Do the Right Thing by Almargado
Snapper was a senior executive who worked for a company I did business with for a few years. Whipper Snapper had been groomed since he was out of college for higher things in the organization he works for. He started out as a professional but as time went on was promoted to management, and was progressively, every few years moved around to get experiences in different divisions of the company.
In the early 2000s, Whipper Snapper was tapped to start a new division that focused on Web services and technologies. The aim was to capitalize on the company’s brand and generate a new stream of revenue.
Whipper Snapper was not a technologist and neither was he qualified in the particular sector of Web services that the new division would be based on. However, he had a deep understanding of the organizational structure as well as a vast network within the company and city that he had built up over the years.
Whipper Snapper was a politician at heart. It was hard to know where he stood on certain issues. You could talk to him for an hour and find that you still not know what to make of him with regards to his stance on particular issues.
Whipper Snapper had both a good and bad reputation within the company. Some people said that his experience working in the company for the past 15 to 20 years entailed messing up every department he managed, and then moving on to someplace else. I don’t know how true these remarks are. I know that sort of thing happens with executives in several organizations, but I was not sure whether it was true about Whipper Snapper.
What I do know from personal experience and from discussing the matter with others who had had business interactions with him was that he seemed to be all things to all people. Some one who was the harbinger of good news but always somehow evaded making difficult decisions. Rather than be straightforward with colleagues and clients, he would dilly dally, talk in vague terms and tell you he would get back to you later. And that was that. Most people who had this experience with him, said he had a reputation of never getting back to people unless he had something positive to say or report.
Whipper Snapper was regarded as a coward. The division he managed was set up by a group of managers he hired who were technically proficient in the field of Web Services. The technical and organizational structures these managers set up proved over the first few years to be very successful in producing good products and services.
However, the production of these products and services was carried out at a price. The technical managers in place, while technically proficient in their skill sets and the discipline of Web Services, were lousy tyrannical managers. These managers regularly terrorized their staff and that resulted in a high turnover in the division. However, because the division was at least on paper successful, Whipper Snapper turned a blind eye to these appalling happenings and the failure of the managers.
Some thought, Whipper Snapper was out of his depth and reckoned that he felt if he got rid of the technical managers who set up the systems, the whole division would fall apart. Others however thought something more sinister was going on. And this was that Whipper Snapper was actually a closet tyrant. He was one who played the nice guy and ordered his underlings the technical managers to carry out his tyrannical deeds.
If one of the professionals had problems with the managers, Whipper Snapper had the tendency to avoid that professional for a considerable time until that problem was solved. This was a well-known tactic he adopted. If for example that professional was approaching him outside of work, he would quickly change direction or increase his pace of walking so that they did not interact.
Reflections
Do the Right Thing by Wadem
Whipper Snapper appeared to be a devout Christian who went to church every Sunday. However, there seemed to somehow be a disconnect between his Christian sensibilities and beliefs and his actions as a senior manager.
He developed a bad reputation among staff for turning a blind eye or not doing sufficiently enough to rectify an appalling situation or problem. A number of professionals had one-on-one meetings with him to discuss the problematic situations they encountered. When they did, he would always feign ignorance or assure them that he would take care of the situation. He never did until one day, one of the technical managers was fired by the company for years of misconduct and mistreatment of staff and clients.
There was a view that Whipper Snapper was out of his depth when it came to Web Services and was too cowardly to stand up to the technical managers. He had a good thing going and did not want to spoil that in any regardless of the price that was exacting on others.
Whipper Snapper reminded me of the people who in one way were complicit in the murder of thousands of jews in the Nazi concentration camps because they were ONLY DOING THEIR JOBS. He reminds of the priests who were said to have witnessed the killings of thousands in the Rwandan conflict between the Hutsi’s and Tutu’s…their excuse…We can’t do anything because we are ONLY PRIESTS DOING OUR JOB. These of course were more serious crimes than the tyranny happening in Whipper Snapper’s division. Nonetheless, they are similar in the fact that they all consisted of people who failed to do the right thing for egotistical and material reasons.
Solution
There is perhaps a little Whipper Snapper in many of us. It takes courage sometimes to stand for what is right. This is especially the case when your job is on the line and you are wondering what would happen if you lost your job as you will not be able to provide for your family. But in every situation, there are steps you can take. You can become a whistleblower and report the matter to the Human Resources department. You can also take steps get your life in order and find another position elsewhere.
But we all have a choice and that entails DOING THE RIGHT THING even when it is unpopular. It entails DOING THE RIGHT THING because that is what is in alignment with our values, which include the contents of our soul.
So, be courageous and take as much action as you can. If the action you take does not resolve the problem, get your life in order and walk away. It is better to do that as quickly as you can before your values are compromised too much and you cause a serious split between your ego and soul.
Of course, you may run the risk of being hit in the short-term, but in the longer run the universe will smile on you with much better opportunities.
