Cranial Rectumitis....

I work in a world where time actually does equal money. The product has to move quickly. Run it through the press, move it to the finish area(stretch it, de-twist it, make it true), and pack it for shipping. The more we get done, the more money we make. My personal connection to all that is making sure that all the tools needed to achieve those things are working properly. I'm a Maintenance monkey. I wear a blue uniform, I have a smorgasbord of tools hanging off my hip, and I go home filthy every day. But I love it.

I will clarify that I do not necessarily love the people I work for, but I love what I do. It's a corporate world these days. People will be promoted to their highest level of incompetence, or to their highest level of placing lips to ass. I don't do that. So I'll be turning wrenches and swinging hammers until I die. But I'm OK with that. That's what I'm paid to do. I'll turn those wrenches, and swing those hammers to the best of my ability, and keep my mouth shut. Well, up until someone tries to take credit for my work. When that happens, I turn into a ruthless A-hole. I'm cool with just doing my job, and staying in the shadows. If I happen to fix something faster than anyone else has, Yeah it'll boost my pride a bit, and maybe cause me to brag a little. I will own that achievement. But when it goes out in the plant newsletter that "Him or Her" got their guy to fix something really fast.... No. It doesn't work that way. Maybe I'm just too proud of myself and my work, or maybe I just refuse to be the next rung in someone else's ladder to the top. Who knows. Personally, I feel recognition should go to the person that did the job. Which brings us back to...

I love the work I do. I just hate that it is in a corporate world. Forever inundated with new terminology, new "Action Plans," new process developments, new leadership every year, new redundant safety rules, and more and more lunacy. Yet less and less accountability for people who screw up(less lawsuits) and less recognition for the people who actually do the work.

So, let's have more meetings, more committee planning, more brainstorming and more hiring of consultants, instead of walking out on the production floor and asking those same questions of the people you are already paying. The people who do the job day in and day out will give you better advice than some dude in a fancy suit every time. It goes along with that long-forgotten idea of "common sense." They might talk all fancy with stuff like "performance metrics" and "quality dynamics" or whatever. But if you really want the people who work for you to buy into your plan.... You have to go to them. Appeal to them. Listen to them. Buy into their advice. They work on the floor, they know what really works on the floor. Gain their respect, and you gain their loyalty. And then they will want to work. Half-hearted rewards and incentives only go so far. You have to get them to want to work for you. You can't force them. Piss them off, and they don't give a damn if the company goes under.

Oh, and one last thing....

When the monthly party for the people who were recognized for their achievements rolls around; saying you're going to treat them to breakfast and then showing up with cold coffee and donuts is not a good idea.

I learned my work ethic from my father. He was a hard, relentless boss. He'd always point out your faults. But he'd do it in a way that made you realize them. And when you busted your ass and got something right, it was acknowledged. Pretty soon, it became natural to just do the things you were expected to do. Shovel dirt, shovel dirt, shovel dirt... Drive Bobcat... Shovel mud, shovel mud, shovel mud.... Toss block, toss block.... bucket of water, bucket of tack oil... Shovel dirt, shovel dirt. It was my job. I took pride in it, and wanted to do it better than anyone else. Partly because of pride, partly because of wanting job security, and partly because I had a job and needed it to pay bills. And the only way to keep the job you need is to be the best at it. I received a lot of "positive feedback" from my dad the last time I worked for him. And it was because I took ownership of the job. I knew what was expected of me, and I did it.

I've rambled on enough for today. I just hope people will learn to take a certain level of pride in their jobs. Learn to enjoy doing some work for the feeling of having accomplished something. And not as something that is a burden and only bearable because the law demands you get an hour of break time every day. Earning your place in society is what a strong person does. Feeling entitled to that place is for the weak.


I'm done....

Goodnight / Good Morning

Get on with your life....

-B-


“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.” -- John Wayne


(And for those of you that are curious about the title of this installment: Cranial Rectumitis is a pseudo-clinical term for "Head up the Ass")