In my humble opinion Donald Trump the world a great disservice to the business world other day by hiring Joan Rivers as his apprentice.
Truth be told I was never too found of Joan Rivers, it was more of a gut feeling than any rooted behavior. The surgically embellished face and that creepy daughter who was never too far way, didn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling.
Her behaviour on the Apprentice validated my initial feelings. Insolent, rude, and crazy, the woman seemed to be able to say and do what she liked simply because she was Joan Rivers. To her credit during the show she did come up with many great ideas. Yet her erratic and irrational behaviour muddled any good that came out of her. And her daughter’s behaviour is further testament to bad social behaviour being passed on.
Now listen these two are on TV they have nothing to do with me…so why write about them? Well by DT, (who while pompous, does come across as quite level headed on the show,) selecting Joan as the apprentice, despite her ludicrous behaviour, he further imbedded misguided corporate theory on acceptable behaviour.
In university these days most business courses have a chapter on ethics. In the real world ethics go out of the window. My recent experiences at work have taught me that it really doesn’t matter how people treat other people at work as long as you make good on the two golden rules:
You make the corporation money or at least make a great show of pretending that you do
You don’t ‘knowingly’ do anything illegal
I get it. I get that if your good outweighs your bad, people tend to look at your good. In a corporation that good, is a return on investment. Yet I challenge this misguided conventional wisdom with the thought: by letting people get away with bad managerial behaviour don’t you just propagate the problem? Instead of nipping it in the bud, so that the person can learn and become better, you exacerbate the problem. The problem with the premise is that good leadership and productivity are opposing ideas. And we all know that it just ain’t the truth.
Here’s my call to action: Expect more people: expect more from your leaders, expect more from yourselves, expect more from your work place….
Because I have a feeling if they we as a collective said that people screaming at other people in the name of making money isn’t right….we’d actually make a change.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Wacky Updates
The other day hundreds of Tamil's protesting the deaths of civilians caught up in the cross fire of the Sri Lankan civil war, took claim of one of the major highways in Toronto. The whole thing was really bizarre, as they had children, teenagers and grandmothers, on the front lines of the stand off with police. As a result the high was shut down for hours, and the police force had to be mobilized on mother’s day to deal with the protestors.
While most officials conceded that all citizens have a right to protest, everyone felt that this particular protest went one step too far. I find the red flag with the Tiger in the middle particularly disconcerting.
A somewhat High profile Member of Parliament has been charged with mistreating her help. She vehemently denies, they (all three of them) say she withheld their passport, and asked them (gasp) to clean things. It all seems to come down to a he said, she said situation, and as usual the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Jon and Kate are cheating on each other. I do so love watching the show, though I do wanna take Maddy out for a cook smacking every now and then. I do hope television hasn’t ruined this otherwise sweet couple. (Yes I do realize he is the most beat down hubby on TV, but he gets a few good shots in there.) Also when do these two find time to cheat on each other? Last I watched, they only had intermittent help and were a hands on kind of family.
John Edward Kennedy’s wife on Oprah made me a little sad. Poor thing is about to die, knowing that her idiot husband cheated on her over and over again whilst she was sick and now has a baby with the other woman. Thought it was rather chicken of him not to sit down in the interview with her.
I am engrossed in the Twilight Series. Written much like a Dan Brown novel, it is all plot and no beauty; but still ever so captivating. Why can’t all men love you with the fascination of a vampire? J
I’m outtie…wow two posts in a week….roll out the garlands, I’m back!
While most officials conceded that all citizens have a right to protest, everyone felt that this particular protest went one step too far. I find the red flag with the Tiger in the middle particularly disconcerting.
A somewhat High profile Member of Parliament has been charged with mistreating her help. She vehemently denies, they (all three of them) say she withheld their passport, and asked them (gasp) to clean things. It all seems to come down to a he said, she said situation, and as usual the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Jon and Kate are cheating on each other. I do so love watching the show, though I do wanna take Maddy out for a cook smacking every now and then. I do hope television hasn’t ruined this otherwise sweet couple. (Yes I do realize he is the most beat down hubby on TV, but he gets a few good shots in there.) Also when do these two find time to cheat on each other? Last I watched, they only had intermittent help and were a hands on kind of family.
John Edward Kennedy’s wife on Oprah made me a little sad. Poor thing is about to die, knowing that her idiot husband cheated on her over and over again whilst she was sick and now has a baby with the other woman. Thought it was rather chicken of him not to sit down in the interview with her.
I am engrossed in the Twilight Series. Written much like a Dan Brown novel, it is all plot and no beauty; but still ever so captivating. Why can’t all men love you with the fascination of a vampire? J
I’m outtie…wow two posts in a week….roll out the garlands, I’m back!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mother's Day
My parents are social beings. To date I have yet to spend a New Years Eve with them, because every new years they are off to a dance with their friends.
CP: “I’d like to invite Dad and You to my place for Mother’s day”
MP (Sheepishly): “Oh, so sorry, but we have a prior engagement.”
CP (Incredulous): “Er its mother’s day and you only have two kids, so who’s your prior engagement”
MP: “Well your Uncle Mario has invited us over…and you know we see you all the time.”
3 days later:
MP: “Oh CP, your father and I realized how upset you were about Mother’s day, so we cancelled our plans, we couldn’t sleep we knew you were so upset!”
CP (suspicious): “You couldn’t sleep for 3 days?”
MP: “Well….”
CP: “Uncle Mario cancelled on you, didn’t he.”MP (Convulsing into laughter): “Yes Men, Stupid bugger, anyway now we are free, so we will come to your place.”
CP: “Fine,”
MP: “Oh and so sad Aunty Z’s kids are away and she will be all alone, so if you can invite her and Uncle J too.”
CP: “But the plan is to have a quite dinner with just you guys.”
MP: “So sad, you want them to sit at home all alone? Don’t be heartless.”
CP (Grudgingly): “Fine, Ill call her tomorrow.”FP yelling in the background: “Uncle D is also alone, tell her to invite him.”
MP: “Your father wants you to invite Uncle D too, and might as well invite his brother and Aunty L too, oh and their kids, it’s mother’s day after all.”
Thus thanks to the ingeniousness of my parents; I inadvertently had a party for 15 people yesterday to celebrate mother’s day.
And while I spent most of Saturday cleaning, cooking and muttering to myself angrily, I realized after everyone left on Sunday how lucky my family and I are to have jovial fun loving friends to spend our days with.
CP: “I’d like to invite Dad and You to my place for Mother’s day”
MP (Sheepishly): “Oh, so sorry, but we have a prior engagement.”
CP (Incredulous): “Er its mother’s day and you only have two kids, so who’s your prior engagement”
MP: “Well your Uncle Mario has invited us over…and you know we see you all the time.”
3 days later:
MP: “Oh CP, your father and I realized how upset you were about Mother’s day, so we cancelled our plans, we couldn’t sleep we knew you were so upset!”
CP (suspicious): “You couldn’t sleep for 3 days?”
MP: “Well….”
CP: “Uncle Mario cancelled on you, didn’t he.”MP (Convulsing into laughter): “Yes Men, Stupid bugger, anyway now we are free, so we will come to your place.”
CP: “Fine,”
MP: “Oh and so sad Aunty Z’s kids are away and she will be all alone, so if you can invite her and Uncle J too.”
CP: “But the plan is to have a quite dinner with just you guys.”
MP: “So sad, you want them to sit at home all alone? Don’t be heartless.”
CP (Grudgingly): “Fine, Ill call her tomorrow.”FP yelling in the background: “Uncle D is also alone, tell her to invite him.”
MP: “Your father wants you to invite Uncle D too, and might as well invite his brother and Aunty L too, oh and their kids, it’s mother’s day after all.”
Thus thanks to the ingeniousness of my parents; I inadvertently had a party for 15 people yesterday to celebrate mother’s day.
And while I spent most of Saturday cleaning, cooking and muttering to myself angrily, I realized after everyone left on Sunday how lucky my family and I are to have jovial fun loving friends to spend our days with.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Random Thoughts:
I don’t know if it’s the lack of excitement in my life, or if I’m too busy living it, but the urge the blog is few and far between.
“Wine Wine Wine Wine Wine Wine Wine Wineeeee…WE LIKE IT…”
Is the most ridiculous song I have stuck in my head.
There is something utterly captivating about how this man says the word ‘wine’ in a melodious, almost hypnotic way.
I am addicted to watching Toronto lime carnival 360 video’s. Apart from the ridiculous name of DJ Playhouse, the narrator is brilliant: Entertaining, funny as hell, and helps pass the day nicely. He embodies that makes a Trini man so dangerous; summed up in one word, ‘Sweetness.’ Talk about making your dream job a reality, hats off to these fellas….liming, partying, and observing beautiful scantily clad women….what a job description. FYI fellas, I would be happy to join for a holistic review of female fete interests.
Last Friday, my boss blew up on me; she said some atrocious things, accusing me of everything from rudeness to unprofessionalisim; (after telling me just two days before how great it was to work with someone of my caliber.) After months of erratic behaviour on her part, the incident led me to formally submit a complaint to HR and her boss. Turns out she is having a personal meltdown and is not handling it too well. The situation led to an 8 hour conversation with various HR peeps. Do you know how HR people speak? With their fuzzy acronym’s, references and fable telling. I was exhausted for the rest of the week.
The good that came out of all this, is that I have learnt how to effectively levy a serious complaint against my manager without getting completely burned. I also came away feeling a little more empowered. More and more people are refusing to take unnecessary crap from anyone. Sure you accept the occasional raised tones, and bitchy inferences, but everyone has a fine line which once crossed tips you over. Often we tend to flee, before fixing our situations. I am hereby encouraging people, who love their work, to look inward and outward and at least give it a shot to try and effectively change your environment. It is possible.
I just put up the following sign at work:
“Wine Wine Wine Wine Wine Wine Wine Wineeeee…WE LIKE IT…”
Is the most ridiculous song I have stuck in my head.
There is something utterly captivating about how this man says the word ‘wine’ in a melodious, almost hypnotic way.
I am addicted to watching Toronto lime carnival 360 video’s. Apart from the ridiculous name of DJ Playhouse, the narrator is brilliant: Entertaining, funny as hell, and helps pass the day nicely. He embodies that makes a Trini man so dangerous; summed up in one word, ‘Sweetness.’ Talk about making your dream job a reality, hats off to these fellas….liming, partying, and observing beautiful scantily clad women….what a job description. FYI fellas, I would be happy to join for a holistic review of female fete interests.
Last Friday, my boss blew up on me; she said some atrocious things, accusing me of everything from rudeness to unprofessionalisim; (after telling me just two days before how great it was to work with someone of my caliber.) After months of erratic behaviour on her part, the incident led me to formally submit a complaint to HR and her boss. Turns out she is having a personal meltdown and is not handling it too well. The situation led to an 8 hour conversation with various HR peeps. Do you know how HR people speak? With their fuzzy acronym’s, references and fable telling. I was exhausted for the rest of the week.
The good that came out of all this, is that I have learnt how to effectively levy a serious complaint against my manager without getting completely burned. I also came away feeling a little more empowered. More and more people are refusing to take unnecessary crap from anyone. Sure you accept the occasional raised tones, and bitchy inferences, but everyone has a fine line which once crossed tips you over. Often we tend to flee, before fixing our situations. I am hereby encouraging people, who love their work, to look inward and outward and at least give it a shot to try and effectively change your environment. It is possible.
I just put up the following sign at work:
HAVE YOU EXCERCISED YOUR RIGHT TO WASH YOUR OWN DISHES TODAY?
(I may be nominated for the passive aggressive site soon)
People keep bringing in banana bread for me to eat. Miserable creatures are keeping me from my perfect summer body.
Watched Boy in the Pajama’s over the weekend, overall thought it was quite ridiculous, from the British accents to the little kid playing by the fence, without a guard in site to bug him, however the ending wrenches at your heart.
On Friday Dracs brought his daughter over to a play area by me. I sat for an hour watching them interact and watching other little lovely creature’s bump, tumble and toss their way through the park. And boy oh boy did I get depressed. I sat in bed on Saturday with my sheet over my head, miserable. Made me wonder why I am so hell bent on torturing myself. Wise people out there, do you ever stop missing the things you could never really have had?
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