Commitment

It has been said that marriage and insanity have at least one thing in common: commitment. So why not spend a few minutes in exploring both phenomena. Marriage entails many more relationships than between two individuals. Employees are married to their employers, for instance, in that both need the other to exist and thrive. Similarly, our government needs constituents to function. So why is so much time spent to alienate the very folks needed the most?

Let’s start with the latest example of corporate dysfunction: the NBA. So far as we can tell, the owners are bad businesspeople and can’t make a profit. And the players, thought to be overpaid and molly-coddled, want more, too. So the lockout threatens the financial futures of all involved. The NFL is similarly embroiled in a contractual dispute. While professional athletes contribute mightily to the astronomical cash flows that their teams enjoy, their skill set is limited. As such, they’re in a tough spot seeking ever higher salaries for a job that is viewed as non-essential to our everyday life. And the owners, while perhaps enjoying other revenue streams, stand to lose, too.

The political polarization we see at just about every level of government also serves no productive purpose. Much like fiddling while Rome burns, both sides of the Congressional aisle flirt with disaster in delaying a solution to the raising of the national debt limit. Should the worst-case scenario come to pass, most, if not all, citizens will be affected. And they will take their wrath out on their elected representatives. Once again, everybody loses.

Negotiating has taken on a new cachet where no-blink, high stakes poker has replaced meaningful dialogue with a pragmatic realization that each side has much to lose. Historically, in such scenarios, a compromise where neither side is overjoyed yet finds some sunshine amid the clouds was to be expected. Today, though, we’re all in vehicles playing chicken with oncoming traffic. And that, I’d say, is insane.

Most of us know that such obstinacy in a domestic setting leads to certain disaster. Why then, do we refuse to acknowledge the same danger in the corporate or political arena? I’d suggest it’s due to the lack of commitment when it comes to matters outside the home. We hear “take this job and shove it”, but have you ever heard the same philosophy in personal relationships? True, at the end of a hopeless coupling words to that effect are said with great feeling, but no one says it earlier except in an attempt to speed up the arrival of that ill-fated day. But we hear it regularly elsewhere.

Perhaps if we added a pinch of commitment to our commercial and legislative dealings things would progress more smoothly. Perhaps, if we saw the bigger picture, including those dependent upon our best effort, would we move from the far corner to a point closer to the center of the room. Perhaps, if we got over ourselves, the glimmer of hope might grow into a flame. There are times when compromise is fruitless and discretion is no longer the better part of valor. But these times come upon reaching the end game. What we see now is an opening position of intransigence and no one is served by that behavior.

One need look no further than those that signed the Declaration of Independence: five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve lost their homes to looting and arson. Two lost sons in the Revolutionary army and two more had their sons captured. Nine fought and died in the Revolutionary War. These were men who saw the greater picture. They committed themselves to an ideal and suffered great personal loss as a result. Was their effort in vain?

Isn’t it time to refocus on a more distant point and find ways to recapture the spirit that brought us so far and so well? Shouldn’t CEO’s look beyond quarterly results? Shouldn’t politicians disregard lobbyists? How about recommitting to the relationship held between bosses and worker bees, representatives and constituents. And what better time than the 4th of July?

We Need a New Drug

Huey Lewis was on to something, to be sure, but the “new drug” I’m referring to must be administered to the numerous senior managers within corporate America who have lost their moral compass. Their maladies are varied and I’ll list a few:

ADD (Accountability Deficit Disorder): Many executives find it difficult to admit to nefarious activities within their companies. “I do not recall” or “I wasn’t involved in those discussions” or “I was out of the loop” are common disclaimers. Do you think for one minute that one titan of industry, what with a monstrous ego, would allow an organization to wander, willy-nilly, into areas of skullduggery? I don’t. This disorder requires a prescription that brings about an admission of knowledge (and guilt) from those that steer the corporate vessel.

AIDS (Aversion to Information Dependability Syndrome): It is clear that many of those on the upper rungs of the corporate ladder have no desire to pass along reliable and accurate information to the worker bees toiling on their behalf. Rather, they employ a program of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) so as to keep their minions in a constant state of agitation. This is seen as essential in gaining the most leverage and, without it, rebellion within the rank and file is more likely. This syndrome can be treated with medication that induces honesty when dealing with employees.

OCD Type 1 (Outsourcing Compulsion Disorder): This disorder causes executive teams to turn to foreign workers as a means of lowering costs and increasing profits. It is accompanied by a form of myopia which clouds the long range consequences of such behavior.

OCD Type 2 (Outrageous Compensation Disease): While this condition does not necessarily follow type 1 OCD, it is widely seen as an inevitable progression. The salaries of most CEO’s and their ilk are directly tied to recent profits and/or stock prices. The short term result of outsourcing is a dramatically improved bottom line. Naturally, the stock price soars, too. The myopia associated with type 1 begins to subside and the boss sees the prudence in taking his bag(s) of gold and hitting the road before the implosion begins.

(Are there more corporate diseases, disorders, and syndromes? Of course there are. As a matter of fact, feel free to come up with a few and pass them on to me. I’ll include your submissions in a future column. While I’ve tried to stay true to established medical acronyms, I see no need to similarly restrict your creativity.)

Capitalism is our preferred economic model, but it is in abysmal condition due to the absence of any morality playing a role in corporate decision-making. Spend a couple of hours with Michael Moore and watch his latest documentary on capitalism. Left or right, I believe you will leave the theater with a different opinion of our pillars of finance and business.

So come on, you pharmaceutical phenoms: find those new drugs that replace unbridled greed with a conscience that places value on all the components of a successful economy: the bosses, the workers, the investors, and the customers. Otherwise, we are left with nothing but the quagmire in which we currently find ourselves. We need a new drug...or a new model.