKS. It wouldn't even come to their minds to consider the possibility that somebody may be offended, or simply surprised, by the images on the computer screen. And it is not about porn. It's one thing today and another tomorrow – the principal (pun is always intended) attitude is always the same.
And the unfortunate truth is that no matter how important you are to the company, you cannot criticize them, because they will never forget it. They will hold the grudge forever, because subconsciously they feel that they are untouchable royalty in their little kingdoms and NOBODY dares to point out their shortcomings. And if you are experienced and shrewd enough, you will not say a boo (neither would I).
So, here you are, frustrated out of your mind by the unbalance between your professional achievements and organizational position on one side and inability to exercise your personal freedom on the other. All I can advise you to do at this point is to pick your favorite from my list of coping devices listed in One CFO's Personal Tools for Frustration Relief. That's all you can do.
One CFO’s “Page of Frustration”
I thought I'd show you my own Page of Frustration. However, I insist that if you decide to use this method of release, you should create one for yourself according to the general description I provided in item 2 of my previous post One CFO's Personal Tools for Frustration Relief. The process of designing your own Page will not only help you to work out the real reasons behind the frustration, but will also have a therapeutical effect.
The Frustrated CFO 