Do YOU work WITH, or FOR a overpaid imbecile? Part I

I imagine everyone can say yes to that question at least at one point of their careers. If you think about it, that means there are a lot of overpaid imbeciles currently clogging up the workforce and occupying positions that many of us would be better suited for. However, usually such are promoted to these positions by other overpaid imbeciles who have been over-promoted. And thus, the great circle of ever-increasing idiocy at Corporate America continues to grow. Given the growing reports of competent people finding themselves increasingly unemployed, one has to wonder if the current economic crisis is actually contributing to the increase of blatant stupidity in Corporate America? At what point will there be so much incompetence at the management level that companies simply fail?!?

Oh, wait, some of that has already happened and the news media covered it quite well...I believe there were quite a few at AIG....but has the idiocy stopped?

But what exactly IS an overpaid imbecile(OI), and how is he/she defined? Can this crippling affliction be slowed, or even reversed? This bears some thought. And keep in mind, an overpaid imbecile(OI) is NOT your co-worker who did a single dumb thing...we ALL do dumb things at times, its called being human. I mean the truly moronic things, things that are constantly repeated, because the overpaid imbecile (OI) thinks this thing, event, or action is the greatest thing ever thought or did, and because the overpaid imbecile (OI) is overpaid (and usually over-promoted), AND is in a position to FORCE you to follow their lead.

Consider this...I would bet you could easily find overpaid imbeciles(OI's) in the financial markets, in the management of the banks that need TARP funds, in the housing finance field, and in our government agencies, local, state and federal. You may have even heard or seen them on the news. Does that help you visualize the entity we are trying to define?

Usually, there is not a single trait that classifies an OI. It is more plausible that there are a number of combined traits that "create" person who meets the OI criteria. I will try to relate some of the traits my observations have lead me to believe can combine to create a OI.

1. Overuse of "power words" in almost everything said or written. Only an OI would use the word "strategize" in every other sentence. If someone has, openly displayed, a copy of "Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors" on their desk or bookshelf, suspect them of being an OI, or at least an OI-In-Training.
2. A fixation on the belief that flavored coffee would be a huge boost to morale, versus, say, something as simple as a clear org chart. Be very concerned you have encountered an OI if any org chart inquiry is always answered with a "Well, we are all ultimately one team..."
3. Because most OI's have meager technical skills, most OI's and OI's-in-training will attempt to over-compensate by subjecting everyone they can to a deluge of "soft skill" seminars and training sessions, in the almost fanatical belief that their "superior" soft skills will cover-up their inability to figure their way out of a paper bag, much less actually solve a technical problem.
4. Because of trait number 3, OI's will also firmly believe in consultants, despite that a consultant is quite often there to "con" and "insult" whomever hired them (acknowledgement to Scott Adams for that joke). Try to think like an OI for the briefest second (no more than a second, too much"OI-type" thought has caused brain damage)... after all, if they (the OI) can't understand something, something must be wrong with whatever it is, and competent people could not possibly be within existing staff (it would make sense to an OI that the competent people would have pumped their resume with empty accomplishments and left), otherwise whatever it was would make sense to the OI. Think about this one a moment, and your own experiences...keep thinking.....see what I mean?

More to follow as the thoughts flow forth....

Surviving the changes....

As my family and I make our way through this "post-gainfully employed nightmare" also known as being laid off, there have actually been a few bright spots....and no, the bright spots are not the lights of an on-coming train. I mean, lessons learned. And hopefully before its too late.

There we quite a few of us let go from the IT department of the same company in this area, and one thing we all realized quite soon....we took too much for granted, at work and at home, and we should have been better prepared. After all, we assisted with disaster recovery contingency plans at our former employer, trying to prepare for recovery when a disaster struck, and keep the business going. Why did we not do the same for our families?

And I don't mean a will, or a living will, or even a trust, although those are important, and have their place. I mean actually believing too much in the company you work for to take care of you and your family. How many of you reading this have life insurance for your kids, your spouse, or even just yourself with your employer? Have you considered, in this current economic situation we all find ourselves in, how stupid that is? To actually believe that trusting your Corporate employer to take care of your family is a good idea? (yes, there are some small companies that actually do care about employee's families.) Remember, ultimately, besides the safeguards offered by incorporation, why is a corporation formed? To make profits for the shareholders by using the employees' skills and abilities for as little compensation as possible while keeping a viable and productive workforce) Let's put it this way...do you actually believe the HR department actually has YOUR best interests at heart? Remember who actually provides the paychecks to the "oh-so-caring" HR staff member who dutifully listens (sorta) to whatever issue you brought to his/her desk? Unless you work at some aberration of a company, the HR staff is there to watch out for the Corporation's interests, while convincing you enough that they actually care so you will openly inform them of anything that might be detrimental to the Corporation providing a profit to the shareholders, and therefore reduce the bonuses and raises upper management will earn for doing such a smashing job of using their departmental resources.

Hey, I was stupid, and had all of my eggs in one basket too....if I ever have the opportunity again, I will remember this lesson. When I lost my employment, I not only lost the only life insurance coverage I had for myself, or my family, I also lost all the $$ I had paid in over the years. And since I no longer had a job, my little bit of savings was going to vanish fast.

So if I died in the weeks, months after losing my job, how was my family going to pay the bills, regardless of how much expense cutting we did after being laid off? I got the life insurance to take care of my family if I died....so not only did my former employer take my career from me, they also took the safety net I was counting on for my family. If you want to supplement your life insurance with some from your employer, fine, its cheap enough. But don't make the mistake I did...because right now, I have nothing to show for what came out of my paycheck every two weeks under the heading "Supplemental Life" other than the lesson to not let it happen again, IF I get lucky enough to secure a job one of these days.

Trying to use up my "15 minutes of fame"...

This is a bit belated, but this past May, I went to Washington DC to shoot a commercial with a production company hired by FamilesUSA to highlight various families struggling with the crippling financial burden brought on by COBRA insurance after losing their jobs.

Here is the spot I am in, I bet you can figure out which one is me:



I want to make one thing PERFECTLY CLEAR. I do NOT blindly endorse the current idea of universal health care as promoted by the Democratic party in their similar commercials, nor do I blindly support the current President's ideas on the matter. I also do NOT blindly support the Republican ideas either. My goal in participating in the production of the commercial was to do something about COBRA coverage because the way it currently is and the levels of expense are simply WRONG. And it was better to use up my "fifteen minutes of fame" in this manner than make an idiot of myself on Jerry Springer or one of the dumb reality shows.

My stance and opinion is very simple. The current system is BROKEN, and COBRA coverage is beyond the financial means of most of this country's current group of "victims of the economic downturn". Let me throw some numbers at you...keep in mind, in your own state, the situation may be worse, or perhaps even better. I'll have to validate these numbers later, but in general, it goes like this....

Of the total people eligible for COBRA coverage after losing their jobs, less than 10% take advantage of COBRA coverage due to the staggering cost. In my own situation, my monthly COBRA premium was TRIPLE my monthly out-of-pocket expense when I was employed. Previous experiences mean I understand that part of my health care coverage was financed by my employer, I have BEEN an employer during my attempt at this thing called a life, but TRIPLE?!?! I remember what my employees cost me, so where did this extra expense come from? Hmmm, let me see...I'll bet it has something to do with GREED.

And I'll bet the greed is coming from the insurance companies, who, of course, want to assist you in any way possible to insure as much of your $$ makes its way into their coffers.

Well, let's get this thing rolling...

Well, to start, this blog is to share various thoughts and ruminations on many things as they grab my attention. Unfortunately, I can talk extensively (VERY extensively, according to my wife) on quite a few subjects, but my only audience thus far has been my family....and my simple existence as the patriarch of the family is apparently has given them ample exposure to my thoughts on many matters. Perhaps TOO much exposure.

To introduce a little about me, I would guess one would need to know about the most recent life changing event that has shaped most of 2009 for me thus far.

One of the more politically correct descriptions for me is that I am a "victim" of the economic downturn. To be blunt, I was previously employed in an Information Technology line manager position with a Fortune 500 company, and I was laid off in November of 2008.

It was the first time in my then 39 years that any decision to end my current employment status had been made by anyone other than yours truly. Oddly, typing that very sentence brings home the impact of the event once more, even seven months later.