Sounds like ppl get brainwashed and prepped for double speak in MBA programmes…lol
I heard that no one does the reading in MBA programs, so you are forced to make things up when the professor asks questions. That is also a useful skill, actually.
I was in the Marines for five years. When I got out, I had a lot of trouble adjusting to the corporate world.
In the Marines, we do everything we can to keep bad stuff from reaching the superior’s ears. And once they get wind of it, they will generally do everything they can from letting reach their superior. We had our own problems, of course, but we worked it out between us. And if we couldn’t, we just lived with the fact that we hated each other. There was never a reason to involve a senior. We may have bitched and fought with each other, but in the end, we were all spilling the same blood in the same mud.
The corporate world, however, is almost 180 from that way of thinking. If Suzie doesn’t like me (for whatever reason–even if it’s unjustified), then she has no problem going to her boss and saying a bunch of stuff that probably didn’t happen. Or worse, she gets with all her girlfriends, then one of them goes to the boss. There’s no “let’s work this out between us” or “let’s try to get along”. There’s only tattle-telling. And whoever runs to the boss first wins.
There was actually a girl at one job I had who would go around the office at 5:10, and see who was still there. Then she would get with her cohort who kept the timesheets, and would tattle on anyone who was lying on their timesheet. We were all paid on salary, so it didn’t really matter. But she didn’t want anyone to put in more hours and “look better” than she did. What a joke.
My first job was like this. I worked for a defense contractor. It was like a friggin union dominated by small minded old ladies. I was under some time pressure, and was told to see a department about some data. I went over and asked if I could get it, and they basically ‘ummmed’ and ‘ahhhed’ for like 5 minutes. I didn’t have time, so I said that’s fine, I’ll see if I can get it myself, thinking that was a perfectly reasonable approach. I guess they were afraid they’d look bad, so the data magically appeared in like 10 seconds after I said that. Anyhow, I thanked them and went about my day, thinking everything was great. So those women were apparently ruffled about the situation unbeknownst to me (I didn’t even know there was a ‘situation’) and began basically making a big deal to everyone and their mother that would lend an ear. Ultimately, my manager pulled me aside, and she explained that they were upset. So, I volunteered to go over and apologize, saying I hadn’t even realized anyone was offended and was still a little puzzled about it, but would square it away. She told me not to do that, because it would make them uncomfortable if I apologized directly. Which confused me even more, and she said (I still remember this): “Well, think about it, if someone offended you, you wouldn’t want to discuss it with them face to face would you? It would be uncomfortable.”
F*cking 5 year olds.
Lol at Black Swan’s story. When you are so socially awkward that you cannot accept an apology, well, I just don’t even know what to say…I mean, imagine getting on a conference call and actually talking with people you don’t know, or maybe even having to give a presentation. Dear god, it’s just so uncomfortable. For the first 3 months of a new role I’m probably uncomfortable the entire time. Not five year olds, babies.
Greenie,
Thank you for your service. At times I feel like I should’ve given more back.
Yep, respect to Greenman. Though I come from a California liberal background and it comes out in many of my posts, I have a lot of respect for what it takes to be a Marine (or other military, but especially Marines). And the last 10 years haven’t been times when one can safely assume you aren’t about to be deployed somewhere dangerous either.
Most firms I worked at in NYC were dominated by this characteristic. Myself, I am straightforward but it came off as ‘lack of emotional IQ’. I have a great radar for ‘phony stuff’ and when I call it out, sometimes it bites me.
“Lack of emotional IQ” is kind of insulting. I prefer saying that someone “lacks a filter”.
Same firm (first job out of college as a contract employee), did cost plus contracts for the government on armored vehicles. So, the government pays you all the firm’s costs back within a certain budget threshold plus a predetermined % profit. We had to record our billable hours, there wasn’t budget for OT, so on busy weeks I’d just stay after and work and not bill it (work for free). Eventually I got pulled aside by one of these effectively unionized employees and told I couldn’t do that because it was illegal to misrepresent the hours worked. On light weeks where maybe I only had 30 hours of work, I’d be told to stay around and find ways to bill various contracts so they’d get their max quota (bit of a double standard). What a bunch of sh*t. Eventually, after 6 months I was canned for being a bad fit with no advance notice or payed severance. HR guy showed up, I looked around, everyone in the department had disappeared at 2 pm on a work day. The HR guy seemed pretty bummed, but I was 21 or 22 with no real bills and a sweet new Yamaha R1 and it was summer, so I told the guy I was stoked for a vacation which seemed to cheer him up. Wound up being one of the best things to happen to my career.
It was insulting and annoying because these guys liked dropping corporate buzzwords. But they would mention this to me, more so because I wouldn’t ‘smile’ a lot in the office. It was really effed up stuff let me tell you.
You should have just looked them in the eyes when they said this and responded with “You’ll see… you’ll all see…”
I faced simillar situation in which one of co worker stabbed me this is definately not a contry specific problem but thurst to clim ladder as fast as you can
I thought the Japanese were also very two faced as well. I dont think this is limited to americans. Been working on the Street a while, lessson: dont trust anybody and always cover yourself. When sh*t hits the fan, someone will be looked for t be the scapegoat.
I think this back stabbing is true to corporates in general - irrespective of countries? Ive seen it in India (pretty common), heard it from my managers in Edinburgh & London… So I think its mostly survival tactics now, irrespective of the race IMHO…
“It puts the lotion in the basket.”
Nothing like a nice jacket made out of human skin.
Or a full body suit made out of human skin.
LOL, so true. And right after you do their work for them and they say thanks (if they even say thanks), they go right back to their evil small-minded plotting. 
The people I trust at work are mostly from our international offices. Only a couple guys I trust in the US office, but the sad thing is even those couple of guys could stab you in the back…you just never know. If there is money involved they will, no honor.