My company's management was considering getting webcams for all 'higher-level' staff so we could do webcam-conferencing via MSN. I just thought this'd be kinda jerky, wouldn't it? And, besides, do I have to look at you (or unreal-time images of you staring into the screen) to report/discuss issues with you? Does seeing you 'sorta' smile, frown or act confused/angry really make a diff?
Management is all hard facts, hard head, hard work. Management is all soft skills, soft touch, soft talk. Management is all about people. Management is nothing about people. (And in between this morass of contradictions comes reality, rite?)
I rewatched the high-flying (literally) HERO. You know, the one where Jet Li does levitation stunts and chops off whole shelves of books in less than the time taken to knock a bowl of water up and let it fall down. In the movie I found it remarkable that Broken Sword (the dude who writes in sand whilst arrows fly past and around him) and Flying Snow (the lady who can repel weapons with the sleeves of her dress) were known by their arch-enemy, the King of Qin, for their valor and dignity. Imagine such a reputation! Think about such character! One's virtue is so assured and publicly recognised that one's enemies tailor their response towards one around the virtues! (In fact, in the movie the King of Qin partially uncovers the Nameless Assassin's lies by comparing the latter's story with the personal qualities of both Sword and Snow)
Our two (named) heroes were apparently known for not letting their emotions become liabilities, for not being petty and narrow-minded. This fact in the story got me scribbling in my journal about how often I am petty, calculative, trivial and easily angered/anxious out of proportion with whatever issue I'm facing. And my subsequent actions would complicate, aggravate and antagonize the situation further.
I think of marriages and relationships which have taken self-destructive to petty instances breeding dispute.
I think of colleagues who've had promotions and the 'favor of management' revoked due to 'personality clashes' (what in the name of steaming stinking pigs' intestines is a personality clash with certain people,?!?! tell me if you don't also feel it's some sophisticated way of saying, without saying, "I hate that S.O.B. and I don't have to explain why"!), involving petty bullshit like one fella being slighted by another over a remark, not wanting to be given an order by so-and-so (when the exact same order given by another person would've been perfectly okay).
I think of writers who expend huge amounts of energy banging out a rebuttal/rebuke because God forbid that the other person's email should stand unanswered.
I think of me...
In all such cases, principle is usually invoked when pride is the unspoken factor. We ought to invent some serum for dealing with pride...wonder if it's possible...then we'd make real heroes of everyone after all (that's a joke).
