Management By Gunplay
The Unit 1 threaded discussion for my Org Behavior class was a virtual meet-and-greet, where we said hello to everyone, explained who we were, where we worked, what we did, why we were getting our MBA…and then we were also supposed to divulge something personal about ourselves.
Do any of you have any idea how hard it was for me to keep my snark under control? How I so badly wanted to introduce myself as Snarkwife, the regional sales manager for a small paper company in Scranton, PA? I enjoy sexually harrassing my receptionist, making stupid jokes and picking up waitresses at hibachi restaurants. I’m getting my MBA because I want to be able to bring my boss, Jan, to class for extra credit just like one of my employees did earlier in the season. Something personal? I love the Awesome Blossom® at Chili’s.
But no, I had to be professional. I even left out the part about how my main hobbies are watching television and drinking wine. Looking back at everyone else’s responses, I really do look like an underachiever. But then again…we ARE in the virtual world. For all I know, these folks are hooking up to the internet from the bathroom of a gas station…or alternating between saying,”MUST CONTROL FIST OF DEATH” and “Corporate Accounts Payable, Nina speaking…just a moment!” while reading about The Beer Game.
I also refrained from posting on our class message board this morning, asking if anyone had seen last night’s episode of Lost, then initiating a conversation about how whether or not demanding someone kill their father in order to be accepted into a new group is truly an effective form of motivation. Likewise, what were Ben’s individual needs? What personal fulfillment did Ben need in order to turn himself over 100% to his team, the Other White Hostiles? Most importantly, why didn’t anyone go back to the van to get the rest of the beer? I mean, really now.
Was cassette tape communication really the most effective vehicle to facilitate the transfer of information between Ben and Juliet? Understanding the restrictions and how face-to-face communication was, at best, risky…what about writing down the results and sending them from one of the hatches via vacuum tube thingiemajigger?
And of course, we can’t forget the most effective form of communication…shooting those who threaten your individual goals. Really, you can’t fault the effectiveness.
Now that I think about it, I should totally start tying all of our unit discussions to television shows.
Allen
95°
Honolulu
88°
4 Responses to “Management By Gunplay”
By Margaret on May 10, 2007 | Reply
I can’t believe this, but your link to the Beer Game, and the subsequent Bullwhip effect was actually useful to me to explain a change my company was making to coworkers. Thanks! I is smart now from the internets.
By Stacy on May 10, 2007 | Reply
That’s why I’m here.
By Jon on May 10, 2007 | Reply
As someone with a Master’s degree in the workforce (albeit not a MBA) I think the snark would be well recieved, and we have standing Thursday morning Lost strategy meetings, that are augmented by Tuesday morning Heroes summation quorums. If you can’t intertwine business and television effectively in the workplace you’ll just end up like Roger Work Man anyhoo.
and shoot the vacuum tube thingy, that would be cool to see Benry hanging out at the loose end, sorting through all the empty tubes, looking for Juliet’s latest missive.
By Becky on May 14, 2007 | Reply
Actually, that would’ve been pretty damn funny if you’d posted that and I bet it probably would’ve attracted more responses than anything from the instructor.