fuck this job.com

Altruism, Collectivism, etc., is the deadliest sin of mankind. I watch out for people who say things like this. I won't work for them. Our company has been hammering out the "Team" thing quite a bit as of late, and, of course, no one in the upper rungs of management has thought to define exactly what they mean by the use of the term. Anyway, I don't believe in it. It doesn't work. As a manager, I do everything I can to avoid the use of garbage like, "Team", "Team Effort", "Team This", "Team That". It's a load of crap. It is a contradiction in terms. It is counterproductive.

There is no "I" in "Team", you say? Well, I beg to differ. A team is nothing more than a bunch of Individuals who have the same goal in mind, is it not? When an Individual screws up, do I call the whole team into the office for an ass chewing? No. I call the Individual who screwed up into the office and chew his ass. I question his Integrity and/or his lack of it. I question his Initiative and/or his lack of it. If an Individual solves a problem and saves the company a bunch of money, do I share his bonus with the slugaziod who does next to nothing while on shift? Hell no. The Individual gets the bonus and gets recognized for his Individual effort.

If you wish to reach a goal, like having a "Team", for example, never use the word "Team". Instead, do all the things that make up a team and keep your empty words/rhetoric/verbiage to yourself. No one is listening anyway. While they are busy talking about that stuff, I am busy actually doing it. Most of the time, before anyone even realizes it - we have a team anyway. And I did not bore them with a bunch of talk. [I]I[/I] did it. [I]I[/I] have created the "Team" they have been dreaming about - and they wonder how this all came to be without the use of the empty corporate [I]bullshit[/I] in the process.

What makes people want to be a part of a team in the first place? Well, when I think of the word "Team", the first thing that comes to my mind is baseball, football and hockey, for example. I suppose, what makes Individuals want to be a Team member in that scenario is, first and foremost, their love for the game. They work hard everyday and give 100% because they [I]want[/I] to play the game, and they know that if they don't give 100% - they will no longer be a part of the Team and might not get to play the game anymore. So, you see, if you have people who [I]want[/I] to do the kind of work you are offering, half your problems are solved in one swoop. Don't hire anyone who doesn't give a shit, and don't keep anyone around who doesn't give a shit. Get rid of them or straighten them up and make time and space for those who care about what they are doing.

Difficult Individuals are no fun. Get rid of them whenever, wherever you possibly can. As a manager, do I make the rest of the team suffer for what another Individual did or did not do? Bullshit. I call the Individual who did or did not do the thing in question and hold him accountable for it. Sometimes it is a misunderstanding, sometimes it is deliberate, and sometimes it's just outright carelessness. Whatever the case may be, I address the Individual on the matter and proceed to correct it without dragging anyone else in on his mistake. In other words, I keep the monkeys off everyone's back. That is part of my job.

No team, army or other collective effort has accomplished squat without the Individual effort of its members. There is no "I" in "Team", you say? That is a contradiction in terms. That is a fallacy. For, were it not for the Individual, the team would not be possible in the first place. The negation of the Individual is an impossibility. Any attempt to wipe out the Individual and/or the idea of the Individual is an attempt to wipe out Reality. Reality cannot be wiped out. The extent to which one who attempts to wipe out Reality is the extent to which he will be wiped out in the process of his attempt to wipe Reality out - and Reality will still remain.

Little Nicky

I feel for you, your boss is a dickhead!! There is no I in team, but if you frig around with the letters, like the frig around with our work life, they manage to spell out the word "me" and that is all that they are in it for.
Corp talk about individuals are what make us a sucess are cheap, meaningless words that some a-hole is creating as they sit around, making big bucks and laughing at all the bullshit they throw our way.
I hope you find another job that will appreciate you and hopefully your boss will get what he has coming, and soon!

thea

There's no "I" in corporate slave either. All this rhetoric about teams and I's is all bullshit. The model itself works for a few select individuals, like the CEO, CFO, Board of Directors...etc, but none or very few out of all the glorified managers(babysitters) give a shit about their employees except for their general well being,"be careful driving, see ya Monday. Don't forget OT so be in ready to GO!" Working the 4th of July, not that I had to recently, but anyway is ridiculous for those who have to. We celebrate freedom and independence at work with an ice cream or pizza party, as part of our luchbreak.
All any manager I have ever had does is oversee the kiddies at work and make double what the typical subordinate or employee makes. Usually talks with the other managers in a "Managers Meeting," make sure not to disturb the managerial meeting; where these managers are now being talked with and held accountable for the results of 15-25 people who are out there kept to busy to be able to think about the fact that they are making the Area or Regional Managers three to four times what the worker bee is bringing in. Its really just a bunch of frat-boys passing the buck for accountability for results that are calculated by a really smart guy or girl with the right credentials from an ivy-league school telling the clueless and out of touch CEO(in most cases) what needs to be done so that the general public will buy the company's yoyo stock to continue the party.
Its a good idea, but eventually most people figure it out sooner or later and go onto to create another replica of the nightmare they just left. The allure of security is to great to pass up for most recent college grads to decline, because most of them were living like bums with a place to stay in college, eating rahmen noodles and the like, so $30,000 looks pretty good to them. They can pay-off a small fraction of their student-dept and afford an apartment while building no equity, no savings/retirement, no quality of life in the hopes of becoming a manager someday; which very few get to that stage because the job sux so bad and you only need one shephard for the sheep.
So when it comes down to it the manager only wants you to do well for his/her sake, not because of all the motivational and gung ho shit he/she has been telling you to get you onboard with the rest of the "individuals" on the "team." Why do you think they're always so inspirational and energetic? Its their job, they're trained on how to deliver that shit. And you can't equate working for a corporation with playing sports, sports are fun and working in a cubical are 2 very different things. Most of the reason athletes do well in corporations is because the company now has a cool figure-head to endorse the f-ing place and show them using the product. The revenue brought in by the celebrity goes to the face and the ad dept., not the poor fucks toiling away with the everyday pissed-off consumer. There are a shit-load of "I"s in "individual," but you won't find one in a company. Rant...DUN...

Hope you weren't typing that at work??? That's quite a presentation. You must be really busy.

I just say all of it is a bunch of f_ _ king politics. Team this and team that - whatever all managers are alike they want us to make them look good. I say ..........

Yaba daba doo! when the work bell rings and slide down the back of my dinosaur (or do as my boss use someone elses back!)
IM OUTTA THERE FOR THE DAY AND LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND!

Shit my job is 'one person screwed up so instead of chewing out that person we will chew out the whole fucking department'. Work work work for the fucking 'team' and you won't get anything but shit, shit and more shit. Nothing is ever good enough. No one works hard enough, fast enough, or gets too few errors. Type as fast as you fucking can but don't make one mistake. Work on Saturdays while the fucking managers are home in bed. Nothing is ever good enough for these mangagers no matter how hard we try.

Screw your family and your life. You are needed to work overtime and every possible waking second of your life. Overtime overtime overtime and for what? So the fucking government can steal it and fucking waste it!!

At my work you can hardly get paid overtime.If you end up staying back like and hour or so....you dont get paid it or anything and they still expect you to do your 8 hours the next day.

Rattlesnake

Do you live to work, or work to live?

I've noticed that bosses that don't want their subordinates to do better than themselves will load you up with so much work that you don't have time to study.

Pass that exam even if it means getting less sleep. Don't hate this dude if it wastes the extra energy that you could use to study.

They count on the hate to keep you down. When you are angry, they've oppressed you. Do the work without emotion and PASS THE EXAM.

Good luck!

Work OT? Does that mean you actually get paid for it? I work for that fg government that you say takes and wastes it. Stuck 2-3 hours extra every night this week & I don't get time & half. I get "credit hours" that I can never take before they snatch them off my leave record. Government waste? Not in my office that I can see. I've now got the work that used to be distributed between 3 people & spend most of my time scared to death I'll have a heart attack. Last two days I was melting down (Gasping sobbbing migraine) by 10 am. And I'm not the only one in my Office. What the Hell is happening in this country !!!!!!