Waiter, there's a growth in my free market

Fishing through old blog-land again, this was worth pulling out and taking for a spin.
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Friday, January 23, 2004 Growth in the New Culture

Careful young workers, come heed to my call
The culture they tout is not culture at all
It extends from G-L, it's a tool of the board
When you see it's really quite apalling
So act from your Center and respect HOW you do
For your job, it could be waning

Sorry Mr. Zimmerman.
i
A little idvomit to open up today's diatribe.

Having supported myself for almost 20 years now, and having been introduced to znet and chomsky, you would think I would know better, but I do in fact sometimes still get sucked in.
To be fair, you can't help it to some extent. You start work at a new company, and are treated well - REALLY well. This is the new environment, the new culture, the NEW new culture. One-dimensional business psychology resources flow out of today's company's like emetic remains, and a lot of it sounds convincing. You are empowered, leveraged, synergized. You should hit the ground running, win every moment of truth, realize that your worth is CARED about not because the Company has too but because it has chosen to. You and the company are partners in success, the master-servant rule doesn't exist here. You are a Team Member, an Associate, a Partner. You matter. And because you matter the company matters to you. And the feedback loop continues and powers the new new NEW economy, everybody is satisfied, and everybody wins cause there's lots of money made.

or.

Said growth in the new culture is REALLY growth in the new culture. The germy kind. Sycophantic cells feeding off the gullible.

The easiest way to stay away from too much cynicism is to be realistic from the start.

We live in a flawed democracy fueled by a sometimes-free-market system. It's flawed, but it's arguably the best of several flawed alternatives.

Company's exist to thrive in the sfm system, to give lifeblood to the infrastructures that hold up our democracies. So in the big picture, even the lowliest jobs hold up something worth having. But careful, young buck. Remember, the corporation raison d'etre is not, by nature, to be altruistic. It is to grow and make money.

So if new culture is useful as a tool to promote this ultimate goal, great stuff. But remember, doey-eyed worker - it is just that - a tool.

The company is not beholden to you - no matter how sincere the talk is. Shiny brochures and feel good sessions aside, it's still about profit and loss.

So do what you're doing for the right reason. Realize that your goals are not by definition the company's goals. And that's ok.

My value-realignment recently takes this into account. I now get value out of HOW I do things as opposed to WHAT I do.

It matters not if I am the world's best , it matters that I honestly earn a wage to support myself and loved ones. And it matters HOW I do my work.