or unhappiness and problems as the case may be.
Hal Macomber points to an article by John Brandt in Industry Week.
“The sad truth about unhappy companies: They won’t be around much longer,” says Brandt.
Unhappy companies share a set of traits that make it difficult for them to change and respond to their troubles (quoting Mr. Brandt):
1) A belief that employees are dangerous and lazy.
2) A conviction that customers cannot be trusted.
3) A focus on policies, not principles.
4) An obsession with today, not tomorrow.
5) Leadership in all the wrong places.
When I hear managers say things like:
“We’re not here to make people happy, we’re here to get them to work!” or
“Forget ‘best place to work’ — you should be glad you have a job!”
It’s information that usually points to a flailing (if not failing) project, department, or company.
Of course, managers (and others in corporations) aren’t responsible for making people happy — we can’t make others happy.
But when everyone is unhappy, it’s information about the system and how people in the system handle problems.
