Dookies™ in the Pool

I experienced an increasingly rare moment of absolute and total lucidity a few days ago. 

I sat through a day-long planning session.  I was online watching and participating when called upon, but not a presenter.  This approach has it’s pros and cons.

On the pro side, remote participants are pretty much tied to their desks so you are compelled to do the things that you know you should do, but that always seem to fall through the cracks.  It allows one to check & answer email and bio-breaks can usually be accomplished without the entire world knowing where you went or what you’re doing. 

On the con side, you can’t really goof off too much because if called upon, you need to know what’s going on.  The web cam doesn’t show the entire meeting room so you don’t always know who’s talking and finally, you can’t always hear everything that’s said.

Nevertheless, as the meeting droned on into the afternoon, I listened to everyone’s great ideas and chimed in when called upon and when appropriate–you always want them to know that you’re there.   During one particularily self-serving presentation by a self-absorbed bore, I snapped to attention when this person said “When all is said and done…”.   Of course, I have absolutely no idea what came next as he mercifully attempted to summarize and end his presentation because at that very moment it became clear to me what the problem is at many organizations: Far more is said than is ever done.

How many meetings have you attended where lofty goals and ideals are bandied about in order to impress one’s peers and more importantly, to impress one’s superiors?  A soon as everyone returns to their offices, it’s back to business as usual.

Anyone can talk-the-talk, far fewer seem to be able to walk-the-walk.  In essence, it all comes down to an organization’s ability to execute their strategy.  It seems as if ’strategy’ is where it’s at.  People embrace their strategy, they internalize their strategy, they personalize their strategy.  What about tactics?  How is that strategy going to be implemented?

Here comes the Dookie: This presenter told everyone what he wanted his strategy to be and everyone seemed to think it was a good idea.  The ‘how’ ended up being the missing link. 

A strategy without tactics is merely a dream. 

And about my increasingly rare moments of absolute and total lucidity, I don’t suffer from dementia or anything, it’s just that when I was younger, I was under the impression that I and I alone saw everything clearly and had all of the answers.  I’m now wise enough to know that wisdom will always be just beyond my reach.

Tags: Dookie Companies, Dookie Policies by admin
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Yes, that is the actual headline of an article on CNN.com and to my knowledge, the photo above has not been photoshopped. 

Let’s see… gays are now marrying each other in a number of states which is fine, Paris Hilton’s energy policy not only actually makes sense, it’s better than those put forth by either Barack Obama or John McCain and a ‘Mega-Preacher’s’ wife is being sued for elbowing a flight attendant in the left boob. 

In a world that has seemingly gone mad, Dean Peterson can’t get relief from the chaffing caused by the interaction between his regulation USPS uniform and his genitals?  The Scots have been wearing kilts for how long?  Sure, I’ll admit nobody really looks cool wearing a kilt except for maybe Sean Connery, but what’s the big deal if this guy wants to wear a kilt to deliver the mail?  So what?  He’s not hurting anybody so why not allow him some relief?

Dean Peterson used much of his $1,800 stimulus check to mail about 1,000 letters and photographs of himself wearing a prototype Postal Service kilt to union branches across the country.  Unfortunately, it was all for naught as his proposal was defeated during his union’s recent convention.   

I don’t know if Mr. Peterson will ever get to wear a kilt while delivering the mail but I don’t think that his chances are very good.  Why you might ask?  Because Mr. Peterson doesn’t represent a vocal minority. 

I’m not a bigot in any way, shape or form.  I believe that everyone should be treated with the same level of dignity and respect regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, beliefs or religion. 

I do have an issue when people manipulate their status in order to receive unneccesary special treatment at the expense of everyone else.

I strongly suspect that if Mr. Peterson were gay or a transsexual, transgender etc. he could claim some form of discrimination or EEOC violation and be permitted to wear his kilt to work, and rightly so.  The fact that I point this disparity out and because Mr. Peterson probably isn’t gay or a transexual or transgender person, I’m labeled as being insensitive or worse.

I believe that if he were a member of a visible minority, he’d be able to claim that his wearing a kilt was some sort of tribal or other ritual dating back several hundred years–and ultimately would be permitted to wear his kilt to deliver the mail.  A number of years ago in Toronto, Sikhs who were hired by the Toronto Police Service fought for and won the right to wear turbans while on duty.  Again, no problem here.  The fact that I point this disparity out and because Mr. Peterson is not a member of a visible minority, I’m labeled a racist.

Recently in the Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, the Ramapo Police hired an orthodox Jewish woman as a police officer.  Great!  A little multiculturalism and diversity is good for community policing.  Except that despite her having apparently agreed to be available to work on Friday evenings and Saturdays as well as stating that she’d obtain special dispensation from her rabbi to work those days if hired, she has been given a free pass to have those days off.  No problem here except…

…I know Christian police officers who have been on the job for more than 10 years who have never been given Christmas off.  Because I had the audacity to point this inconsistency out I’m sure to be labeled an anti-Semite.

To make matters worse, the town supervisor recently criticized a Ramapo Police Officer who had an orthodox Jewish woman remove her wig for a mugshot saying “Ramapo police are trained to respect religious and cultural beliefs and the officer should have known the religious nature of the wig. He has ordered new programs in police sensitivity training”. 

Apparently respecting the religious and cultural beliefs of Ramapo Police officers is not a consideration here.

Pretty slick–this woman transformed herself from a criminal to a victim just like that.  No mention of the fact that this woman was being charged with a felony and quite frankly, I wonder how many other women, African American, Christian, Hispanic etc. have had to remove their wigs, hats, burkas etc. for a mugshot when being charged with a felony and have not had the town supervisor publicly pander come to their aid?

This issue of people manipulating their minority status in order to receive unneccesary special treatment at the expense of everyone else has been around long before the Politicaly Correct folks showed up imposing their beliefs on the rest of us.  Again this represents a vocal minority imposing on the freedoms of the rest of us. 

We have the right to our race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, beliefs and religion, but our race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, beliefs and religion shouldn’t give us special rights at the expense of others.

Tags: Dookie Policies by admin
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