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Our current system of a "boss" supervising lower strata "workers"
should be obsolete. Ego is probably one of man's inherent, yet
unrecognized ills. How much stems from this insatiable feeding of the
ego. Currently, pay is doled out not by ability, or contribution, but by
class. The world's work is graded by scale. A worker could be the best,
say bus driver in the world, yet he can't increase his pay beyond, "what
bus drivers are scaled". His incentive is diminished, and redirected into
a quest for promotion. Peter's principle takes over, he becomes
unsatisfied, stops
contributing, in fact often does more harm than good as a "boss". His
route to the higher salary led him to be a impact player, entering
management. With the increase in status, he feeds his ego, in proportion
to the diminishment in satisfaction he lost, as his skills went unused.
The combination of ills, namely runaway egos, and loss of satifaction
from utilizing ones skill, could be avoided, by a restucturing of pay.
Pay by abilities and contribution, not by status. This would enduce
people to improve and grow. Consider the old Chicago Bulls with Michael
Jordan, compare them to the average work unit. Jordan made more than the
coach, probably more than 1/2 the team put together. What worker could
match that scenario. The coach or boss played a role far different from
the boss in the work unit. His skills were utilized to mentor, guide, or
oversee. Ego still was present and in Jordan may have led to cases of
lost games, so it may be an inherent quality of human existence, but it
would appear in a more commendable form. The player striving to "be like
Mike, as opposed to the worker wanting to boss his people.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
23 December 1999
James Przewoznik
U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District, Chicago, Illinois
It only makes sense to make the work area pleasant. And how can we
improve on it other than by people talking with words of kindness to each
other? Nothing is more effective than a smile in the morning. We have an
misplaced view that our technology is all that we are offering.
I disagree with the author when he suggests that we are communicating
well at home. I think most of us tend to hid our anger more at the work
place and let it loose at home. It is an interesting paradox that we can
smile and act in a kind way with coworkers and patients, but mistreat our
closest associations.
Boss is obsolete
Our current system of a "boss" supervising lower strata "workers"
should be obsolete. Ego is probably one of man's inherent, yet
unrecognized ills. How much stems from this insatiable feeding of the
ego. Currently, pay is doled out not by ability, or contribution, but by
class. The world's work is graded by scale. A worker could be the best,
say bus driver in the world, yet he can't increase his pay beyond, "what
bus drivers are scaled". His incentive is diminished, and redirected into
a quest for promotion. Peter's principle takes over, he becomes
unsatisfied, stops
contributing, in fact often does more harm than good as a "boss". His
route to the higher salary led him to be a impact player, entering
management. With the increase in status, he feeds his ego, in proportion
to the diminishment in satisfaction he lost, as his skills went unused.
The combination of ills, namely runaway egos, and loss of satifaction
from utilizing ones skill, could be avoided, by a restucturing of pay.
Pay by abilities and contribution, not by status. This would enduce
people to improve and grow. Consider the old Chicago Bulls with Michael
Jordan, compare them to the average work unit. Jordan made more than the
coach, probably more than 1/2 the team put together. What worker could
match that scenario. The coach or boss played a role far different from
the boss in the work unit. His skills were utilized to mentor, guide, or
oversee. Ego still was present and in Jordan may have led to cases of
lost games, so it may be an inherent quality of human existence, but it
would appear in a more commendable form. The player striving to "be like
Mike, as opposed to the worker wanting to boss his people.
Competing interests: No competing interests