Thoughts about Stuff

One of the reasons why I joined this subsidiary back in Sep 08 was that I wanted to contribute to the creation of the perfect company, a chance to right the things that went wrong, a fresh new beginning, to make a difference.

Someone just provoked me to think of the stuff that needs to be done, to make sure the subsidiary (Child) does not suffer the same fate as the mother company (Mother).

Obviously not everything can be done in a single night. Will try to think as I go along.

1) Fire incompetent people
That's the first and foremost policy. The Mother is a government statutory board. This means CIVIL SERVICE, means *almost* lifelong employment, means seniority takes precedence over goodness of ideas, means jackasses hire other jackasses to safeguard their jobs, means playing politics so that they don't have to do work, means ceaselessly avoiding blame by delegating upwards/downwards. No matter how advanced or well-governed a country is by its bureaucracy, this will exist. Worst is when jackasses perpetuate themselves, and entrench themselves further and further.

Bosses feel disinclined to fire staff unless they commit a large enough boo-boo; means small, multiple, repeated boo-boos are tolerated. The incompetents just plod along, and their job scope get smaller as bosses and staff go around them to get work done. They sit there and wait for end of workday, and scoot off. All the cares of the company ignored.

They are leeches! Apart from the undeserving pay, they suck the life out of the other motivated staff who work hard but have no chance to rise coz their paths are block by the leeches. What happens is that the good ones leave when their growth is stunted, leaving the bad ones proliferating and thriving in this environment. It promotes a culture of sloth, of covering your asses, of not daring to make decisions and always looking upwards. They care more about procedures, coz that's a safe haven, something that will never go wrong, that's "By the Book".

I can see the leeches festering in the Child, just as it had with the Mother. Once the leeches attain critical mass, the body is beyond salvation. The solution is to identify these leeches (very simple exercise), and remove them as an example to the rest of the staff that unlike the Mother, incompetence is NOT tolerated. Only high performing members need apply, no free loaders allowed to taint their purity.

I know it sounds extreme, but it is necessary. It must be done immediately, for the Child is already suffering from the repeated blood loss.