Responsibility rest squarely on management’s shoulders.

They miss this, and look to blame others. However, it always starts at the top, and is caused by the inherent blindness of the dominant masculine thinking, lacking its connection to humanness, the key to what’s missing. I recently experienced being a subcontractor in a corporate environment where the director of operations, hired in 2009, came on board and during his first meeting declared to the staff that he was not satisfied with current results and if he has to, “he will fire the entire staff and start over.” What did he create? More controls, stress, and an unhappy work environment, distrust of each other and the company as a whole, and a morale problem. This distress did not distress him; in fact he reveled in it and encouraged it in his direct underlings. He has people asking how high to jump, but misses the inefficient unhappy work environment he has set in motion.

The corporate employees where naturally terrified of losing there jobs, so they turned on each other, and looked to shift the burden for failures anywhere they can. Ingenuity, spark, creativity, and questioning erroneous directives out of caring for the company, doing the right thing, has been replaced with regurgitation of the micromanaged company line. Worse yet, this is what is desired! The optimal outcome of a team working together to produce a great outcome becomes a casualty. Discussing mistakes made, not to hold over ones head, but to determine how the system/management failed, never occurs.

I admit to my mistakes openly, in fact I call them out, as this is how I learn and perhaps teach others to be aware of the same pitfalls, so as not to repeat them. My ego does not see mistakes as failures, but as opportunities to learn and add to me understanding. Micromanagers unfortunately see and count every mistake and attempt to shove it down their underling’s throats to aggrandize themselves. Achievements and good work are ignored. They only pats on the back come with knife in hand. This creates fear and resentment. Resentment ALWAYS shows up, perhaps not right away, but it will show up. It can show up in family lives, be self-directed, and will show up in the workplace. This is guaranteed. I do just what I’m told, make no suggestions and look to make myself look better. If others are hurt or unfairly undermined, so what becomes the undercurrent. The truth is that leading properly takes a lot of work, caring for team, and courage. This has been drummed out of middle management, so know of it remains.

If the mistakes are repeating, it is the managers that need better training. In their micromanaged environment “it” flows downhill, and there is no “uphill” feedback routes available. Managers, I noticed where hired without experience in their department and immediately made control decisions, that were in fact ill thought out. But they were in charge and unlikely or unable to accept experienced staff’s suggestions. They made the decisions and that was that. If you give even a computer, or an ant, conflicting, ever changing contradictory directives, you will get short-term compliance and stats and long-term disaster. Egocentricity never creates team, but it does create cliques of posterior kissers. America’s talent is being ground down and molded into ants. Using the ants of China as a model perhaps?

Even in China, as they progress and start to innovate, there is an up-swell of individual thinkers rebelling against their fascistic/communistic masters. The corporate megalomaniacs have it wrong. Communism starts off as fascism (according to Marx) and when the people finally fall in line as communal caring thinking idealistic beings, the system can move into communism (team). No country, or company has even gotten close to this ideal state. The pseudo-communist-fascistic states fail, as do the dictatorial corporations. Their downfall is not realizing the paradoxical need to find a balance between the ideal corporate control concept and the reality that to thrive and innovate the individual must be encouraged. The latter requires human understanding and work.

Small-minded egotistical dictators, do not make good leaders. Leaders guide and encourage, they mentor and direct, while honoring the qualities in their staff that they nurture and encourage. I am seeing less and less of this type of true leader, and more and more of the mini-dictators. “If only the ants would just do their jobs.” “I can squeeze all I can, and when they burn out, there are 150 others waiting to replace them.” This just creates more stress, illness, and poor quality production. Blind, having no idea how to get humans to join together, these corporate dictators demand ant-hood as their surrogate battle plan. We are all doomed with this thinking.

It is the little dictator’s lack of understanding that stifles innovation and real long-term production. Ants are ants, people are people, to demand one act like the other will create distress, dysfunction, and disaster. Why, because you have to listen to those that actually do the work to see if it is working. Their feedback is invaluable, unless your ego is in the way. They paradoxically need encouragement and direction. Before you change anything, ask for feedback on the changes and listen. Be aware of the posterior kissers, in the long run they will destroy you. They will jump ship at the first opportunity. Their lack of courage to disagree, withholds the very feedback and understanding all need to manage and prevent a shipwreck. Value the discontents, not everything they are unhappy with is unrealsitic, and you will be rewarded for listening by having a real team player that feels connected tot the whole. Would you not like to feel this way too? Do unto other as you would have them do unto you applies aptly here.

Companies, specifically their officers, have similar parental responsibility as do parents. What they do reflects “normal” behaviors to their charges. Kids copy parents. And just like in the home, when the parents are too busy, disinterested, or uncaring of their charge’s welfare, darkness and anarchy results.

If one’s charges feel ignored, a burden to their parent’s lifestyles, an unimportant easily replaceable cog in the machine, the long-term outcome will be disastrous. Now, let’s apply this to the culture of the corporate officer and for that matter the government, the biggest corporation/parent.

Remembering back to the 1960’s, it was a goal to work for a corporation. The corporation was trusted to be a good citizen, a role model that took “care of its own.” During retirement you would be cared for and medical insurance assured. Companies were viewed as working for the inclusive greater whole, at least for their whole. The country was seen mostly as a cohesive unit, not perfect, but good and getting better. The officials set long-term goals that were concerned with the long-term viability of the company of which all were a part. They where there not just to fill their own pockets.

Then came the Seventies and corporate “raiders.” These heartless whores would sell their mothers for a dollar. They gobbled-up healthy corporations using the devil’s tool, venture capitol, which is conscienceless profit oriented funding. Their goals were to rape their victims of their virginal pension funds, and sell off any of its organs they could make a profit on; regardless of the cost to corporate health as a whole, and its family members. Remember, the pension funds held contributions from the employee and employer, but were held in the name of the company. The government allowed this theft, which said this type of behavior was OK. It was the equivalent of capturing humans and selling them off for body parts. Don’t think this isn’t happening in the more corrupt “third world” today!

What did this say to the employees who contributed to these pension funds? We don’t give a “rat’s ass” about you; you are less than unimportant! That message was heard loud and clear. And the “family” adjusted to the new models and learned how to be like their new parents, heartless, egocentric whores without integrity, honor or morals.

Detroit, was another example of this “me, me, me” thinking. In the fifties and sixties, the US automobile industry was respected for producing good quality reliable machines. In the Seventies, Detroit’s corporate officers started thinking solely about themselves. They decided not to retool, cheapening everything to squeeze the last drop of blood from their products? They reaped huge bonuses and then unheard of retirements bonuses. The consequence to the corporate body and our economy was buyers bought foreign cars. But these officers didn’t care; they were making big money. Japanese goods were at one time considered inferior, now they’re seen as superior. Detroit set this stage along with the unions, which demanded unreasonable compensation for their members, while protecting decline workplace quality. Neither side cared about their products, or the consumer, or the country. Just me, me, me—and I want it now!

Then came the Eighties and it brought a new version self-involvement, boomer kids, the so-called “ME & X” generations, “it’s all about me.” We completed the shift to ME, myself and I, from family and extended family (communities, corporations, and the country as a whole.) We now have generations of the undisciplined, disenfranchised, egocentric progeny. It was the era of the Savings and Loan fiascos that we didn’t learn from, and that spawned the technology shell game that ended with the “tech bubble” bursting.

All these generations have one thing in common, lack of connection to heart, one another, the world and a higher power. Our government sets this stage by what it allows and models. From the lies of Tricky Dickey to Bush’s innumerable lies we saw what was being modeled as proper, normative—dishonesty rules. Clinton wasn’t honest either. The Bush administration held unfettered businesses would be good for all. Those profiting thought so too. Nobody gave much heed as our Clinton era surplus disappeared into a multi-trillion dollar abyss. No one noticed the rich getting richer, as the lower classes were being enticed into the illusion of riches by easy unrealistic loans. The government allowed the selling off of our assets to foreign interests; “outsourcing” our jobs at the same time as “free trade”. The government did nothing to rein-in Wall Streeters who packaged bad loans into “securities,” that were anything but secured. No one said a word when corporate officers took obscene bonuses, golden parachutes, and retirements. They didn’t own the companies, or create them, but were good at raping them.

The corporate culture of blind, gluttonous greed is at the heart of the matter. Gone are the morals and principles of our founding fathers of a unified Democratic Republic where all men are created equal. It is only lip service now, usurped by greedy lawyers. Right under our noses we allowed a revolution of misers, who now own what’s left of this country that wasn’t sold off. Gone is the wealth and inspiration of the middle class. Soon all will be working for the “company store,” the Walmarts of the world. Only this time the store is government backed. And they know how to manipulate with fear.

It’s clear that our corporate culture is destroying the world. Time to wake up and teach empathy and real accomplishment, not self-worth fomented from egocentric attainments.