We are ruled by sociopathic ‘tweens (via):
A few days earlier I had been forwarded a memo written by the hedge fund chief Tom Barrack to his underlings at Colony Capital. In it, he described a “personal breakthrough” he had made as a result of reading the Twilight books. “I feel renewed and refreshed, having gotten out of my comfort zone and experiencing something so totally out of my normal realm,” he wrote.
[…..]“Gang,” Mr Barrack starts.
It goes on to describe how after “an agonisingly tough couple of weeks” he took some “yacht time” and chanced upon his daughter’s copy of Twilight. “I don’t get it … but I feel it. Taking the agenda-less time to absorb a point of view that I had ignored while loved ones around me relished it was an oasis for my soul.”
There are long musings on love, on anticipation and vampires, allowing him to draw the following conclusion for his team: “It is hard for us to dream … it is time for all of us … to spend more time outside the strict arithmetic cadence of our business … we must really find the ‘moment’ …”
The part of corporate culture I understand the least is love of soul-searching mass emails, motivational talks from Tony Robbins Tom Friedman, and the like. What’s up with it? Could one of you explain it?
General Stuck
And there are all types of bloodsuckers in it.
General Stuck
When you don’t have one, curiosity blooms.
ts
speaking of Tony Robbins, why is he in bed with A. Huffington?
First Jenny McCarthy, now this?
CynDee
A sense of bloodless disconnectedness floating on a sea of yachtiness?
@General Stuck:
And there are all types of bloodsuckers.
Amen.
MattF
Some of it falls into the category of ‘team building’ which is a euphemism for ‘hijacking social norms in order to improve productivity.’ It happens in academia too, but not in an organized fashion.
BGinCHI
Doug, it’s easy: these guys are all fucking morons. They vampire the wealth out of the system because inside they have an empty moral vacuum.
They are killing culture, unless you think Twilight is culture.
Ezra Pound was right (excepting the anti-semitism)
Chyron HR
But is he on Team Edward or Team Jacob? Why did he omit the most important part?
Cat
We totally live in a meritocracy guys, amirite?
The best and brightest always rise to the top.
Nom de Plume
The part of corporate culture I understand the least is love of soul-searching mass emails
It’s times like this that I’m so happy I’m self-employed I could come.
Josie
Blech – These people would not know an authentic moment if it knocked them down and ran over them.
The Grand Panjandrum
This is almost as important as Juan Williams and Liz Cheney opinion on building a mosque at Ground Zero. To paraphrase our noble host: Kill. Me. Now.
Punchy
OT: (via TPM)…
Judge refuses to dismiss clearly frivilous HCR lawsuit.
Clealy coincidently, 100,043 teabaggers just simulatenously creamed their pants.
PanAmerican
When you starting seeing this crap it’s time to polish up the resume. ‘Cause sure as shit, the perks vanish, outside consultants are brought in and mass layoffs follow. W00T!
PurpleGirl
OT (via Rising Hegemon)
Morrie Yohai, one of the inventors of Cheez Doodles has died; he was 90. Article from Gawker
http://gawker.com/5602013/cheez-doodle-creator-morrie-yohai-dies-at-90
This seemed like a good thread to post this to.
Nicole
Touchy-feely mass emails are what they give you in place of raises.
The Moar You Know
The asshole took some “yacht time” and had a spiritual awakening as the result of reading one of the Twilight novels?
Shit, I can’t explain that, but will happily help mount the hedge fund chief’s head on a stick in a clearing in the middle of the jungle, so that we can all worship it before we go to kill the pig.
Athenae
It is the desperate attempt to convince yourself you matter.
And you know what really pisses me off about these assholes who write motivational bullshit about fucking spending more time with their families and “nobody ever died wishing they spent more time at work” and other such patent horseshit? They never do actually quit to spend more time with their families themselves. They just like to lecture others about the importance of settling for a low paycheck and shit benefits because it’s really, really meaningful, brah.
Fuck that shit. Squared.
A.
Silver
@Cat:
Shit floats.
Marmot
Impossible.
Maybe they lack some sort of critical introspective quality, and need it supplied exogenously? Kind of like bacteria that can’t manufacture … oh, say alanine, and need it supplied in their growth medium? They don’t seem to realize that the rest of us long since mastered that trick.
Dork
“Taking some yacht time” are four words I will likely never, ever get to truthfully utter in my lifetime.
jeffreyw
Thread needs more breakfast.
twiffer
dear fucking god:
first, if you cannot “get” books written specifically for 13 yr olds, i’m not quite sure how you can function as an adult. perhaps that’s the problem right there.
it depresses me to no end that a man who could write such a thing has any sort of job.
edit: perhaps i’m being too harsh. he could be saying he doesn’t get the appeal, but enjoyed the chance to read it as a way of connecting with his daughter. benefit of the doubt and all. still though…it’s twilight.
Ash Can
If these guys would just get up from their desks and laptops and get out more, they’d figure out that there are many experiences that yield far better “moments” than reading a Twilight novel.
Armitage
It’s very simple.
Those at the top have convinced themselves that they got there on account of their superior understanding of the world (and/or inherent betterness…I don’t care if that’s not a word). They must therefore share their wisdom with the rubes, in order to better them (e.g. make them realize how awesome and productive they would be if they’d just be more like the guy in the big chair). It preys on the classic “That person has lots of money. How can I be like her/him?” mentality.
Beyond that, it’s just about trying to trick people into thinking that work is fun and that they should do more of it. That way you can produce more for the company instead of doing dumb things like spending time with your family or having personal interests that don’t help the bottom line.
jon
Affirmation Addiction is a very important thing to maintain social control in the workplace. If the workers don’t get excited by free* pizza or donuts in the breakroom, it can lead to the downfall of a multimillion-dollar corporation. That, or the employees might start to ask for raises and better hours and stuff.
*though it’s probably written off as a business expense
ouroborous
It’s quite simple. Corporate executives spent so much of their time having their nether orifices kissed by toady underlings, and have never had the unpleasant experience that the rest of us have of having someone not-so-gently remind us when we’re making a complete arse of ourselves that they really start to believe in their own greatness.
I worked at Microsoft for a long time; I observed this firsthand. Middle managers, VP’s, whatever, they all believed that they were sage, benevolent, savvy Higher Beings, put on earth to guide us on our path to — if we’re lucky — becoming Just Like Them. I even saw coworkers who, once promoted, seemed to like nothing more than the sound of their own (email) voice. They never once seemed to realize that the reason that they could believe they were so wonderful was that everyone was too terrified to contradict them. They lived in a hall of mirrors, and no new or uncomfortable ideas were allowed to penetrate. So, they did what any human mind would do under such an onslaught of unreality, and started believing the lie — that they were special, that they were brilliant, that they were put on earth to Save Us All (if we’d only all just realize that!)
Given that mindset, that relentless narcissism brought on by the real way that corporate culture works (which incidentally always makes me laugh when I hear GOP talking heads popping off about how we’d all be better off if the country were run like a corporation — please, God, no…) this sort of infantile maundering, coupled with the earnest, almost touch belief that anyone in their right mind could read this tripe without laughing, is perfectly understandable. In some ways, I’m more startled by a corporate executive that is NOT a narcissistic sociopath, than by one who is.
Violet
From my personal experience with those kinds of people, it seems that whatever the latest thing they’re into is what they believe everyone else should be into too. This especially applies if it’s something that stirs their practically dead souls.
It doesn’t matter that the underlings might get the same reaction from some entirely different activity, these sociopathic leaders can’t imagine that others might be different. If it works for them, it should work for you too.
As for why they email, part of it is “you can be like me if you do this”-ness, part of it akin to the wonderment of a baby discovering his or her toes and they just have to share, and part of it is the bizarre idea that if they send out emails like this they are “leading.”
I concur with whoever above said if this sort of thing starts happening, it’s time to polish up the resume.
RareSanity
It is one of the most contrived, arrogant, disconnected acts that an overly inflated ego can produce.
In my years of working in corporate environments, I have witnessed a couple. All of them were greeted with eye rolls and ridicule by everyone. However, they occur mainly because that was the advice from the speaker at the Douchebag Leadership conference they attended in Vail last winter. Then, the ass kissers in the office, lavish these self-important assholes with praise about how the insightful email has changed their life.
Then the ass kisser gets promoted, but that’s not the point…
slag
I wouldn’t mind it so much if they actually found souls after all these searches. But alas, you are correct, the world really is a vampire.
Marmot
@Violet:
Heh. They do seem obsessed with riding the zeitgeist, whether it be to Lady Gaga or The Moustache of Understanding is unimportant.
martha
Doug, these people are so completely self-absorbed they don’t even have a clue how to “associate” with the masses. Or their employees. So, they pick up a book written for 13 year old girls and think it “speaks” to them. Idiots.
Yes, they’re pathetic morons, but we already knew that. Many were promoted to their level of utter incompetence because they kissed asses. Or, they started companies and convinced vulture capitalists to give them piles of money that they could burn at will. (A process that takes very little real knowledge or expertise, but lots of tenacity and the ability to “talk the talk” and live in Palo Alto…)
All that can be done is to mock them. Mercilessly.
NonyNony
I’ll take a stab at it. The soulless pirates at the top of the corporate heap have heard of this thing called “motivation” and that it can make employees more productive, but most of them have no experience with not having motivation – for them the desire to be a corporate pirate and the indecent amounts of money that come with it has always been motivation enough. So they do what they always do – hire an expert to come in and provide some motivation for the employees. The experts are happy to take the money and give a speech, while the employees sit there and wonder how their boss can’t comprehend that perhaps their motivation is similar to his – i.e. they’re there to make money and more money might just motivate them a bit more. (Though this is because the employees are a bit short-sighted and don’t get that to the corporate pirate the money isn’t really the motivator – it’s only a way of keeping score against other pirates. Much like the giant house, the trophy wife(s), and the sports car collection. The employees would be happy to just have the money – which is why the employees are where they are and the pirate is where he is…)
As far as the soul-searching e-mails – every once in a while a pirate gets the feeling that there should be something “more” to his life than just raiding other companies and racking up points against other pirates. This is a normal human reaction as you get older, but where a normal person will go read a self-help book or start going back to church or perhaps drop out of the rat race and go live in a commune or go back to grad school (nearly the same thing), the corporate pirate has a bully pulpit and so can use it to blather his ideas about life and the universe out to employees who are obliged to listen to his blather.
themann1086
If I ever get one of these from my boss, I’m putting in my 2 weeks notice.
nepat
It’s the tyranny of the human resources department. When it flipped in the mid-eighties from “Personnel” to “HR,” it brought with it all manner of sensitivity training, team building, and self-importance. The rank and file mostly treat “team building” as a welcome respite from the usual drudgery. The rest just hate it outright.
My own opinion is that all downsizing actions should begin with the HR department itself (businesses tend not to fail because they’ve eliminated falling backwards from a ladder into your co-workers’ arms). Tragically, this never seems to happen.
Bob L
Good to see the masters of the universe upon whose shoulders the world’s rests read trite crap written for thirteen year old girls for moral guidance.
RareSanity
@NonyNony:
Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
John S.
Sometimes vampires need to convince themselves that there is more to their lives than murdering others and feeding off their life-force. Not that there actually IS anything more to their lives than that, but it’s a pleasant fiction for the vampire.
Bex
“We must really find the ‘moment'”…
I assume what he means by “moment” is an honest look outside of himself. If vampires get him there I suppose it’s not a bad thing, but how long will he stay? Walking the narrow path rarely leads to more yacht time.
Nutella
Why do they send these? Because they can.
Their unfortunate underlings can only roll their eyes and hit delete to avoid the latest profound philosophical emissions from The Boss.
And work on their resumes so they can go work for a different arrogant fool.
Ripley
Some of you may remember the absolutely orgasmic shiver that went up Corporate America’s spine when Who Moved My Cheese? was published.
I certainly do. Not fondly, but I remember it.
brendancalling
I cannot explain the corporate soul-searching, but i am experiencing it RIGHT NOW with this awful grant I am writing for funding for literacy services (aka, adult education) from verizon. it’s awesome in its awfulness. here’s some great language:
The overweening concern, the condescending need to explain the obvious… just fuckin’ painful. And this one:
way to construct a coherent sentence, verizon.
R-Jud
@Athenae:
Yep. I believe someone wrote a sappy-ass movie about this.
“It was a mission statement.”
dmbeaster
Tony Robbins is a modern day preacher of the corporate gospel.
andy
When the parasite at the top thinks he has a great idea, he wants to make sure you’re experiencing it too. When your whole life is nothing but underlings kissing your ass all day and complimenting your brilliance, any idea must seem to come like a thunderbolt! And when the idea is a stupid one, our Boss doesn’t have the tools to recognize it as such.
Comrade Javamanphil
Perhaps we could convince some of the Somali pirates to start monitoring whatever waters one uses for “yacht time.” I imagine quite a people would like to watch a Corporate pirates versus real pirates naval confrontation.
(Disclaimer: This post is satire and does not endorse or advocate the use of violence against sociopathic CEOs no matter how much they may deserve it.)
JustMe
A lot of the executive class came up through sales, and the culture of sales is all about constantly attending motivational events to get the staff to keep making those cold calls. Every day, you wake up, get yourself pumped up to tell potential customers how your product is the best in the world, have the door slammed in your face, and do it again. And if you get good at sales, then you believe that all this cultish mumbo jumbo was worth it.
Jager
Years ago, we all had to go and see Rocky II and listen to “Eye of the Tiger” before meetings…nothing new here.
Tax Analyst
@Ash Can:
F’instance, you could read the musings of a purposely clueless rich asshole after he has taken some serious “yacht time” to get in touch with his more grounded and basic self, away from his usual trappings of wealth and privilege.
I know that right now you all must be feeling the same intense level of empathy that simply reading that statement has given me for this feckless motherfucker.
Given all his pain it’s just plain amazing to me and a testament to his inner strength to realize how well he’s been bearing up under his incredible burden(s).
Christ, did Christ himself bear His Cross with any more True Grace and Humility?
I think this should serve to remind all of us lesser folks to follow his example in times of great stress, need and want. Not having a yacht, though, I guess most of us will have to settle for some “dinghy time”.
Barry
Skipping over many comments, so I apologize if I’m be repetitious:
“The part of corporate culture I understand the least is love of soul-searching mass emails”
Ego. The same ego that produces a Maximum Leader’s three-hour long speeches.
Marmot
@andy:
That’s a peculiar thing. You’d think that they would have nurtured some caution of looking like an idiot, but it’s like they’re oblivious that every one of these vacuous utterances subtracts a bit of respect.
Omnes Omnibus
@Dork: Let’s say I had a yacht and I took some time to enjoy it, I would NOT call it “yacht time.” I might “go sailing” or “take the boat out,” but “yacht time,” seriously WTF?
Brian
This guy is nothing more than a typical example of what we, as a society, reward and encourage.
At least by their mid to late 20s, most people realize that we’ve built a society that encourages and rewards vapid, shallow, sociopathic narcissists suferring from arrested emotional development.
In the short term, there is no solution other than self employment, or employment with one of the relatively rare non-sociopathic small firms. In the mid to long term, the solution is either more progessive economic regulation or the complete collapse of our economy into a banana republic without the bananas.
MoeLarryAndJesus
@ts:
I think that idiot Deepak Chopra came first.
joeyess
Uh……. they have found that the meaning for their existence is an exercise in futility and they’re grasping at straws?
How else do you explain a grown man reading a book written for hormone raging teens and finding a deeper meaning lying within such drivel?
NobodySpecial
I think I’m the first one: Props for a Pumpkins reference title. Between this and all the Elvis Costello, I think I’d better check and see if my iPod’s gone anywhere.
ETA – now I’m just waiting for a Kyuss clip and I’ll have proof of something.
PurpleGirl
@JustMe: Yes, good point. A goodly number of the corporate CEOs I’ve met and/or worked for came through the sales/marketing department.
LikeableInMyOwnWay
Sure, I can explain it. Corporations are soul-less, and therefore, they overcompensate by promoting navelgazing.
ricky
We all put our pants on one leg at a time. It is easier in twilight than in the complete dark.
Omnes Omnibus
@PurpleGirl: There is a difference between sales people and brand/product management people.
wes g
sent to drain
secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames
despite all my rage i am still just a rat in a cage
doo doo doooo doodoo doooo
Chat Noir
@Nutella:
Oh yeah. I used to do that when we’d get the Friday motivational e-mail from the executive VP where I used to work (a well known multinational corporation). His e-mails were an exercise in obnoxiousness about how lucky he was to have all these talented people working for him and how lucky we were to be working for the “best company in the world.” It got to the point where I would delete it upon receipt because I knew what would be in it and that it would only piss me off.
And said “best company in the world” proceeded to lay off approximately 17,000 managers last fall, one of which was me after having worked there for nearly 20 years.
RareSanity
@JustMe:
I agree completely. We have “leader” here at our office that is cut from this mold. When the economy was overheating, he thought he was brilliant and would send out this drivel. When the engineers tried to warn him that if certain things didn’t happen, this was going to be a short trip. We where greeted much like children and given a pat on the head and sent back to go play with our computers.
Then the worm turned…economy slowed and sales started to look bad. It turns out that when the money is flowing like water, you can sometimes convince people to buy things that they may not really want. When money starts to dry up, not so much, the salespeople aren’t as brilliant as they thought they were.
The funny thing is, even after yelling, ‘FIRE!’ for several years, it is still somehow the engineer’s fault that sales aren’t being made…funny that. Luckily, not so bad that the company went under…
Fleas correct the era
And then rolled over and fell asleep. On his mattress full of hundred dollar bills, each one lovingly stuffed in his jockstrap by someone a lot like Tommy Barrack. Was it good for you too?
kommrade reproductive vigor
Dear God, that makes me want to drive a wooden, garlic-smeared stake through my own heart.
He wants an ancient parasite to suck out his blood?
Yeah well, whatever floats his yacht. But wanking off into his navel in front of his employees must violate several labor laws.
scav
Cult of youth is getting a bit overdone. Next up? Deep meaning from Goodnight Moon and they’ll be even more overt in their playing with their own weewees on corporate time and expecting applause for their efforts.
PurpleGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: In some of the small companies, like the publishing ones, they were the same or part of the same department, especially back in the 1970s.
grendelkhan
Armitage has it. These people aren’t orders of magnitude more valuable or talented than the people they’re orders of magnitude richer than. It takes a lot of effort to avoid noticing that, which is why there’s such a gigantic memetic industry dedicated to convincing everyone that these hucksters are really job-creating ubermenschen.
Believing their own bullshit isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.
russell
Yes. It’s pretty simple, actually.
People who are a big deal in corporations often think of themselves as world historical figures, and assume that any idle thought that crosses their mind is of vital importance to the rest of us.
When you start seeing a lot of this going on, it’s time to polish up the resume and run far far away, because your place of business is turning into somebody’s personal therapy project.
Legalize
It’s the only way they can convince themselves, and more importantly, everyone else, that they have souls. Just like putting those yellow magnetic ribbons on your Suburban proves to everyone else how patriotic you are. Just like how Patrick Bateman’s smile, physique, and sense of style are put on to convince the rest of us that he really isn’t a monster.
We are dealing with people with severe personality disorders. All that matters is that they project a certain sense of not being soulless monsters. Because what they really ALL are is a pack of Patrick Batemans. They know that they are bad people, but just don’t give a shit. They would skin you alive and nail you to the floor if there was a nickle in it. There probably is, but they’re smart enough to know that they have to do it over in Iraq and Afaghanistan to keep up appearances. As soon as that kind of thing is cool over here, you betcha’ it’ll be common-sense business practice.
bcinaz
aaah, pretty funny. Since Citizen’ United, granted these bozos, immortal person-hood, and by nature they are Vampires.
Jean King
Those (greedhead banker big money) people are all severely emotionally retarded. Or developmentally disabled if you gotta be all PC about it.
eemom
“What an asshole.” –Woody Allen
Tax Analyst
@Omnes Omnibus:
Maybe he needed to differentiate between his yacht, corporate ocean liner and his fully-armed and staffed Armageddon-ready nuclear submarine?
vtr
It may or may not make you feel any better, but the NY Post reports Barrack broke his hand playing polo in Santa Clara, CA, yesterday. How do you spell scheudenfrade?
Raenelle
My Pet Goat goes corporate.
It reminds me of a talk Jessica and Mary had on Soap. Mary mentioned that Plato was gay; Jessica withdrew in anguish, exclaiming “Mickey Mouse’s dog is gay!?!”
I guess we can understand their cartoon understanding of socialism now.
JimPortlandOR
The corporate greedsters need occasional distraction from their money-grubbing (which they KNOW is anti-social), so they ‘feel better’ appealing to some higher human values.
It’s just like the experience of watching a good magician. You have to watch the hands very closely to see the manipulation.
Dpirate
His daughter slipped him some acid.
Ash Can
@Tax Analyst: Hey, I don’t care if he owns every yacht in the world. What I’m cracking on him is for having an existence that’s so narrow that all it takes for him to have a Grand Revelation is a fucking Twilight novel. It’s like someone who lives his entire life in the bedroom of his house, then one day accidentally stumbles into the laundry room and thinks it’s the greatest thing ever.
Drive By Wisdom
Funny how liberals and corporate leaders spurn the time tested lessons of faith, can not imagine in their “enlightened” minds why someone would watch Tony Robbins or some sick vampire show, and then turn on their PBS station and lap up the publically funded Deepak Chopra…
Brian
@Drive By Wisdom:
Oh, my. Hard to know where to start deconstructing this gem.
Next time, instead of driving by wisdom, stop and buy some.
Cheryl from Maryland
It’s what many managers do because they either don’t have a clue as to how to actually contribute or because they do know but leave the heavy lifting to their underlings.
Like when my supervisor asked me if I was happy with her decision making, and I asked her why she was asking.
cgp
Though I have to say, that’s pretty much the definition of a blog.
jake the snake
@JustMe
cultish mumbo-jumbo is for closers.
Sly
The amusingly nauseating struggle of an empty head trying to fill an empty soul.
Jules
Jesus.
Having boss who is a Twi-tard must really suck….
Zifnab
@Ripley: Apparently, they’re adapting it to a movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C0M2CL9TJE
So, you know, enjoy that.
urbanmeemaw
@MattF: I agree. Sometimes these kinds of experiences can be beneficial for an individual or group (having participated in many sessions during my stint in corporate America), Like anything else, it depends on who’s running it and what their intentions are.
grumpy realist
Anyone here a fan of the Martin Lukes column in the FT? Takes the form of communications from someone who engenders every bad business fad from the last 10 years. The persona is a wonderful parody of a clueless MBA who just knows he’s going to be the next Bill Gates. Smug, stupid, and a total idiot. Lucy Kellaway (who writes the column) admitted that for the latest column she filched Barrack’s “business advice from Twilight” schtick and says she’s just about given up trying to out-satire reality.
licensed to kill time
Anyone who uses the phrase ‘yacht time’ in a mass email is just rubbing it in your face.
urbanmeemaw
@ouroborous: I agree that people who think corporations are a bastion of logical, rational, efficient models that can do anything better that big gubmint are bereft of clue.
Pangloss
I have heard that Phoenix has the second most undead of any city in the world.
Silver Owl
I find it pretty damn funny that just reading a book and finding out what your family likes reading is considered a break through of such huge magnitude. lmao
Were they just annoying little gnats before? lol
Tax Analyst
@Ash Can:
People have “Laundry Rooms”?
If he’d read an old “Popeye” comic book instead he’d probably dream of beating the crap out of Bluto and then masturbate to a lurid fantasy sexual encounter with Olive Oyl.
Tax Analyst
@Tax Analyst:
Actually, this thought is starting to gain some traction with me.
Um…well, gotta go, see y’all later.
sacman701
I figured the link would be to the Onion, but it turns out it’s to the Financial Times.
Now that’s just sad.
Mike G
Usually written by some high-ranking executive paid many multiples of what you’re paid, enjoying his leisure in a way you never could (“Yacht time”? Way to rub it in, jerk). Not to mention that the banality of his particular source of revelation reveals his shallowness.
But it’s strictly a privilege of the tiny strata of the authoritarian organization at the top who are allowed to think. If any of the peons take him seriously and get the idea of applying any personal-fulfillment, non-production-maximizing humanism in the workplace, they’ll be smacked down hard. Which just makes it more of an insult.
I’ve been part of several corporations that occasionally give lip service to improving creativity, individuality and such, but they do it in the heavy-handed, top-down-controlling and clueless way that they do everything, which defeats the whole purpose and renders it meaningless. They are unwilling to change the rotten essential nature of the organization because that might depress profits so they go through these Potemkin exercises that cost gobs of consultant money and affect nothing. Maybe the CEO got wistful that he didn’t become a dancer or a poet or something.
“Think outside the box?” Fuck you, you’re the ones who crammed me into the box and scolded me any time I dared to peek out of it.
MaximusNYC
Drive By Wisdom: You don’t know this site or its commenters very well, do you?
Bruce (formerly Steve S.)
They’re searching for their souls because they don’t have one?
Marmot
@Drive By Wisdom:
Omgomgomg. Don’t just drive by! Come on in, sit for a spell! Tell me again about this thing you call … “faith”?
Eric
All of this motivational nonsense is the inevitable byproduct of modern capitalism. Max Weber described the phenomenon in the Protestant Ethic with his famous metaphor of an iron cage. Except now it’s worse: The corporate masters already have your body, now they want your soul, too.
ksmiami
@grumpy realist:
I just read that today and cracked up. It is very hard to keep up with satire when reality is so far ahead in its wierdness
pat kelly
A scene near the end of “Duplicity” captures this team (cult?)-building stuff. Paul Giamatti plays the CEO of a company speaking at an annual meeting, and he gets the ego and the pseudo-wisdom and the slyness just right. And the sycophantic cheering.
Ash Can
@Tax Analyst:
Actually, in light of your comment on another thread about wearing yesterday’s clothes in the office after having slept there in them, I can understand your question.
thalarctos
The thing about the Vampire Classes (on Wall Street or elsewhere) is this: they may think that they’re better than us mortals, and they may try to convince us of that, but in the end they’re nothing more than well-dressed leeches.
handy
@Drive By Wisdom:
Deepak Chopra. Heh.
Oh, and don’t forget everybody: if you’re wondering to yourself, “Who moved my cheese,” “First Break the Rules,” then ask “How Full Is Your Bucket,” and then maybe–just maybe–you’ll get “The Secret.” Or at least have an abundant source of fuel for that fireplace come wintertime.
Tehanu
@nepat:
you are so right. All HR departments are Satanic (and the one where I work is actually Satan) … and the latest wrinkle is to rename HR yet again to the more accurate (alas) “Human Capital Management.”
In other words, the help are just another pile of dollars waiting to be sucked up by the giant corporate vacuum.