I heard this line in the Foundation television series, and it really spoke to me.
It definitely came to mind when I saw this post on Imgur earlier today (and apparently that was a repost):
If you can’t read the image, it’s a series of text messages between a worker and their supervisor. The supervisor had reviewed cameras from thier shift and was chastizing the worker for sitting on a stool for the majority of thier shift.
Which, you know, might be against the rules at that workplace (though, why?). And we can definitely question why a supervisor suddenly decided to review security data to see if a specific worker violated what I think we all can agree is a kind of trivial offense.
Regardless, the worker replies with two very key bits of information.
First, that they have a broken foot and that sitting was cleared to be okay for medical reasons, so it wasn’t an offense at all.
But more importantly, this worker, while sitting, was the most productive worker on thier shift.
And that’s what really shows the difference here. Despite being injured, this worker did an exemplary job – but the people in charge were more worried about a minor rule infraction – one that caused no harm or damage – than whether or not the business was being productive.
The worker – before elegantly quitting – eloquently pointed out the major problem there. The problem with morale, the problem with employee retention.
The problem with the “leadership” at that workplace are their priorities.
That kind of environment, where the focus is not on the customer, the productivity, or the mission of the organization, says volumes about the quality of the “leadership” at that organization.
And that such a toxically counter-productive environment is allowed to persist says volumes about the future – both in terms of employee retention and in overall profitability – of that company.
I wonder when the investor class will take note and begin investing accordingly?